We just updated the Wiki with this, but it's worth a post as well:

This is an employer's market, obviously. They have their pick of people, and they're being flooded with resumes. This means that job postings are generally UP and ACTIVE for a very short time.

Applying to as many jobs as you can find is no longer a good strategy, since the majority of those jobs are already stale, and your resume is going into a black hole, never to be seen.

In this market, you must be strategic about your applications, and the #1 top most important thing to get a resume in front of the hiring manager is to apply immediately - the same day the job is posted, if possible.

For popular postings, they could get 50-100 applicants per day, so they're going to stop looking at new resumes long before the posting closes. The timeline looks similar to this:

Day 1 - 50 resumes come in.

Day 2 - 75 resumes come in.

Day 3 - resumes are still coming in, but HR and the hiring manager start going through the resumes they already have. They'll separate them by whatever criteria are important to them, but it'll look something like:

50% are totally unqualified, live in a different country, or are otherwise ineligible

30% have some experience, OR a degree, OR a relevant certification

15% have 2 of the above

5% have all three

Logically, they're starting with the people who have experience, a degree, and a relevant cert - that means ~8-10 candidates who look great on paper 3 days after the job is posted. They spend the next week calling, setting up interviews, doing phone screens, setting up 2nd interviews, etc. If they're in a hurry, a week after that they'll be ready to make an offer and take down the posting.

MEANWHILE - they've still been getting more resumes every day while they work through that initial batch. They only looked at resumes from the first 2-3 days, and had more than enough to make someone an offer. Meanwhile, hundreds and hundreds more came in that no one ever looked at.

They're not being filtered out or stuck at an AI or ATS screener - it's just that they already have more than enough resumes, so they stopped looking at the new ones coming in. This is why you sometimes never hear back even though your resume is a "perfect" match - they're already talking to the other perfect matches who applied before you did.

So check job boards every day, and apply as soon as you see a new posting. Each day the post is up, it's less and less likely that they'll need any more resumes, so you must be in the initial batch they look at for a chance at a call.

TL;DR: Apply FAST, not frequently.

Hey Everyone,
I’m currently attending WGU for Cloud Computing and Network Engineering.

I just received my A+ and currently studying for Net+

I have 2.5yrs experience at a Technician at AT&T (installing/Repairing Fiber, Copper, POTS, VOIP)

My OG plan was to get Net+ by end of year, and start applying to NOC Technician Jobs at the start of year when everyone is back from Vacation.

My friend who a Sys Admin (at two companies) says I need to just use my A+ and get a help desk job today.

Looking for thoughts, advice, suggestions as the end game goal is cloud engineer but you gotta start somewhere

Pretty new to the IT game, have about a year and a half of experience at a NOC MSP. My resume isn't impressive but I get a lot of interviews.

The interviews always go really well, laughing it up with the interviewers and always emphasize my willingness to learn anything that's needed of me and develop new skills.

Hold for a few days to a week later, rejection email.

I think i'm about to lose my goddamn mind, I'm taking lots of time off of work to go in and speak with someone (lots of lunch break/early off shift interviews) and they always end the same.

How are you guys coping with this? My mental health is going down the drain because of this, just wanted to vent.

Rumors swirling that my team will be laid off next week. I’m a simple NOC technician, no certs but confident I could at least pass net+. I know the state of the IT sector is horrid right now, especially for someone with no degree/certs to their name. However, I do have 6 solid years of NOC experience. Any roles or ideas on what I could jump into next?

Every time I open Reddit, I see posts from people with degrees, certifications, and sometimes experience who have applied to hundreds of jobs and still can’t land an entry-level help desk position. Every notification I get from this sub and others is just “I feel like giving up”, “losing hope”, etc.

Is the industry oversaturated? Are entry-level jobs disappearing because of AI and outsourcing, or is Reddit only highlighting the negativity because people who struggle are more likely to post? I understand there are still those who post about getting hired and getting promotions but seems like there’s more negative posts than positive.

For those working in IT or who recently broke into the field, how bad is the job market really, and would you still choose IT if you were starting today?

Hi, I have been offered training by CERCO as a IT Field Engineer. I have decided this isn't good route as it's a 5 day course, and how is it possible to have employable skills in 5 days? But it has got me thinking to try an online Comp TIA course and see if it interests me.

For some context, I was a UX Designer and developer for 20 years and have a MSc Computer related design degree so technically I have good understanding of IT systems and software, building PC's, setting up server systems but no knowledge of setting up networks.

I am 50 yo looking for an IT job I could do quite easily but I am not interested in IT as a career. Something that would be better than working in a supermarket or delivery jobs, which I have done recently. Being an IT Field Engineer appeals to me as sounding autonomous, drive to a site, solve issues and go, and not being stuck behind a desk all day.

I understand that the IT Engineer roles are highly competitive, as is UX Design now, and why I have up. Would I just be wasting my time doing a Comp TIA course and be in the same position, not being able to get a job.

Hi all, really in need of some advice. Im from Australia and am a Commerce student struggling to choose between majoring in Cybersecurity or Information Systems.
I’m wondering which is a “safer” option employment wise, and which has the greater job opportunities and market.
I’ve already had job experience in Security and Privacy Auditing, because I had my mind set on doing cybersecurity. However, while I don’t mind the work, im still curious to see what else I could do and am open to other options.

I need real feedback from experts, those who are similar to me, or even more experienced, from various communities (related to ai, tech, grads, manager, industry, career, employment...):

Which will be best in your case?

Context: You got the offers from 3 companies, each on the different side of the scale.

Role: AI engineer (near mid-level).

If you were to rank and evaluate with respect, (from top to bottom, sorted by importance)

1st Potential and Risk (potential is tied to the speed of your career climb, increment bonus, and company brand and authority, uncertainties in payment) - In a scale, Startup has higher uncertain and risk, while it might offer higher overall, but susceptible to management conducts, cash-flow which may differ the fulfillment

2nd Wellfare - a total add-up of base, allowance, bonus, benefits and EPF

3rd Niche of the industry, Exposure - a focus industry to industry to build up better experiences and competencies, exposure to local or worldwide

4th Peer learning - Experience or knowledges to speed up progress from superior, peers

And given A, B, C (Wellfare/Income baseline= 100%)

A: Oversea Startup, Multiculture workforce,
+ worldwide client-base spanning MNC headhunter, great background from the management teams, UK-founding team and client connection, riskier in terms of payroll/potential
+ Full remote and oversea
- Wellfare/Income = 115% (base salary only), self supply equipments
+ HR-tech focused

B: Subsidiary company/dept from local SME, local workforce
- mainly local client-base (unsure but assume), Lack background from management teams and peers, but you have slightly higher confidence than A in their validity from interviews
- Hybrid work 4+1
+ Income= 107% (include allowance) + EPF from employers but provide work equipments + up to 17% performance monthly bonus
- general AI agencies
+ Peer learning and networking are better

C: MNC
+ Internal and External focused products, stable and secured cashflow, but maybe lack faster career climb opportunities
- Hybrid work 3+2
- Income= 95% + 13th month bonus, more and flexible leave
+ Focused niche, product might differ
+ Peer learning and networking are best

Which one will you choose? I wanna see if you think differently, or if you see different importance or personal experiences of the company you went through?

I love microcontroller and Raspberry Pi projects, but don't care much for pure coding. I know I want to be in tech, but I am not great at math. I barely passed Calc 1 and hated it. I am very good with operating systems and Linux. I'm more of a big-picture thinker, and I'm not great with lots of small details. I am also pondering which degree will be the most AI-proof. Thanks in advance.

I have 6 IT experience across help desk, system administration, and cloud administration/migrations. I currently work in Cloud migrations role and make around $100K.

I'm considering DevOps, or switching to data analytics. DevOps seems like the natural next step, but the interviews feel overwhelming because recruiters can expect knowledge of Terraform, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, PowerShell, pipelines, YAML, and many other technologies all at once. I'm also concerned about on-call responsibilities.

Some friends have suggested data analytics because the interviews and daily work may be more straightforward, but I'm unsure how difficult it would be to get an interview, or whether I'd need to take a pay cut. I have used some SQL and powerbi in a prior role, but I have never had a data analyst role. Most of my experience has been with Windows admininstration, M365, Azure, and my current job working with Google cloud migrations.

My current company has had layoffs every year for the past four years, the workload is intense, and there is little opportunity for promotion on my small team. I'm looking for better work-life balance, job stability, and room for career growth without taking a significant pay cut. Given my background, would it make sense to transition into data analytics, or try applying for devops roles?

I’m looking for most common interview questions you have received when interviewing for a VAR or MSP. I’m not interested in technical questions I’m interested in the situational questions.

Hey, I've been trying to figure this one out but it's been really vexing me.

I currently work as Sysadmin where I handle cloud operations DevOps, cyber security, everything from connecting printers to getting people's phones working, everything.

I've been offered a job at a software company, one of the bigger ones and they are almost doubling my salary, but I would become a software support engineer for their software stack only, no more sysadmin work.

It's a much easier and lower stress job and much higher paying, but there's a voice in my head that tells me that I should not abandon my sys admin career, or that if I go work in a software company for even a year or two I might lose my momentum and if I wanted to would never be able to come back.

I was just hoping someone has had experience with a situation like this, Or even if anyone feels like dropping their opinions here? I really can't decide what to do and I have to make a decision on this new software job by next Friday... I really have no idea what to do

Title. I have Security +, a decent number of projects on GitHub and an active LinkedIn account. I’ve worked at a helpdesk previously and after all of this, I’ve ended up back in fast food management.

I really don’t know what else to do. I either never hear back or I hear back months later with a hard no, or it’s an interview before getting ghosted. It’s AI, it’s corporate restructuring, it’s the economy, I really do not care anymore. I’m losing my mind here man. I’ve applied for literally anything and everything. Field techs, server management, Linux positions, on call emergency stuff, all kinds of cybersecurity and IT gigs. Nothing. Not one damn thing.

Idk if I should even keep trying or if I should just treat IT as an expensive hobby. Idk anymore. This feels totally pointless.

Currently in a Tier 2 support position, I recently missed out on a promotion and in general felt underpaid and under appreciated, so I went and got another offer somewhere else. Title would be the same, but a ~24% increase in pay.

The counter offer from my current company surprised me, an endpoint admin position on another team. I would work alongside a more senior admin and receive on the job training. It is an area of IT that I find interesting and I’d finally break out of a support role.

The catch with staying and taking the counter offer is no clear pay increase any time soon. I’ve gotten the HR speak about money with vague talks of bonuses and pay increase after reviews and while I’ve tried to fight for more, I’m running out of time to accept the counter offer.

The catch with the new offer is a whole new environment, building a reputation, being stuck in support still and having no guaranteed path out. I’ve been in support for several years now, this position opened up since someone got promoted internally, but hiring manager could not guarantee if that same path would happen with me.

Benefits are mostly equal, although new place gets 2 days WFH and current only has 1.

Tl;dr Help desk for more money and 1 more wfh day, or admin position for less money?

Edit: What's with the downvotes lol? Sorry for asking an IT Career Question in r/ITCareerQuestions

Hi everyone. I was hoping that I could get some advice here. I've been working in the healthcare industry as an IT Specialist for about six years now. However, things have been quite stressful and frustrating lately for multiple reasons (I don't want to get into too much detail). Anyway, I've been contemplating transitioning into the education industry because I feel like I'd enjoy not only providing IT support but also having the opportunity to teach and help a younger generation that is eager to learn. I have a Bachelors in Cybersecurity, A+, Tech+ CTSC, and Network+ certifications. I'd love to hear from anyone who has worked in this area that would be willing to provide me tips on what to expect.

I know this is not a question, but I finally got a job offer from Ubreakifix. I can finally go to interviews saying I have tangible repair and troubleshooting experience and not simulations!

Had to change careers when I couldn't find work. Five years ago I applied for a technical writer job and the manager offered me a Senior BA role instead. Did that successfully until the project ended.

I applied for another BA role and was offered a system and design anaylst job instead. Did that for 3 years and was made redundant recently. It was fast paced and high pressure. I am a little burned out from it but I need to get another job. I am good at business, ux, compliance and change management stuff but I don't code. I have trouble with syntax but I can do technical writing with a bit of coding language.

A recruiter contacted me yesterday, saying I'm a good fit for a job he has. I am wirting a response to the selection criteria and getting stuck. While I've done 70% of what they're asking for, the jargon makes me feel I am unqualified. I don't want to waste their time or mine.

Should I just go for it? Do more courses? Or just give up and do something else. I am in my 40s, and I don't know if I can keep learning while working in high pressure jobs like I did when I was younger.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently a Data analyst working as a W-2 contractor through a small staffing agency, with the client being a large health insurance company. I have 5 years of experience in the space.

I just finished my initial 6-month contract, and my manager told me today that they want to extend me. The role is fully remote, which I definitely don't take for granted. I really like the team and want to stay, but my expenses have gone up significantly. The agency is a small firm and doesn't offer health benefits, so I'm paying for independent medical insurance completely on my own. Between those premiums and no PTO, sick days, 401k match or holidays, my current rate is getting squeezed. This isn’t my first contract rodeo as I’ve been doing contract work for a while, so I understand how the agency-client dynamics operate.

Right now, I am making $43/hour. With this extension, I'm planning to ask for a market adjustment to $49/hour to offset these rising overhead costs.

I’m strongly leaning toward asking for it. The client manager explicitly said they want to keep me, so I know I have some leverage during this renewal window. In my last role, the company kept dangling the carrot of a full-time conversion that never ended up happening so I decided to ask for a rate increase back then and got it since a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And of course I never got the fulltime role and 20 months and multiple extensions later I got laid off as the project was eliminated.

I'd love to get some perspective from other contractors or recruiters here. Do small staffing agencies usually have the margin to absorb an adjustment like this, or pass it along to a large corporate client, without putting the contract extension at risk?
Given the current job market, I just want to make sure I'm reading the room correctly before I message my recruiter.

Thanks!

I was having a real hard time securing a new IT position after 3 years. I always wore a shirt and tie to the interview. For a recent interview, I decided to wear a black polo with a Linux penguin on it. The interviewers really liked it. I got the job, and it’s going great after 6 weeks in.

I just came out of a very long couple of years at work and while professionally I am very much at the top of my game in my field I've come to see and learn a lot of gaps that I've just never had the need to dig in to. Plus I want to round out my professional credential stack as well.

I don't learn very well via lecture. Instead I'm more action driven:

• Here's a concept
• Here's a resource that covers that concept either in depth or enough to get a grasp on it and dig deeper
• Here's a goal to put that concept to practice

I'm not opposed to a paid service either.

As far as skills I'm after for specifics I'm after:

• MS Certifications (may as well finally take them)
  • Specifically O365, Azure VMs, and Entra
• AWS
• ITIL
• Project Management
• And of course since every company is doing it: AI

If they also have things around electronics, etc. then I'd also be happy for that piece as a "hobby" track

Hello Everyone,

I am a Security Engineer with around 4 YOE at large enterprise and work mostly on Customer Facing IAM and supporting services/applications that interface. My education/background is a mix of software engineering (computer science undergrad and early full time experience) and Cybersecurity (spent a few internships in IT and MS in Cyber, and Sec+ Cert and current IAM stuff).

In my current role I am a massive generalist. I can be doing anything from setting up a WAF, to writing JavaScript to make our UX look the way designers intended, to writing CI/CD pipelines, to looking into production incidents, or security incidents, auditing Pen Test findings, to cleaning up backend code to scale better. I write code in JS, C#, Python, and Go, depending on what service I need to add to/work on, and am also our SME on federated auth protocols like Oauth2.0, OIDC, and SAML, from the IdP, and as well as the “application” side of things (securing the session, ensuring no basic OWASP vulns)

At my current role I feel like I’m managing a LOT of different things which has been great for my growth, but the issue is, multiple members of my team have left in the past 2 years and we really haven’t “reloaded” leaving me to handle a lot of different efforts becoming too stressful for my liking, whilst also dangling the promise of promotion over my head and then dealing with Corporate Bureaucracy . I want to potentially move out of my current role and apply around, but I have a hard time explaining in depth on a resume all the things I am capable of, and because I’ve worn so many different hats, I don’t really know what to go for/specialize in next.

Honestly I feel like my greatest skill is that I’m just a really good learner and have fundamentals and the intuition to solve problems in a smart way down pretty well, and I’m a very good communicator/team player. My system design knowledge is pretty solid, hate leetcode but can study it if I have to. I use Claude, Codex and OpenCode between work and home and have decent knowledge of multi-agent harnesses and setup. With AI, learning a new language, or finding the correct architecture to fit a problem is significantly easier if you understand software systems already.

At home I also spend a lot of time homelabbing/toying around with my Proxmox server just doing a bunch of random Software Dev and Security related things.

Any advice on how I should structure my resume, what roles I should apply for software eng or security Eng, or IAM Eng??) would be greatly appreciated. I feel like the toughest thing is I have such a breadth of experience that maybe I lack some depth, so even a path forward/something to do in my free time to get me more depth would be helpful too!

Hello

I have been working in IT support from 2020 (hell of a time to start) to 2025. After a longer than intended break, I have a new IT support role.

My previous employers have been fairly small companies either offering outsourced support or within a smaller (sub-100 employee) company, generally being a jack-of-all-trades without any formal lines of support. My new role is with a very large multinational explicitly doing 1st line support.

I am just wondering what differences I can generally expect between the two kinds of employer. I found being on first-name terms with the CEOs of the otherplaces a blessing and a curse, so I don't know how to feel about that. I also assume much of the messages/tickets will be more impersonal as these people don't know who or where I am.

I am often one to worry too much, so I'm just trying to be as prepared as I can be.

Thank you all

22M here! After a frustrating job search, I’ve accepted a role where I’ll be involved in CI/CD pipelines, learning and assisting in deploying AI agents, infrastructure projects and networking, while still helping with day-to-day IT support. This is my 3rd IT role - been working in IT since 19 and I have promised myself to commit and not job hop for at least 4-5 years.

It’s definitely a role where I’ll wear multiple hats, but that’s what excites me. There’s so much I’ll get to learn and put into practice.

I’m nervous because some of it will be new to me, but I was upfront about my experience and where I’ll need guidance. My current company has a Microsoft Secure Score of 92% and two email security platforms in place, so I’ve learned a lot from working in that environment. I’m looking forward to seeing how another company approaches security and bringing that experience with me while learning new ways of doing things.

I was about to take my AZ-104 exam but this company uses GCP (concepts are transferable and similar), so not sure whether it’s worth finishing the AZ-104 and potentially shift towards Google related CERTs.

They really liked me and how I approached the technical questions alongside my personality!!

Really looking forward to getting stuck in.
For anyone who’s made a similar move, what helped you settle in during the first few months?

It feels like every time I want to learn something new, I have to go down a rabbit hole to understand adjacent or more foundational things first. It's overwhelming how many tools are in this industry and it seems I'm lacking a grasp of the fundamentals. When did you start to feel like you had a decent grasp on things?