Jobs market? (Portland, Lewiston, South Portland: job market, professionals, area)

[Raffie]

Was wondering hows the job market for a skilled IT tech that has customer support/service skills in the Portland area?

[zoe456]

Have you had the chance to check out the following?

1) Jobs in Me - If you are seeking employment in the *Greater Portland* area, I would expand your search criteria to include the following counties (some major cities/towns I've highlighted are in parenthesis): Cumberland county: (Scarborough, Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Windham, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick), Androscoggin county: (Auburn, Lewiston), York county: (Saco, Sanford, Berwick, Bidderford, Kennebunk/Kennebunkport, Wells, York, Kittery), and Sagadahoc county: (Bath, Thopsham)

2) TechMaine - Technology Jobs

3) Connecting with a local-regional IT staffing/placement agency such as ProSearch?

Best of luck in your search!

[angelo129]

Two close friends of mine are skilled IT professionals and have had the most difficult time imaginable in the Portland area. They both have first class resumes and experience, are personable and capable. They've each had more than one layoff in the last two years, and both are working in very low-paying jobs where they're effectively stuck. They apply to every IT job in the area that they're qualified for and rarely get so much as an answer.

I VERY strongly suggest you find out for yourself by applying to every job that's within your expertise in the Portland area. If you get any response, more power to you. If you don't, you'll have your answer as well. I cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is to do this for yourself - no internet site with job listings can tell you whether or not each of those jobs has a thousand applicants. Please remember, it's not the number of jobs that is the critical factor; it's the number of people applying to them.