Reviving an old career (IT)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Six and a half years ago, I left the IT world behind.

I had been severely burned out for many many years, but that wasn’t the worst of it. I was a lonely, bitter, angry man. I hated myself, I hated my job, I hated the world. But I didn’t want to die. I wanted to change.

At the time, I was just entering into a whirlwind romance with a woman I eventually married and divorced. If you’ve seen the marriage counseling thread or any of the divorce threads, you may remember my comments about what a complete psycho she turned out to be. Ah, but in the beginning, I was in love. For the first time in my life. I also had more than $35k in the bank and had all the baggage things going. So I quit. August 24, 2001 was my last day. I mark that because it was less than 3 weeks before 9-11.

Like I say, I fell in love, just over a year later we were married, and not quite a year after that we were separated and divorcing, which took 9 fucking months.

I tried to get another IT job in spring 2002, but the job market didn’t exist in the wake of 9-11. I tried the occasional application after that, but the final straw was getting verbally smacked down by a recruiter while going through my divorce.

“No one will hire you”.

At that point I gave up on IT. I spent three plus years working in the Security field. Boring, Corrupt, filled with petty and unworthy people. Far beneath my mental capabilities, low paying, low benefits.

On the personal front, I’m no longer, by far, the man I used to be. Those days are long gone. I’ve changed, grown, learned, even amid all the negativity and destruction around me.

Now I’m trying to get back into the IT world. It’s been 6.5 years. My skills are rusty and outdated. I didn’t have time or money to go to classes in the last three years because I was often working 2nd and 3rd shift.

What kinds of things can I do to maximize my chances of getting back into the field? The length of time away seems to be the biggest deal breaker for most hiring managers. How can I solve this problem?

I have 17 years of previous experience. I was once a COBOL GOD!, having used it on just about every platform in existence. I know some SQL, SAS, managed a Unix box, was in the very early networking days a network admin. I’ve done design work, I’ve been a PL. I got the stuff, I got the brains, I got the ambition and drive. Now I just need a chance to prove myself.

2

Study all you can find on Microsoft .net and web 2.0 development.

Best of luck. If you’ve been out for 6.5 years, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. You might be lucky enough to find a COBOL job out there, but you’re probably going to have to move to that job.

-David
web applications development 10+ years

3

Consider freelancing and consulting. A low rate, a few non-profit or smaller clients willing to take lack of rate experience for the lower rate, and eighteen months can put you back in the game.

4

You might combine your background and look into certification as a computer security guy. This is a growing field and you could show some continuity in your career path that way.

5

How about working at a data center? Your second sentence describes me back in 2001. I was stuck behind a desk at SBC in Dilbert Land with no chance to get out to the field. I took an early retirement package, and went on a 4-year vacation,. I ended up getting hired as an Internet Data Center Tech. It’s *SO *much nicer than monitoring telecom network elements in a Network Operation Center.

6

I second this. Freelancing is a great way to fill in the gaps between relevant jobs. It’s also a good way to figure out for yourself what you need to brush up on, and what may have changed in the meantime.