Nearly impossible requirements......

[poltr1]

Part of the problem I'm finding with job hunting is that it's a buyer's market out there. That is, companies and their HR departments are developing requirements that are almost impossible to achieve. These companies are going for "Mr. Perfect", not "Mr. He'll Do". Even if I trained myself on the areas they wanted, it may not match the requirements, especially if they specify X years of programming experience in a language (or languages).

Even though I have 15 years in the IT industry, it doesn't amount to [excrement]. These companies care more about experience in programming languages than they do in overall experience.

Meanwhile (according to daisy_knotwise), companies are looking for the government to grant more H1-B visas because they can't find trained people here in the States to do the job. What's wrong with this picture? What about us underqualified and unemployed IT workers?

[Updated 17:11 15-May to add link to relevant article]

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I *suspect* that at least some of those "Mr. Perfect" ads are out there because companies must attempt to find US citizens or permanent residents who are qualified to do the work in question. Posting a "help wanted" ad with an impossible-to-achieve list and failing thus "proves" that "qualified" talent cannot be found locally and justifies yet another H1B visa.

One thing I've noticed in terms of sysadminning is that there are a lot of ads looking for very very senior people. Problem being, the way you learn the craft is on the job, by getting a junior position and working your way up. However, all the junior positions have been offshored at this point. Stuff like changing passwords, creating user accounts, and so forth--basically the "scut work" of sysadminning--is all handled out of Bangalore these days. So now these companies wonder why there are no senior sysadmins in the pipe--hey, dumbasses, its' because *you* broke the pipe five years ago!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, may as well apply to some of those jobs. What have you got to lose? Maybe one of these days one of those companies will settle for "Mr. Will Do" and you'll be It.

[poltr1]

Or better yet, one of these companies will find me and want me for the job. That seems to be how my luck runs.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Whatever, a job's a job, no matter how you come by it. Good luck.