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Q: After IBM training and Microsoft Certification I am still at home, what should I do ?

I graduated two years ago, and I have no particular field of experience and for some bad reasons (out of my hands) I had to move between 3 companies within one and a half years so I decided to develop myself in on area that I like and want to be experienced in . Therefore I enrolled as a student in the IBM training program (e-business track) for 6 month where all my instructors were very proud of me. I also managed before joining that training to become MicroSoft Certified. I thought with the certification and the IBM course; I would be doing well professionally. Unfortunately I completed my training two months ago and the old problem of having no experience in one field is standing in my way when seeking a job. I am still at home and have no work. Do you think that I should accept any employment even it is not the one i hope and that means more year of my life gone with no value or keep staying at home till I find a good chance?

H. N. (Egypt)

Replying
Dear Mr. H.

The first few years of a career require a lot of luck; you are either in a place you fit in and develop well; or you are moving around until you settle in a suitable job and employer. Therefore your case is not exceptional.

Since you would like to focus on the IT field, you did well by becoming Microsoft Certified and attending the IBM training program. The e business track is a useful one. In that particular field, years of experience are not as important as others (eg. banking, audit etc….); since IT by nature employs a lot of people with young ages and can accommodate in various roles individuals with limited experience. Technical support, web development, application implementation etc… usually require staff with limited experience (and thus not requiring high salaries) to perform a large number of tasks. Once the person becomes more experienced, he/she assumes more senior / complex roles and should expect a higher income. Therefore we believe you are in a field (assuming you are good at what you did train on) that has a relatively lower problem with the “years of experience factor”.

Regarding should you stay at home until you find that ‘attractive’ job or accept what is being offered now, while we do not have details about your specific case, we usually advise against staying at home.

By being at home without a job, you become demoralized, you have less chances to meet useful people or new employment leads and it does not look very positive on your CV.

And finally, you may consider doing part time / free lance technical support or internet related work to some small companies that cannot afford hiring a full time person for the recurring LAN/PC trouble shooting, installation, training etc...

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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