Tech Jobs/Gaming industry growth in Florida (Miami, Tampa: amusement parks, high school)

[usmcslater]

Hey guys,

I have read a few articles discussing that tech companies/gaming industry etc. is starting to expand in Florida, South Florida exactly from what I read in the article. My main question is, how does that kind of industry look like in Florida at the moment and do you see any growth in the future?

The reason why I am asking is because I currently live in Indiana and work IT and would like to work for a large tech company or something more "artistically" derived such as a gaming company or really anything in the entertainment industry, I know Google has a spot in Miami, but its a toss up between either moving to Florida or California. The obvious answer up front is California, but at its current state with drought, awful economy and (IMO) terrible liberal direction, the state is becoming less and less appealing.

I lived in California for 3 years so I know SoCal fairly well, but never visited Florida much except for the occasional weekend to visit a friend of mine from high school. But every time I have been to Florida, St. Petersburg specifically, I have really enjoyed my time there, I would like to consider Florida as my main option for moving when the time comes.

I would just hate to move out there with the hope that tech companies will be coming into the area, only to find out that isnt happening and wasted a chance to be in a more saturated market in California.

Thank you everyone in advance.

[NYmikef]

Can't help with the trends or what may happen in the future but a job search site, such as Glassdoor.com can show you the current opennings in your field.

Not sure IT specifically but there does seem to be a lot of Tech related jobs in the Tampa area.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/jobs.h...&locId=1154429

[MortonR]

The IT field in the Tampa area is growing significantly, although I can't comment on game development, only business related areas. It's certainly nowhere near as saturated in the discipline as SoCal.

Personally, unless you are single and looking for an active social/nightlife scene, I would avoid South Florida. It's a very, very different place in a lot of respects compared to Tampa. Cost of living is considerably higher as well.

As a previous poster mentioned, check the hiring sites like Indeed and Glassdoor for openings, or if you already have experience, consider talking to a local headhunter.

RM

[HWTechGuy]

Gaming companies as of late prefer to hire their majority of developers on a contract basis as opposed to permanent. I have a family member who unfortunately works in that industry and it can be tough.

[usmcslater]

I am 26, will be 27/28 by the time I would be looking to move. So some kind of social scene would be nice although Im not huge into night clubs, im more of a concert goer, hiking, dinner and a movie kind of guy ha. They dont really have to be gaming companies specifically, I guess a more generic way to describe it would be a company that focuses more on creation, rather than IT for business models, if you can get what difference im trying to make, I realize it is rather vague.

[spbbound]

You may want to investigate Orlando or Winter Park area for IT+Entertainment; Disney obviously has a massive IT department, and I'm sure the other amusement parks have heavy IT demands as well. I would doubt IT is particularly different at an entertainment or gaming company versus any other industry though; it's not like the game development staff are going to ask the server, backup, storage, network, etc. crew to come in and test the latest map for Call of Duty lol. You'd want to be in programming / graphic design if you wanted to be interacting with the cool stuff.

[usmcslater]

Ill have to check it out, a lot of my ideas on what I want to do are admittedly a little all over over the place, my end goal would be to do some kind of IT Security since I have a background of general security from being in the Military.

But the core of me is more artistic, I play music and have been playing drums for 15+ years, so im trying to see if I could find a 'happy medium' for the two, but I don't think it is a possibility for my career path lol.

[MortonR]

"General security" or any DoD certified security background won't get you into most private sector IT security shops. At least 75% of the applicants we get for security related positions that are former military/DoD or have mustered out and were contracting are so limited in experience or have such a narrow focus they're pretty much worthless in the IT security business world. I looked at over 30 such resumes for our last opening and tossed every one, mainly because it was clear that the applicants had a very limited skill set outside of the task they had been performing.

Better have your CISSP before you even walk in the the door or submit a resume. Some additional certs with GIAC or ISC2 in areas of specialization make a big difference in marketability and salary. In the business world unless you're focused in a particular area of compliance, such as PCI or forensics, you're going to need to be a "jack of all trades" to get a job.

Yes, the IT security arena is hot and there are a lot of jobs, however, employers I know are discerning about who they hire and won't give a job to the first person who walks in with a Security+ cert on their resume.

Oh - and be sure to avoid the USF and other such security programs that many local colleges and universities are offering. Just like the for-profit folks, they're very interested in separating you from your hard earned money. Last time I checked, one of the "certificate" programs at USF was over $10k. Ouch. And that's not a post graduate degree program - it's a "certificate" program.

RM

[usmcslater]

MortonR, I appreciate the info, I had CISSP 'in my radar' and knew of its importance but you giving me a more real world idea of its importance gives me a good understanding of how important that cert is, I am currently working on my CCENT and Security+. Ill look at a better road map to get me closer to being ready to start studying for CISSP

Thanks for the heads up.

[cjrudy]

Dont worry about the CISSP, most employers are only looking for the Security +

The CISSP is for higher level security people