The REAL Scoop on Bay Area IT? (Berkeley, Napa: home, job market)

[bchris02]

Hello,

I have been told over and over again about the dire state of the Information Technology industry in the SF Bay Area, the supposed "Tech Capital of the World." Here are the things that I have been told:

If you want to have ANY chance of getting $9 per hour entry-level IT employment in the SF Bay Area, you MUST meet the following qualifications:

-a Ph.D from a TOP 5 school
-4.0 GPA
-5+ years of experience
-20+ certifications

Each entry level job opening has as many as multiple thousands of qualified applicants per position

BS Computer Science graduates from top schools such as Stanford or Berkeley are working fast food or Wal-Mart for minimum wage because there is no IT employment to be found

If one is lucky enough to get employed (which the odds of winning the lottery are greater), you would work 60 hours per week and only be paid 40 hours, for $9 per hour

Top MS Computer Science grads from Ivy League schools are making under $40,000 per year in the Bay Area, if employed period

There are 100,000+ unemployed IT people looking for work.


Question. Is the Bay Area really this bad? If not, can people please shed the light on what is reality in the Bay Area and how the IT market really is?

Thanks for any replies

[ImRandy]

Yeah, that's an interesting line they're giving you. It's been awhile since I had an entry level job in IT but my first company hired me with a BS in business and a minor in finance. I knew how to use and fix computers and could write simple programs in Java but I had no certifications, no experience, my GPA was 3.8 but there was no way of them knowing that because they never asked and I didn't say. I don't remember what I made but it was probably 2-3 times the figure you mentioned.

The job market has changed since then but not in the overly dramatic way people are telling you. Yes, there's competition for jobs. Yes, many companies want the moon in the way of skill set but don't want to pay for it. Are you better off with degrees, experience, and/or certifications, you bet! But still it's not that hard to get an entry level job.

Look at the bright side. Demand for skilled employees is high right now (slightly out pacing supply) and is expected to grow well into 2008. The one thing you have to worry about is the rise in H1B visas.

EARTHQUAKE!! - cool

[Suzer]

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any advice for my husband, who has a B.A. in Political Science, self-employed as a technology consultant for years, but is positively brilliant in the use of technology, and is self-taught? He's particularly skilled in VMware, and Linux, Unix.

It seems like most employers want a template employee, B.S. in some kind of tech degree, certifications, experience in corporate i.t. .

[Suzer]

He is interested in having a traditional position as opposed to being self-employed, the area where we live has a very poor technology market.

[ImRandy]

The only thing I can really suggest is make sure the job absolutely fits his skill set and apply anyway. In the resume detail every IT project that he's made a dollar on and any IT duties he's performed while being employed in another capacity. It doesn't really matter what the job title was, if he was also helping people use their computers, replacing routers, organizing data, helping people connect from home, whatever, put it down in detail. Even if it was volunteer work put it down. Volunteer work for a club or non-profit, a school, any technical work he's done.

In the cover letter give very specific details of things he's done using the skills they are looking for. He could talk about his home 'nix network and any he's set up for others, any specific applications he's developed, problems he's developed solutions for, etc. Be honest but sell, sell, sell the skills. Getting a job in IT often will require a shotgun approach. Apply for as many entry level jobs as he can and you will get a bite.

[Suzer]

That is superb advice - points for you! I will pass the information along to him.

[austinodo]

To cut all that short, you just need to seem a LITTLE different than all the other qualified candidates.

I read in the classifieds a few weeks ago about an opening in Napa County Office of Education as an IT supervisor. Not much exp. but about 75000 a year. Aside from that, I have a friend that isn't very old at all who is making 16+/hr just setting up networks.

I'm not all that sure about Stanford (yuck) and Berkeley graduates having trouble finding jobs, because they are a small minority compared to the rest of the non university educated person. One problem I do see clearly because my younger brother; who has not worked a day in an "actual job", is attending Berkeley. That could be something that employers, at least in my eyes, should look at. Especially if all summers have been vacations for him.