A most unexpected thing happened today at work. (The IT job situation is improving)

[Statistical]

Part 1 - Anecdotal I know, but the job situation (in IT) seems to be improving.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=68189

Part 2 - The (IT) job market is getting better . . .2011 is going to be a good year.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=122588

So on to part 3. Long story short. I got two job offers. One from Amerigroup the other from EDS/HP. When it rains it pours I guess. Both were significantly more than my current salary. I decided to take the Amerigroup position and gave my boss the 411. He said the company might entertain a counteroffer and that I wait 24 hours before notifying Amerigroup.

Today they offered me 10% more than Amerigroup was offering (which was a significant increase from current salary) in order for me to stay. Honestly I am still finding it kind of hard to believe. I was looking for a reasonable bump in career advancement and salary and what has come back is beyond my wildest expectations. I said I need to sleep on it before giving him an answer but I am fairly certain I will take it.

The company confided they have been having difficulty finding qualified talent in other IT positions. They also have been suffering "poaching" of employees by competitors. He said point blank that the company couldn't afford for me to leave right now as it likely would require a significant and costly search for someone qualified and no guarantee it would be any cheaper.

To my fellow IT workers; anecdotally or not I really do think 2011 will be the year. I haven't been this bullish on IT sector, employment, etc in at least a decade. Companies have put off IT expansion for so long they are now fighting over the same limited talent pool. Both the recruiters I worked with said the same thing. I also noticed the job listings had more realistic requirements and offered more generous compared to a year ago. Dice now shows 72,227 listings compared to about 68,000 in Dec and about 50,000 in 2009 (I know I was looking then).

[RKP5637]

1. Glad to hear this!!! n/t

[RagAss]

2. I hear mainframe skills are drying up....Not taught anymore.

[tabatha]

3. And when the job numbers improve, the Republicans

will take the credit.

[Missy Vixen]

4. I wrote here a couple of weeks ago that DH took another job

He was a MSFT contractor, working on a very high-profile project. He wanted to stay. They were very happy with him, but told him there was "insufficient headcount" to offer him a permanent position. The contracting company gave him a significant bump in salary in August. He interviewed for the job he started at January 3 in September of '10; they wanted him, but they were waiting for an increase in business. They looked him up in December and offered him a job.

The contracting company was so panicked about telling those he formerly worked with that he was leaving they counter-offered multiple times. In the end, though, he took the permanent job.

He's currently forwarding resumes of guys he's worked with to the headhunters that are still contacting him.

Again, it's anecdotal, but I think you're right. It's good to see that there is some growth in IT.

[Statistical]

8. Glad to hear it.

The recruiter at Amerigroup sounded almost desperate when I called her tonight to tell her about my employer's counteroffer.

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Data Analysts that can speak english are high in demand. eom

[DCBob]

6. Congrats stats!

I am seeing similar things here in DC area. Its definitely turning around for IT.. finally!

[Ruby the Liberal]

It isn't just IT

I have been noticing this as well - the requirements. They are becoming MUCH more realistic about education and experience requirements.

I kid you not - 18 months ago, I saw an ad for someone who wanted an "office receptionist" to be proficient with various software packages, minimum of a 4 year degree, experience in marketing and sales, experience with a particular phone system and a few other odd things.

Starting salary?

$24,000, and located near Temple University (near Philly). A very expensive area.

Couldn't believe my eyes.

[Missy Vixen]

11. I agree with you

I posted a job listing from Craigslist on my blog about a year ago. It was one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen.

Here it is, for your enjoyment. ;-)

About Our Company:

We are a growing consulting firm that specializes in finance & IT solutions. We are not your typical office environment – we are a small, energetic and entrepreneurial group of professionals. This position will be full-time out of our main headquarters located in Woodinville, WA.

The Position:

•Office Support: Handle incoming & outgoing mail, create & maintain files, documents & databases, order & maintain office supplies, manage company calendar, including scheduling meetings & appointments, coordinate national & international travel, organize tradeshow/event activities, answer phones, etc.

•Finance Support: Audit employee/consultant expenses, create expense reports for president, invoice preparation & tracking, general business & personal bookkeeping, statement reconciliations, bill payment & tracking, etc.

•Executive Support: Manage the President’s calendar & email (via Outlook), book all travel, and take on a variety of projects requiring thorough research, data compilation, presentations & reports, etc.

•Personal Support: Errand running, scheduling personal appointments, booking personal travel, occasional nanny duties for toddler, etc. In general, helping keep the executive’s life as organized and stress-free as possible.

Qualifications:

•Minimum 2 years of administrative experience
-Must include expense report (creation & auditing) and travel booking experience
-Consulting environment experience preferred
•Strong PC & Microsoft Office skills
•Accounting system experience a plus (QuickBooks or similar)
•Ability to smoothly handle quickly changing priorities, multi-tasking, and strong personalities
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills
•Favorable attributes: energetic, thick-skinned, flexible, adaptable, organized, motivated, detail-oriented, self-starter, works well under pressure

We offer our employees a competitive salary commensurate with experience. Our comprehensive benefits package includes company-paid medical, dental, vision, and life & disability coverage, and a 401(k) with company match. Other perks include espresso machine w/ accessories on site and casual business attire – flip flops & tee-shirts welcome!

I wondered many times exactly how they were going to determine a salary for three different jobs done by one person... I also tend to run from any job listing featuring the words "thick skinned".

:eyes:

[eilen]

12. That 's what I was wondering-- 3 jobs in one job description

and to be Thick skinned?

But an expresso machine? Does this job also require barista skills?

My brother's girlfriend took a job kind of like this. She's working for a CPA -- accounting, phones, files, etc. AND caring for his wife who has dementia.

She has a BA in Business and no health care experience.
Some days she can hardly get her work done as the guys wife needs constant attention and interaction.
The wife apparently fires her HHA's.

I told her she should ask for a raise after 6 months.

[Gaedel]

24. Sounds like

We want to hire someone to do all the jobs we don't feel like doing ourselves.

If the company is truly growing and they are willing to pay well enough up front, it could be a great opportunity.

[Ruby the Liberal]

26. That nails it!

I seem to recall a few of those in the posting I saw as well.

They wanted like 5+ years experience, IIRC on top of the Bachelors degree.

:eyes:

[defendandprotect]

17. What's IT?

[Statistical]

19. Information Technology. For me specifically it is Software Engineering.

[defendandprotect]

22. Good news! and Best wishes!

[tammywammy]

20. Information Technology. n/t

[sendero]

7. I realize this will be of no use to you;...

... but I never ever ever take counter offers. If I'm worth that much, why did I have to threaten to leave to get it?

And, the next time there is a slowdown, the guy that "wanted to leave anyway, is not loyal" will be one of the first to go.

That's just my humble opinion.

As for the rest of the post, there is a lot of indications that, for the time being anyway, tech jobs are picking up.

[Statistical]

9. A valid point and one I am considering.

It is in the "con" category for staying. I haven't given either company an answer yet.

However (and maybe this makes me sound full of my self) I do feel I generate value for the company. I am not just a placeholder. I have done things that other developers haven't thought of. Even at the new salary I personally think I generate a solid return for the commpany.

If I am wrong then yeah it may come back to bite me in the ass 2 or 3 years from now. :)

"That's just my humble opinion."
No it is a valid point to consider.I just (maybe naively) consider my skillset hard to replicate. Sure they likely could get someone cheaper but cheaper isn't always better.

[sendero]

10. If you are a top performer..

..... then you could probably safely take the counter. It really depends on the politics of the company - there are some companies where I would definitely leave, others where staying might be an option.

[TheOther95Percent]

32. I'm glad you mentioned it.

It was the first thing I thought of when I read the opening post. Be careful of taking the counter offer. Some places see looking around for something better as being disloyal. I'm in middle management in an IT position. My superiors definitely take a negative view of someone who leaves (I work in a corporate delusional Hell environment) for another position. We're such a wonderful place to work, why should we pay the prevailing wage? Like I said delusional. I believe things are picking up in the NYC area and I fully expect to have to replace three to six positions this year on top of the two currently open positions.

[Electric Monk]

13. Congrats on playing the game.

[Rage for Order]

14. Have you considered taking the new job anyway?

If your current company really valued you as an employee they would not have waited until you were ready to walk out the door before increasing your salary to a level that they have now conceded your skills are worth. What they're really doing is admitting that they took advantage of you in a down labor market, and they're hoping you won't leave them high and dry now that you have options. It's like the spouse who is walking out the door when the other spouse says, "Honey, please don't go! I promise I'll change!"


ETA: Oops, didn't see sendero's post on the same topic before I wrote this! Nonetheless, you really should consider the new place.

[darkstar3]

15. Congrats!

I'm currently looking for IT work, and I'm hoping to get even half as lucky. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get in touch with two recruiters? I haven't run into any recruiters or head-hunters yet.

[Statistical]

18. One recruiter contacted me. I put my resume up publicly on dice, monster, and cb.

The second recruiter got in contact because the job listing was through an employment agency.

A good 1/3 of the jobs (in my experience) out there are through employment agencies. TekSystems, PlanIT, Ascendancy Group, Robert Half, etc are all employment agencies so any jobs listed by them are usually for a 3rd party company.

[darkstar3]

23. Cool, thanks for the info.

Most of my searching has been direct application through employer websites. Looks like luck requires a little monetary investment.

Thanks again.

[Statistical]

25. It doesn't cost anything to put your resume up on job sites.

Just a little bit of time and effort.

One tip. Resumes are electronically searched so make sure your resume has "keywords" an employer is looking for. If it doesn't match it will never be seen by a human. If it isn't seen by a human they will never know you exist. For example keywords in my resume are: C#, VB.NET, T-SQL, Project Management, .NET 4.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 2.0, Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010. It might seem redundant but if an employer/recruiter may have 10,000 resumes. They aren't going to look at all 10,000. They will use keyword searches to narrow it down to a dozen. If you aren't in that dozen no human will ever see it.

Second tip have another person (preferably as many people) proof read your resume. My wife is an English minor so she helped tweak a lot of things. My best friend is another developer so he recommended technical changes. I likely went through 10 or so drafts before I had final copy.

[Trekologer]

29. If you put it on your resume be prepared to answer questions on it

My company has been looking to fill a position in my group and we rotate doing the initial phone interviews (we're looking for our future co-workers) and I can't tell you how many of them that I've conducted where the candidate lists a particular core technology for the company and position and has absolutely no clue about it.

[jeff47]

33. No, they're free to you

The employer pays in the above situations.

TEKSystems has been a ton of help to me in the past. Especially if you can relocate.

[Missy Vixen]

30. DH has worked for two of these

I have nothing but good things to say about TEK Systems. They treat their staff well, pay on time, and are generally interested in how those they place at certain software companies are treated.

I wish I could say the same about one of the other companies you named. I don't care to get sued for libel, so I will give one hint. They got fired by a certain software company due to payroll being late on a number of occasions. If you are approached by a contracting company, ASK QUESTIONS before signing with them.

IMHO. YMMV.

[Statistical]

31. Good to know.

Glad to hear what you confirmed about TEKSystems. I got a good vibe from them.

I will tuck that away in my mind for some future date.

[jeff47]

34. I've worked for a lot of contracting firms in my career

And TEKSystems is the only one that gave a damn about me after the placement.

[Statistical]

35. Glad to hear another endorsement.

[pengillian101]

16. WooHoo!

:toast:

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. Good for you.

The challenge is staying at that salary tier. During the next cyclical lull, the most expensive head is the one which gets lopped off.

But staying at the lower salary isn't a good option either.

If it were me, I'd look at average salaries between the three organizations and take the one with the most headroom between you and the high salaries at that company.

[bluestate10]

27. Stay with what you know.

You know the people and personalities at your job, that familiarity is advantageous. Unless you are launching out on your own, stay with what you know.

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. nice.