Which IT fields are strong/weak? (Portland, Beaverton: home, job market, buying)

[PhxNative09]

Good Afternoon -

We're looking to relocate to Portland within the next couple of months. I don't really anticipate being able to line up a job remotely; I've never had much trouble finding work here in Phoenix and I'm wondering how difficult it will be in Portland/Vancouver. I know unemployment is 2% worse, but hopefully that's not in my field. Before you dismiss this as a repeat question, I've certainly read through the other job threads. My question is more direct - in the IT/software world, are there any areas that are particularly oversaturated or underfed right now? I do .NET/SQL development (not much web work) and have several years' experience and a BSE. How's that area doing right now? I know I've seen someone on here say they're an IT recruiter, perhaps you can help.

Thanks,
PhxNative looking to flee before the heat hits again...

[John Shaft]

Your experience sounds right up the alley of my company...but unfortunately, we are not hiring right now. When customers aren't buying anything, there's no dev work to be done.

[malone7384]

I will tell you right now - that jobs in the IT field in Portland are very hard to come by. And when a position does come open - it is a very competitive field. For every position that comes open - there are probably 100-200 applicants that are very qualified.

[PhxNative09]

Hm I need happier thoughts than that! I'm young and very flexible and enjoy doing contracts and shorter assignments, that should count for something. What's your estimation of how long the job search would be?

Also, is the greater concentration of tech jobs really on the west side (Beaverton, Hillsboro) or is that just the assumption because that's where Intel/Tektronix are?

[malone7384]

Originally Posted by PhxNative09

Hm I need happier thoughts than that! I'm young and very flexible and enjoy doing contracts and shorter assignments, that should count for something. What's your estimation of how long the job search would be?

Also, is the greater concentration of tech jobs really on the west side (Beaverton, Hillsboro) or is that just the assumption because that's where Intel/Tektronix are?

To answer the second part of your question - yes there is a larger concentration of tech jobs on the west side. You need to keep something in mind though - the majority of the tech companies are either laying off or have a hiring freeze going on. I work in the staffing industry and just had 21 contractors laid off from a company on the west side last week.

Contract assignments are out there - they are very competitive to get. You will be going up against literally thousands of people for the positions.

I am not trying to paint a bad picture - I am just trying to be realistic for you. The tech job market here is flooded right now and is pretty much stalled.

Good luck

[subsound]

There are tons of people who are young and flexible out here, and a good number that are older and experienced. I know OHSU laid off 25% of it's IT workforce, and Intel laid off a good deal too.

Sorry, there are no happy thoughts yet in this economy (I need some too)...and you can't feed yourself on happy thoughts alone. Expect at least 6 months to find a job from what I am hearing, though depending on your experience and the competition in the field (I have no idea) it could be more. I can't give you what you want to hear, I can just give you what is safe advice to hopefully will keep you from begging for change if it turns out to be worse then your savings planned for (+.4% unemployment nationally from the news last night http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29050656).

[dpgtfc]

It is this way in most of the other parts of the country too, unfortunately. Tech jobs here (Columbia, Mo) are the same, and most of the places I am looking at on these forums have similar complaints.

My wife had an interview in Albuquerque. I did a monster.com search to see if I could find work there and there were a couple 7+ year experience jobs posted, but nothing in my field. (Albuquerque has a 4.9% unemployment rate)

Today she had a phone interview in Seattle. Again, not a place where it will be easy to find a job for me.

Unfortunately you aren't too safe anywhere, obviously you have had trouble in Phoenix too, and I am slowly discovering even IT havens like Tampa Bay, FL are competitive. This is bad news for somebody like me that is entry level and freshly graduated from college.

Looks like I might have to be the "Stay at home husband" for awhile.

[PhxNative09]

General indications on Dice seem to be that Seattle has nearly four times the number of open positions that PDX has. Does that sound about right?

Would Tacoma (prefer to stay as far south as possible) be a better area to look into than Portland?

[Sprightly]

I'd like to add a question to the mix, which areas of software development have any hope? The OP says he does SQL/.NET, what about other parts of the field or is it all just uniformly bad... Basically is there anything that's hot or even luke warm?