Jobs In Tampa area (Jacksonville, University: sales, job market, contractor)

[dpgtfc]

Greetings!

I am recent college graduate that worked my way through college working "in the field" ( Information Technology). I have been working for the University of Missouri here for about 3 years, but much of that has been part-time, so I find myself limited to "entry level" work.

My wife is a Physical Therapist and has 2 years experience at it, but she is overly fortunate, because jobs come pounding down the door for her, where as I have to pound down their doors.

She likes the idea of Portland, Oregon, which I do as well, but Oregon seems to have a high UE rate (9%), and everywhere is hit hard in the IT job market.

So I'm wondering what the job market is down there for a programmer, or any other entry level tech job (I'd prefer to program, or do database administration, but in this economy I can't be picky).

[tjax1000]

I believe that statistically, Tampa is the second largest IT market in the state. (I saw a study once but can't recall exactly.) South Florida is the largest market.

It does not appear to be as large of a market as some other areas around the country but at least there is some diversity in the employers. In other words, not every IT job is centered around finance which is definitely true in Jacksonville.

If you're entry level, probably the best thing you could do is settle in with some company for a few years where you can grow professionally and get some meaningful experience under your belt. You could do this in the Tampa area or anywhere. Pay isn't always great and the work isn't always spectacular fun at that stage, but you would do okay if your wife is a PT and thus you have two incomes.

Areas like San Antonio or Raleigh will offer more IT jobs and still have a reasonable cost of living. Big hot spots like NYC or San Fran obviously offer the most opportunity, but in my observations, the slight premium on your salary will be a drop in the bucket compared to the HUGE cost of living in these areas.

Good luck!

[Tampasteve]

As a former director of an IT development company, I would definitely check around and get your resume posted. There are jobs out those who seek them. We used to have a tough time finding good quality candidates. I am sure things have gotten easier with the economy. One place you might want to try in addition to computerjobs.com and some of the huge web sites is the Tampa Bay Technology Forum--http://www.tbtf.org/

Good luck

[Eastern Roamer]

If you wanted to take you education and "in the field" experience into sales then Tech Data is a major employer here selling IT systems and hardware worldwide. I don't know how that's going in this economy, though.

Raymond James Financial is a big employer, too. IT is their largest department.

Good Luck!

[Starr2009]

Wow! I find this incredibly interesting. My husband has his BA in IT; retired after 20 years in the Navy, worked almost three years in a civilian company that was bought out by a rather LARGER company and his job was 'eliminated' in December. We're HOPING to finally get back to FL. I hope to find more posted here!!!

[I_Want_Snow]

My advice would be to look up recruiters in the area and ask them what the market is for someone like yourself. Go to yellowpages.com and search for "employment" in Tampa and a list of recruiting agencies will come up. Not all of them will be IT related companies, but you will be able to get a list and go to their web sites and get contact numbers to call them.

I lived in St. Pete for 3 1/2 years and worked in Tampa. I am a Network Engineer with 11 yrs experience and multiple high level certifications in Cisco and Microsoft. I lost my job in Feb 08' and could not find work and had to move to ATL in June of 08'. I probably could have stuck around longer and waited to see if I could find something, but I decided to come up to GA because ATL has all kinds of IT related jobs.

I was able to find a job within 2 months of being here in GA and it pays me $20,000 more a year for the exact same thing I was doing in FL. But from my experiece, GA sucks and I don't like it at all!!! I truly miss the St. Pete/Tampa area and will gladly take a pay cut to move back down what I consider Paradise!

The recruiting places I worked with in Tampa were Teksystems and Kelly IT services. But check out web sites Dice.com and computerjobs.com. I am saving up my money and will be heading back down to St. Pete in summer 2010!!

If you get a chance to move to the area, you will absolutley love it!!!

[Keeper]

There are some jobs out there but you will probably have to start out as a contractor. My DH and a friend of his both worked a year at a company doing contract work. They were both hired as full time within the last month. My DH has been doing contract work for a couple of years and was employed the whole time with 3 different companies.