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The problem is when employers expect someone to come in with 5 years of experience doing the exact same job in order to get hired, instead of offering, you know, training (assuming they have heard of that)...
To me, the H-1B aren't lowering the salaries as much as they are preventing Americans from getting employment at all as the visa workers are basically indentured servants.
It also helps if:
[list][*]You're woman or racial minority
.
That's a pile of you know what if I ever saw one. I'm both, and from what I've experienced, it's no "help" at all.
The only thing that helps you in IT is being valuable. There has to be a unique reason for an employer to keep you there (other than "hard work"). Otherwise you'll just get laid off like everyone else.
The problem is when employers expect someone to come in with 5 years of experience doing the exact same job in order to get hired, instead of offering, you know, training (assuming they have heard of that)...
Why is that? How is it reasonable for a person who's never worked for a particular company to know how to fulfill the role of the position? People aren't psychic. Companies operate differently, which includes their processes, policies, and culture. Even a lateral move to the same position title comes with differences.
The problem is when employers expect someone to come in with 5 years of experience doing the exact same job in order to get hired, instead of offering, you know, training (assuming they have heard of that)...
Why would they spend money training an American when they can get a guy from India or China who already has 10 years of experience?
See, this is where the globalist idea of "American companies need to hire the best talent" backfires on us.
U.S. - 318 million people
India - 1252 million people
China - 1357 million people
That's a lot of competition for a limited number of jobs in our country, if we open up jobs here to foreigners.
Why is that? How is it reasonable for a person who's never worked for a particular company to know how to fulfill the role of the position? People aren't psychic. Companies operate differently, which includes their processes, policies, and culture. Even a lateral move to the same position title comes with differences.
I know folks who work in Diversity Recruitment at the major companies. Let's just leave it at that.
The fact is the economy has its ups and downs and STEM generally means you're some sort of specialist.
This means your employment prospects are good if and when the economy needs your specific speciality.
If not, your STEM major's employment prospects are almost as bad, if not worse than majoring in philosophy or psychology or whatever.
It also means that you may be hot stuff for a decade, but then you're not needed anymore and when you get laid off, you will find it very hard to find a job again.
It used to be the case that if you were say, an aero engineer and got laid off from Boeing, you could get hired as a software engineer, just because the companies at the time knew aero was hard and you were smart. This kind of thing doesn't happen anymore and probably hasn't since the late 1990s.
For career longevity, the american economy vastly favors generic managerial talent over any specific specialist training. Your best bet for keeping a job forever in the USA is to just be a personable, generic project manager with maybe a bit of aptitude in mathematics and finance.
Note that this doesn't apply to medical doctors. They are technically STEM, and will always do well, but it's mainly because they are always needed, and have what amounts to a strong labor guild in the ACA.
Besides doctors, the only other STEM career that has any sort of long term career stability is actuarial work... which also is basically controlled by a guild.
What job do you want?what kind of college are you going to? The top tech companies still mostly recruit from a few schools, even with the talk of being more diverse. Companies also source from referrals mostly so you need to work on those angles.
I'm not sure yet. Someone told me to get into networking but I'll have to see when I actually start college.
As for college, I'm not sure about that either as I have to save up money first and that may take a while. I am considering going to a college that offers a 4-year degree though. I know that a bachelor's in C.I.S. is more competitive than an associate's.
Thanks for the advice. I guess that's where landing an internship is important.
I work in IT and it really depends on what part of IT you're referring to. Every single company I've worked for has approximately 10% employees (IT) through a visa. In IT you can be a network specialist, security specialist, application specialist, service desk specialist, and i'm sure there are few more.
IT is very versatile, meaning you can work in any industry at any given time. The specialties in IT are pretty much standard, except on the application side.
Layoffs happen. In any given sector you can be assured that IT employees will be laid off at any given time. As an example: I worked in the Oil and Gas industry and was laid off last year. Why? There wasn't any business due to low gas prices. I was 1 of 3 IT people go at the time, which was part of a very large layoff. I've known IT people in the health sector who got laid off due to reorganization. Layoffs happen.
Keep in mind that IT costs a company money, so many times upper management may cut funds or positions without realizing the impact this could have.
The previous poster gave some good advice!!! Find out what part of IT you want to work in and if it's for you. Get referrals and start building your skills - college and on your own.
Thanks for the information. I've also heard security is good to get into too. What a coincidence...I was curious about doing I.T. in the oil industry. From what I hear, the oil industry takes care of its workers but I am aware of the massive layoffs occurring in the field. It's business but at the same time, it's very sad.
P.S.-I'm shocked to hear that about all the companies you worked for (approximately 10% on visa). I thought it was just big corporations that insourced. I do appreciate the information you've given through your experiences.
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