Good luck to you.

That really sucks, justiceischeap.

I was told they needed to hire a "real" front-end developer. I've been maintaining and developing WordPress sites for one department most of the time I've been there. I guess they don't consider that "real" development.

I wasn't trying to be nosy, just wanted to understand the situation/circumstances a little better.

Best of luck to you.

can only go just so far, before e-real-estate developers need to sharpen their market focuses.

the engineers, or at least pseudo-engineers, into some of those front end jobs. The whole field is in transition for lots of reasons that include political pressure on those H1B visas.

It's the employers' market, so they are forcing the price of talent/skills down. Paying less for more.

This country NEEDS the right to organize.

they want a jack of all trades. Someone who does design, front-end, back-end, cartwheels, juggles and all for the top dollar price of $15/hr.

will go unnamed that work for $1/hr AND LESS from what I've seen on some online freelance sites. That's who you are now competing with.

Of course, their work will be crap and no one will be able to communicate with them due to their poor English, but at least they won't have to pay minimum wage or any benefits.

I looking to move into web/mobile development within the next year or so. I am a PMP and a SCRUM master, but I don't work in development. I do have programming skills in ASP MVC/C#/SQL/Javascript. I'm currently studying JQuery and AJAX. I'm looking to add in PHP, Apache, and maybe a little Linux.

I want to get in Project Management.

they are a dime a dozen...


I would stay away from that if I was you and focus on skills that fewer folks actually have...

and STOP blowing so much smoke and blue-sky that stuff actually crashes and burns.

billions of dollars by now . . .

and it continues.

To me, skills based focus is not really good career advice. In-demand skills change all of the time. Your specialty today is obsolete tomorrow, and then no one wants to hire you.

For example, I heard a recruiter tell us a story about FoxPro DBAs were all the rage back in the 90s, and folks who knew it well could ask for whatever rate they wanted. Then the market shifted and those contractors could not get hired.

I was a Data Analyst, and like you, I held that same opinion about PMs. However, I've changed over the years, esp. after working for a manager who no real managerial nor PM skills whatsoever, but he was very technically proficient. He would agree to major changes in specs without ever consulting his team. He would hoard information. He never believed in planning which resulted in us doing duplicative work.

A good PM/SCRUM master who truly understands the needs of the project, the stakeholders/product owners, and the team can make a huge difference in the success or failure of the project.

on in the network. It's all refining itself as we speak, so the demand for optomization constantly increases the data management challenges, which go under the heading of "change management" in some segments of the milieu.

I worked in Customer Care around BIG operations management packages, with ALL kinds of engineers. If I were young, I'd get a good foundation in statistics and any of the good query languages. The way that the data is "packetized" in networks involves all kinds of hardware/switches and devices with different operational traits all working together. There are many visual tools for displaying all of it, but if you don't understand what feeds them, you can only do just so much, so someone has to also be able to use what they're seeing and construct new queries effectively on the fly, because unlike the kinds of databases most of us are used to, guessing just does NOT get it.

Fascinating field! CRAZY professional environments, because of different kinds of stake holders with different levels of understanding and motives and political-financial stuff going on, but I loved it anyway, for the sheer pleasure of seeing it work, BUT, then, I wasn't an engineer and I HAVE seen some of those engineer ladies and gentlemen TRULY suffer. Good managers, with the best understanding possible of the WHOLE effort, can do much good.

Good luck, to you, Yavin4, be a good manager!

I've installed MS's analysis services at my small company. It's really overkill for our business, but I feel compelled to learn about it. I went to a 'practice' interview once, and they said they would have hired me if I'd had more experience with reports, so then I ended up installing business intelligence services on our network. Now I'm finding that I need to start mirroring our database and creating snapshots in order to optimize performance. That means we need two instances of the server. Nothing on the massive scale of what corporations need, but from a small business perspective there's a lot to it. I think the motivation is getting people who understand how the business works and how it can be streamlined. People who understand data mining and business intelligence are taken more seriously than people who just show up for their jobs.

to me that only means that you are at the mercy of those who do understand it. My nephews and one of my brothers-in-law did what you are doing for my BIL's law practice, waaaaaay ahead of the curve; worked out rather well for him.

Data mining, devices and switches and stuff, is also the fodder for the whole network security piece.

It also stands to reason as optomization gets sharper and sharper, there are going to continually be a points at which one-size-fits-all market advertisers isn't going to work, especially if you have domains that are really doing something different. I think the demand for "granularity"/focus would increase, wouldn't it? It's all so completely scalable that that alone will drive customization, especially if you have a bunch of engineers around who could earn just about whatever they want, but they want to have more control over how many hours they work each week, not 40-50+ hours!

If you look at business from the perspective of a conduit for work and money, having good BI can increase the flow of business. In theory it should maximize the flow of work through every person in the company. So it might effect granularity spanning from the development of a contract with a billion dollar company to controlling the cost of ink on a piece of paper. Yeah I don't see how that can be done with a one-size-fits all approach.

describe, and the problems created in business rules that don't fit in all of the right places, all of the way up from the actual switches to the front end.

However, lots of users are going to be okay with the generic packages, but if we're going to break the big molds and actually implement authentically NEW smaller entrepreneurship in all markets, then someone is going to have to commit to optomizing the difference between my sister's custom sewing, by way of analogy, and someone who sees it, takes a photo, rips her work off with a cheaper knock-off, with way less craftsmanship, which does better on the internet, because the photo of the knock-off is just as good and both products are being optomised by the same algorithms, presenting the same sub-grouping criteria (often in the left-most column)

A big part of the response to this problem, at present, is customer reviews, but: 1. I don't want to have to take the time to read a bunch of reviews; 2. I don't know whether the reviewers and I share the same standards for whatever the product is anyway. 3. When you're looking at links for about 300 women's tunics some of us just get frustrated and don't buy anything and that doesn't even consider the costs of buying the wrong things and having to refund, or just throwing it somewhere and not buying from that merchant, or on the internet, again.

If there were more control over H1Bs and no tax-benefits for exporting jobs/importing workers, don't you think engineers could be in an advantageous situation now? . . . because the demand for quality engineering is so high, engineers could consider types of compensation that are not limited to a paycheck. I imagine there are plenty of people who'd work for less for certain reasons: time flexing, or less than 40 hrs a week, job sharing, profit sharing, health care, education, more collaboration, creative input . . . . If American tech jobs were better protected, don't you think that tech scalability compared to real market pressures for customization/granularity/focus could result in some value implementation options that would motivate changes which could add up to as much freedom as possible for as many people as possible?

Sounds co-operative, doesn't it, I guess that's part of what I'm thinking: smaller independent server farms, serving limited very specific kinds of markets for more collaborative value outcomes.

the actual living markets, which causes quite a bit of churn, btw, so whatever happens, they must identify it and fix it FAST or lose market share in an extremely competitive environment, hence they want more and cheaper engineers on or as close to the front-line as possible.

See Windows 8.

3 times for our group of several hundred employees in a national enterprise.

engineers that had to travel all over getting the stuff working together with the team back home. Then, a release would come out.

of banks. There are several engineers in our family too.

needs a job".

And I'm the only one left from the original team. So, in a way, I'm not surprised that I'm being let go, mostly that it took so long. Plus, our VP doesn't really care for the "homosexuals" and I'm openly one of those... so I think that plays into it as well. Can't prove it, of course, but I suspect it's the case.

What's ironic is that the department I'm in doesn't pay my salary, so I'm kinda confused on how they can't afford me in the budget.

enforcing the law that we could turn to?

Really sorry for what has been done to you.

You really have to be on your toes to stay good at it. I hope you find a new gig quickly, and it's with someone who appreciates you.

I'm doing SQL development at the moment, but I know that even that relatively stable area is subject to constant change.

I feel like I'm back in college again -- working AND going to school! I'm not actually 'going to school' but I am always reading a tech book, taking an online tutorial, or off to take some local classes. I work during the day & do my 'school work' at night.

That really sucks. Hope you can find another job soon.

Don't lose hope. Try to keep positive even though it will be hard.

Hopefully you can file for your unemployment.

I get IT jobs all the time even though I have pretty much stepped out of the industry. They aren't in my state though. I have recent ones for Irving TX, Colorado Springs CO (I live in Denver), Harrisburg, PA and Reston, VA. Are they anywhere near you? (DU'ers can contact me if they want the info - I just collect 'em)

Comcast are hiring, so check it out..

Vibes coming your way... hoepfully you can start fresh...

Talk about being insulted. However, it turned out to be a good thing because the next job I got was, and still is, a much better situation.

I wish the same luck for you!

Hope you find something soon

I hope you find something soon, and may it be something you like a lot better.

I wish you good luck and agree that this sucks

I just went through 6 months of hell as our company decided who to get rid of. I was lucky, but had to cut 4 from my team.

There was a severence for those guys at least.

Good luck getting another job.

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2013, 10:30 PM - Edit history (1)

That really sucks, justiceischeap. Please keep yourself in good spirits. You should be able to find something soon with your skill set.

So sorry. I hope your job search is short!

and a buh-bye, that it was nice to know you.

Something you really love. I'm sorry they did this to you.

I am VERY sorry, justice

I tried to quit my job last weekend and they wouldn't accept my resignation (no shit - things have been stressful at work and at home, so I emailed the owners of the company Saturday night - in the midst of a severe panic attack - and told them I couldn't continue since it's affecting my health. They told me I could quit if I wanted, but I'd be bailing on the company during a time of need. I sucked it up and told them I'd stay).

Were you under contract or were you a regular employee?

but I've been there for over 3 years.

Sorry to hear your job is so stressful.

...which confuses me, since I have little self-worth.

Do you know any other programming languages? And, are you willing to put up with the horror of Central NY winters? If yes to both, PM me. I work for a Medical Software company that is always in need of addl programmers.

You can help these guys:
http://interoccupy.net/

Make their site readable on a mobile device.

I apologize if I'm over-stepping here, but I almost exclusively use a mobile device anymore and the site is almost unreadable on my iPhone.

and good luck on your job search. If your lucky you can live on unemployment for a little while.

Hope you find something soon.

another one opens. But it's the cold hallways in between that are a bitch.....

Hoping your hallway is a short one to a better open door, jc

Success is the best revenge!

Also look for work at all those Fed agency (full or temp) and checkout how to get security clearance. Good Luck.

I hope you find something even better soon! Take care!

You're far from alone. The jobs categories at Wishadoo! provide a nice, neat place to post what we're looking for and what we have to offer. It's another tool we as a community can use to connect and help one another out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022382367

Sending good vibes your way that the perfect position is just around the corner!!!

...will provide for you? If not, give that person a call and see if you can agree on what that person will say to any potential employer. Make sure you have good refs lined up from your previous jobs and let them know you'll give them a heads-up when you expect them to be called.

Additionally, take some time to update your resume and add the experience you gained from your last employer. Did you receive any training/classes/seminars on or off the job that will help you get your next job? If so, add those, too.

In addition to the normal job boards, use Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin to develop leads. Find a few niche boards as well.

Also, take a look at a few boards that cater to contractors and add your profile to their database in addition to applying to any jobs that appear appropriate.

Go over your finances and see what you can cut out, at least on a temporary basis.

If you're eligible for unemployment, apply for asap! Every dollar helps while you're looking for work. You may want to look into food stamps, too.

Hope all of this rambling helps...good luck!

My Company is in the DC Metro Area...we are hiring people with your skills. Please message me and I will give you more details...

Good luck

Okay , it sucks, but I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope you'll find something even better.

I applied for unemployment on Tuesday and received notification from the State (Texas) today that I got it. I hated the job so I'm not sorry. It worked out to my benefit. I wish you well. Someone with your coding and developer skills should be able to find something without too much difficulty. Best wishes to you.

one door closed and a better one is to come open for you soon.

But it is good that your company gave you a month to find a new job. Fortunately, two companies that laid me off gave me a few weeks to find other employment. My last job that I had been at for 13 years told me that I was no longer employed there, but they were generous because I received 6 months severance pay. No problem because I was thinking about retiring anyway.

I am sure you will find something in your field especially if you are competent in web designing.

quit or something.

I'm 59. Last year, at 58, some bad things went down at my job, so that I wondered if they were trying to get me to leave. I did, after much crying. I was treated horribly. They may not have been trying to get me to quit, but it got so bad, I couldn't take it.

Keep your chin up. Even at my age, I had another good job within weeks! I had to take a HUGE paycut, but that's why I was able to quit. I could afford to take a paycut. But the job is good.

It's much better when they're forthright with you, and hey, they've given you time to find another job. You're lucky, if you look at it that way. And we're coming out of the recession, so there are more jobs now.

Still, I'm sorry this happened to you.

What a lousy thing.

Hope you'll find something soon!

Lost my IT job,,, spent my savings, my 401K, and then exhausted my Unemployment Benefits...

Then... Got a job with the State of California...

The 1% can kiss my benefited ass.



Good luck... truly.

And I really, really sympathize. I got my notice on Thursday morning. My last day is a week from today. I was told that it was just a financial decision, and I suppose that is right as far as it goes. I was probably the most highly paid person in my department (at least of those doing the work).

I am in South Carolina, and I am a mainframe programmer (COBOL and some Assembler). I am also about to turn 59, and I have actually had to use my health insurance for the last couple of years.

is that I had a wonky EKG recently and I have to go to the cardiologist next week. I'm worried that something will be wrong and my insurance will run out before I can find something else.

Plus, I live in the DC area, which means uber expensive (recently took on a new car payment too). Bad timing all the way around.

I complain about my salary but it takes an act of congress to get fired where I work. I know that some people don't have that stability outside the public sector.

We're looking for someone to help convert from POWERBasic into something that can be 1) documented 2) programmed into a common language and 3) willing to work for a non-profit.


Location is in Denver, but this type of job accepts telecommuter work.

May I suggest technical Meetup Groups? Wordpress, .NET, PHP, whatever you're into. I've been very fortunate finding work by networking with these groups. We also have "Hire a Developer" & "Pitch to a Programmer" meetups in my area, where start-up companies looking for techies, come to pitch their company to you.

My husband works in a mainframe shop that hires a lot of sub-contractors. They have said that the placement agencies call them off the hook. Of course, no benefits, but none of them has gone more than a few days without some kind of work & some of the subs have been hired as regular employees.

Also, think about putting up a virtual store front to showcase your web skills.

I don't know about DC, but there is a fair amount of tech work in my area.

Good luck!

I know how it feels . . .

Hope you find something soon.

Find a job seekers group in your area and go to the meetings. When I was laid off, my former company paid for a three month enrollment in Right Management. They have a lot of good resources, but I found them to be of little value otherwise (lotta psycho-babble and no job postings you can't find elsewhere).

Job seekers groups are free and are often excellent opportunities to network. It helps to know other people are in the same boat as you.

If you're not already doing so, keep a journal. Not a blog, a private journal. Studies have shown that people who keep a journal find a job 25% faster than those who don't.

Most importantly, if you are not on LinkedIn, get on LinkedIn. Update your profile directly from your resume. Uploading to your LinkedIn profile isn't very good, so I just copy and pasted mine.

A trick for getting endorsements is to give endorsements.

Stay positive and make finding a job your full time job.