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Old 06-30-2010, 04:15 PM
 
248 posts, read 690,852 times
Reputation: 105

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I got laid off from a SE job in NY, but it took me only 3 weeks to grab another job down in NoVA and I moved here in September of 2009. It was with the same company so it was technically a transfer. I had a secret security clearance before but I lost it due to lack of need for it.

I really enjoy the contract I'm working on but there's a chance it might close down soon. So I'm trying to figure out the worst case scenario.....

I have a four year degree from a well-known school in software engineering and am going on two years of full-time work experience on top of a year of internship experience (which pretty much felt the same as full-time except it paid less and it was hourly)....

So I'm trying to figure out....did I get lucky or is the market good in the DC area? Because....I found this job during the worst part of the recession....I think

Also....before you answer I'd prefer answers with reliable sources....such as from people who know other SErs or SErs themselves....etc...

Stories will mean the most to me

Thanks, much appreciated

Last edited by tsuric; 06-30-2010 at 04:26 PM..
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Old 06-30-2010, 04:25 PM
 
1,339 posts, read 3,415,164 times
Reputation: 2236
I've been working in IT for 10 years as a PM and QE so I hope I meet your criterion of being a "reliable source"! Anyway, the DC metro area has seen good growth in IT jobs primarily because of federal government. For example, the unemployment rate in Fairfax county is just 4.7% (I'm not implying that there are only IT jobs in Fairfax county, but pointing out that this area has held up well during this recession). So if you are a solid SE, you should be able to land a few interviews. The final selection would depend on you ace-ing the interview.

Good luck!
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Old 06-30-2010, 08:57 PM
 
248 posts, read 690,852 times
Reputation: 105
Thanks kutra, yes that's the kind of reliability I'm looking for.

Additionally, thanks for the help & advice in an earlier post....
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Old 06-30-2010, 09:10 PM
 
3,164 posts, read 6,843,880 times
Reputation: 1278
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsuric View Post
I got laid off from a SE job in NY, but it took me only 3 weeks to grab another job down in NoVA and I moved here in September of 2009. It was with the same company so it was technically a transfer. I had a secret security clearance before but I lost it due to lack of need for it.

I really enjoy the contract I'm working on but there's a chance it might close down soon. So I'm trying to figure out the worst case scenario.....

I have a four year degree from a well-known school in software engineering and am going on two years of full-time work experience on top of a year of internship experience (which pretty much felt the same as full-time except it paid less and it was hourly)....

So I'm trying to figure out....did I get lucky or is the market good in the DC area? Because....I found this job during the worst part of the recession....I think

Also....before you answer I'd prefer answers with reliable sources....such as from people who know other SErs or SErs themselves....etc...

Stories will mean the most to me

Thanks, much appreciated
My son has degrees in CS, CE, and EE. He worked for two years programming JAVA for major defense contractor in NOVA. He got a secret clearance through that contractor. He took a year off to work on his own business. He taught himself Ruby on Rails. Put his resume online and head hunters were calling within 40 minutes. He had multiple offers within two weeks. He had to cut off interviews. This was one year ago. He's now a senior programmer with top secret clearance. So I'd have to say that the market is great for those who can program and have a secret clearance. Put your resume online and see what happens!
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Old 07-01-2010, 06:10 AM
 
Location: Brambleton, VA
2,136 posts, read 5,229,030 times
Reputation: 1302
The IT community in this area is like a small town. Once you have your first job here, you should have contacts in other companies by the time you're ready to move on (or if the company goes kaput - UUNET/WorldCom, in my case). I'm on a UUNET alumni listserv and the job postings that come through there are from other alums who have gone on to start or work at all sorts of companies.

But please note the flip side of the "small town" atmosphere - a good reputation will help you out down the road, but a bad reputation can really hurt you. I have friends who are managers who invariably get resumes from people that they know (or have heard bad things about) from previous jobs and their reaction is, "Are you kidding? Did he think I forgot about the time back at Such-and-Such Company when we sent him to two weeks of expensive training and he gave notice the day he came back?" etc. And if they don't know you, believe me, they are getting on LinkedIn and mining their contacts for information about you. Also, you never know when one of your peers (or direct reports) will end up as your manager somewhere else. I often find weird connections among my Facebook and LinkedIn contacts that I didn't know about.

Denton56 is right about headhunters - if you have the skills (and the clearance doesn't hurt either ), they will find you.
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