IT jobs? (Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Tysons Corner: apartments, renting, home)

[CAtransplant]

Hello,
I was recently laid off in Houston and it has been incredibly difficult to even land an interview. Is Northern Virginia/D.C. area as badly affected by recession like Houston or has it always being better for IT jobs?
I am MS certified with over 13 years of networking experience and cannot believe how bad the Houston IT sector has become. Nobody is hiring and the ones who are, offer "pathetic" salaries that I have not seen for decades.
I am seriously considering moving to No. Virginia if it's any better regardless of colder winters, higher cost of living and I even read somewhere something about an auto tax???
Also, where in that area can somebody find "affordable" 2 bedroom apartments that are safe, family-friendly and not too far from IT employment centers? We moved originally from Los Angeles so please try not to scare me about traffic and commute.
How is Southern Virginia vs. Northers Virginia regarding IT jobs. I have seen pretty pictures of Virginia Beach but am not sure about employment market there.
Thanks for your opinions!

[VRE332]

The traffic here sucks so bad , makes LA look like Disney Land.

[CAtransplant]

Originally Posted by VRE332

The traffic here sucks so bad , makes LA look like Disney Land.

Anybody else in this forum that can express a more descriptive opinion regarding IT jobs in the area and less about the traffic?

[becwells]

Originally Posted by VRE332

The traffic here sucks so bad , makes LA look like Disney Land.

Doesn't LA rank #1 on the list of cities with the worst traffic? I believe DC ranks as 5th or something.

Anywho...IT jobs are still fairly readily available in the DC area, although a large majority of them require security clearances. There are a lot of large defense contractors in NoVA that seem to be constantly looking for IT professionals. If you could look into getting even a Secret clearance the available opportunities will vastly improve.

The nice thing about being an IT professional working in the area is that there are a large number of IT companies scattered throughout the NoVA suburbs. You might be able to live farther away from DC, but still work in the suburbs which means that (a) your commute may not be terrible, and (b) you'll get more home for your money. If you're planning on renting instead of buying, you will certainly be able to find a nice 2-bdrm apartment in the suburbs for less than $2k a month. We were living by Fairfax Corner at one point, paying $1400 for a very nice 2-bdrm/2-bath in an extremely family-friendly neighborhood.

If I were you, I would start looking for companies around Dulles and Tysons Corner - along the Dulles Tech corridor there are quite a few large companies that may have positions you're interested in.

Good luck!

[popalnet]

You shouldn't have any problems find IT work in the DC area. However, if you have an existing clearance, then you can cherry pick.

Best way to test the market is to post your resume on monster.com for the DC area. Also email your resume to jobs that you're interested in. It will require a little bit of work, but you'll get the best indication.

[oneasterisk]

Here is a thread a few days old that is similar: //www.city-data.com/forum/north...rket-nova.html

IT jobs in NOVA and the surround DC Metro area are plentiful. Even though there are lots of jobs being lost in the Nation, the Federal Gov't is growing and that entails lots of IT support needed. The Dulles corridor has tons of tech companies also. Don't forget all the alternate datacenters in the surrounding regions for BCDR. A security clearance definitely opens doors, but there are still plenty of jobs that do not require one.

Yes VA has a property tax on vehicles, but it's really not too bad. If you can afford a $50k vehicle, then you should be able to afford the property tax assessed on it.

I've found all my IT jobs through Monster, or they've found me so I have nothing but good things to say about them.

[Samara11]

Originally Posted by CAtransplant

Hello,
I was recently laid off in Houston and it has been incredibly difficult to even land an interview. Is Northern Virginia/D.C. area as badly affected by recession like Houston or has it always being better for IT jobs?

NoVA/DC is definitely better for IT jobs. I'm in IT myself and my husband is an IT technical recruiter. He says it has gotten a bit slow but not as bad as the rest of the country. A family friend recently finished his contract and within 2 weeks landed another year-long contract (he's in QA), got $85 per hour , can you imagine, pretty amazing IMO (for the area of QA).

I'm not sure about jobs in the area of networking though. I know DBAs are quite highly in demand. Do give the job boards like dice.com and monster.com a try, if just to see what is available.

[DC Oldtimer]

The feds have lots of IT jobs. So does the county govt and the public schools.

The cost of living here is a lot higher than in Houston, especially housing. But salaries are much higher too.

This isn't the wild west. The NOVA suburbs, particularly Fairfax County, are generally safe. Some parts are safer than others. You don't want to get yourself into a really long commute, so once you land a job, that is the time to come back and ask where to live that is close to work.

Most neighborhoods in the suburbs are family friendly. It's singles who complain that there isn't enough night life.

Hang in there, things will work out if you are tenacious enough.

Good luck.

P.S. Some ideas to check out.

www.fcps.edu (Fairfax County Public Schools)
www.gmu.edu (George Mason University)
www.dhs.gov Dept of Homeland Security (they have big bucks these days)
www.cia.gov
www.inova.org/ifh/ Inova Fairfax Hospital
www.ntis.org (http://www.ntis.org - broken link) National Technical Information Service (federal govt)
www.nih.gov Natl Institutes of Health (they have lots of money too)
www.fda.gov Food and Drug Administration (some years ago Congress gave FDA a lot
of money for computers. They bought the equipment which sat there because no one
could figure out how to use it. Who knows if they ever got their act totally together.
www.usda.gov Another agency that could probably use your skills.
www.ed.gov Dept of Education. Should be eliminated but it will live on forever.


I'm not trying to discourage you from looking in the private sector,
I just don't know that part of the world.

[DC Oldtimer]

P.S. The car tax is only significant if your car is new. Mine is old--a mid-90s luxury car. My tax is 25 bucks a year.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

P.S. The car tax is only significant if your car is new. Mine is old--a mid-90s luxury car. My tax is 25 bucks a year.

haha