Any update regarding the tech jobs availability, interview experience, offers and overall outside market?
Wanted to know how its right now from those who affected in earlier rounds and tested the water already.
PS: Just gentle on me, i know its hard and difficult out there, but may help others who may end up there shortly if the trend continues.
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A CompTIA Security+ and RedHat Linux Cert (or Linux Experience) will get you in the door with most DOD contractors
US citizens should try government contractors such as Leidos, KBR, Booz Allen, Raytheon, etc. Many positions will sponsor you for a security clearance. There are about five clearance jobs available for every applicant. The downside is lower pay than FAANGS, but excellent WLB and benefits.
I can say from firsthand experience that listing Oracle as your most recent employer on a recume is definitely taken by many IT companies as a negative. Oracle is not viewed as a great company anymore, and competitors like MS, Snowflake, MongoDB, IBM and many others will avoid hiring former Oracle-ites. I saw this also with non-competitor companies that just did not like Oracle, sometimes because of senior hiring managers who themselves were RIF'd by Oracle years ago.
Do all you can to expand your skillset beyond the Oracle stack. Get certifications like CISSP, CISM, and many of the AWS and Azure certs. And there is a lot of free training for many platforms that you can enroll in and even tout in job interviews. The broader your skills are in key areas of IT, the better you'll look to employers.
But the most important thing is to NOT assume or expect that bragging about your vast Oracle experience is some magic ticket to vast employment offers. It's not.
I’ve been networking since July. Trying to get back into FAANG/upcoming mid sized companies except one of the As that have a mixed reputation.
Have cold applied to a few others and got the usual crickets, despite a decade of FAANG on my resume. Is it the Oracle stench? Maybe.
All of my contacts at the big tech players are telling me to wait until Q2 due to hiring freezes and stronger than ever internal competition. Sure they will refer me but that never goes anywhere unless the hiring team knows you and likes you, in my experience.
So I’m pretty much stuck but am looking everyday. And talking with people every week. I just haven’t made much progress in the last six months. Not even a final round of interviews, yet alone an offer to weigh out. It’s been rough.
Also rough seeing the business at oracle slowly unravel week after week with leadership staying the course that got us here. I’m thankful to have a job right now but I feel like I’ll get laid off before I find a new one, and this may take years to recover from.
It's getting hard for sure, with FAANG + startups. Find ways to stand out with personal projects or networking.