[elranzer]

I'm coming from upstate NY (don't worry, we're nothing like our NYC cousins).

I'm 36, single, white male, have a Master's degree and 13 total years of IT experience. Current position is IT Manager.

I'm having a hard time finding IT jobs in Orlando and Ft Lauderdale (the two cities I'm mostly looking to move to). I've seen some jobs for Gainesville and Jacksonville, but I've never visited those cities.

I'm using LinkedIn and Indeed, but I'm not getting any callbacks for job applications.

Of course, The Mouse has some IT jobs but they are asking for the moon.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[kyle19125]

Neither Orlando or Fort Lauderdale is especially known for IT jobs, so finding one is difficult as a result. Jacksonville is emerging as a bit of an IT hub (lots in banking/financial services and healthcare) and all in all is growing rapidly as a city with transplants moving in from all over. It has the lowest cost of living of the major FL cities and salaries are about similar so that's something of a benefit. It has a coastal vibe similar to Fort Lauderdale and an outdated stereotype of being overtly conservative, which was the case about 15-20 years ago. Transplants are changing the demographics rapidly as more progressive professionals (no doubt like yourself) continue to move in.

[WingDing11]

El,


Saving you some research: Tampa area and Jacksonville have more IT, thanks to finance, etc. as kyle says. North of Miami I've heard some noises (articles) over the years but I think it's more aspirational vs sheer numbers. Besides the COL is gobsmacking. Other problems as well. When the next downturn comes, I'd rather be in a bigger IT nexus like TB or Jville.



Good resources are the business magazines like Tampa Bay Business Journal put out by the paper. I presume Jville has similar. Also the usual IT networking groups. I've been in IT in Orlando and have used the temps like RHT. If you have the skills those outfits can take you places. If you don't, it may not happen overnight.


Overall Tampa appears to be like Orlando, grew too fast for transportation networks to catch up. (Orlando now has light transit but I'm transitioning to another field and looking smaller metro b/c I just can't take the cities anymore.) BTW, I'm from the Southern Tier, lived in Buffalo & Rochester and hope to settle in eastern OH but parents aging and currently unmarried tags me as the brother that should stay close to mom & pop.


If you can locate near work fine but otherwise the commutes get to you after a while. Though I've seen worse. Don't overlook sites like Dice. Other sites will tell you in yearly surveys what specialties and languages at hot in the various metros. In fact RHT sends one annually.



Good luck. As a final aside, although this state drives me crazy and I really want to bolt, two items stand out for me. One: at around 50k-ish I figure I save about 1k in taxes vs. certain counties in OH or in PA. NY is worse of course. That is $ I can put towards rent, which has been going up, like everywhere. You really have to be a good hunter. So it's a trade off.



Two: others atest, and I agree, that the multicultural metros of FL seem to have a layer of stress or fear that hits you pretty quickly that I don't find in other parts of the country. I know it sounds pejorative but coworkers tell me it hits them soon after they get off the plane (at least in Orlando). I don't think it's population density, I think it's cultural. Others may disagree. Me, I've got to leave in order to be near woods and forest like from home. Down here there's just nothing I want to do outside really. It just doesn't compare. Can't take it any more.




Caveat emptor but I understand the droves leaving our wonderful state,


Mac

[Enigma777]

Originally Posted by elranzer

I'm coming from upstate NY (don't worry, we're nothing like our NYC cousins).

I'm 36, single, white male, have a Master's degree and 13 total years of IT experience. Current position is IT Manager.

I'm having a hard time finding IT jobs in Orlando and Ft Lauderdale (the two cities I'm mostly looking to move to). I've seen some jobs for Gainesville and Jacksonville, but I've never visited those cities.

I'm using LinkedIn and Indeed, but I'm not getting any callbacks for job applications.

Of course, The Mouse has some IT jobs but they are asking for the moon.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Two links below -- one is an article regarding tech jobs in South Florida. The other is a state job search database that is extremely comprehensive. From what I've seen of it, it covers all the jobs in Florida on all the other job sites and some that are not on the other sites. You can search county as well.

You may have to register (free) to use the advance search function.

https://www.employflorida.com/jobbanks/

https://thenewtropic.com/getting-a-t...south-florida/

[MattMN]

I did an IT job search two years ago in Tampa area, and there were tons of options. I'm a developer, so not sure about manager roles. I've heard Jacksonville IT market is good, and I'm sure for its size the greater Miami/Ft Lauderdale area would have plenty of jobs. Those will be your 3 best bets.

I got almost all my leads from Indeed initially. Then hooked up with a few different recruiters. In IT, it really pays to work with the recruiters, so if you haven't yet, find some. (Usually job postings will be by recruiters, so it shouldn't be too hard.) The key with recruiters is to really track who you work with, limit the number of recruiters you work with, and make sure you don't have 2 different recruiters submit you for jobs at the same company.

Extra note - for me, I think not rushing was the key. I'd spend about an hour on each job application to ensure everything was perfect and tailored to the position.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Neither Orlando or Fort Lauderdale is especially known for IT jobs, so finding one is difficult as a result. Jacksonville is emerging as a bit of an IT hub (lots in banking/financial services and healthcare) and all in all is growing rapidly as a city with transplants moving in from all over. It has the lowest cost of living of the major FL cities and salaries are about similar so that's something of a benefit. It has a coastal vibe similar to Fort Lauderdale and an outdated stereotype of being overtly conservative, which was the case about 15-20 years ago. Transplants are changing the demographics rapidly as more progressive professionals (no doubt like yourself) continue to move in.

The Fort Lauderdale area has some big companies... Citrix, Autonation, Magic Leap, American Express (big new office in Sunrise), Ultimate Software, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, JM Family Enterprises, Chewy... Then there is ADT/Tyco in Boca...

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by ruski

The Fort Lauderdale area has some big companies... Citrix, Autonation, Magic Leap, American Express (big new office in Sunrise), Ultimate Software, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, JM Family Enterprises, Chewy... Then there is ADT/Tyco in Boca...

There are some larger companies but relative to the population (like Orlando), they really aren't what you would call prevalent however.

[TD*]

Tallahassee

[CybSecGuy]

Consider a transition into IA/Cyber Security. More openings than folks actually qualified to fill them and a fair number of positions can be remote or split-time work. If DoD contracting is something you'd consider, there's almost always something open in FL in security, usually CND, security engineer, or ISSO type work. I no longer live in FL & haven't for a long time, but my work very occasionally brings me to Orlando. They're usually looking for folks and I receive a pitch each time. If I could convince the wife, I'd give it a whirl.

[Fredesch]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Neither Orlando or Fort Lauderdale is especially known for IT jobs, so finding one is difficult as a result. Jacksonville is emerging as a bit of an IT hub (lots in banking/financial services and healthcare) and all in all is growing rapidly as a city with transplants moving in from all over. It has the lowest cost of living of the major FL cities and salaries are about similar so that's something of a benefit. It has a coastal vibe similar to Fort Lauderdale and an outdated stereotype of being overtly conservative, which was the case about 15-20 years ago. Transplants are changing the demographics rapidly as more progressive professionals (no doubt like yourself) continue to move in.

Places where I am aware of IT jobs in Florida are Miami, Jacksonville, Melborne, Orlando and Tampa. Miami is huge for IT, the other areas tend to focus on industries - for example Melborne is areospace/rockets and goverment work. Jacksonville is a healthcare hub. Orlando has a mix and about the only folks that ping me from Tampa are banks. You might look for an area that has similar work as where you are currently located.

Stay away from the mouse. They offshored a lot of their IT/tech work and forced employees they were laying off to train their replacements offshore (or not get ANY severace pay). The mouse is heartless.

I live 75 miles south of Jacksonville and commuted several days a week before going remote full time. Jacksonvillle is a nice city and there are a lot of transplants in the tech field. I recommend Jacksonville as a place to work, but prefer working from my home office in Ormond-by-the-sea.