Unemployed BA looking for work - been looking for ten months

Hello,
I started my IT career over 23 years ago as a mainframe programmer, and have about 12 years experience as a BA, and am pretty well experienced in all phases of SDLC. (Requirements gathering and analysis, GAP analysis, project scope determination, resource management, application design, UAT testing plans, software implementation, PMO support, and hosting lessons learned sessions).

I have been searching hard for any BA, QA Tester, Project Coordinator or Technical Writer positions. I was born and raised in New York, and relocated my family to Greenville SC in 2006 to start a new FTE BA position that I lost in July of 2008. At this point I am willing to relocate again to any Mid-Atlantic state if need be (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland etc so that I can closer to family members that are still in New York. I would even consider other areas of the US for the right position.

Having been previous employed by Grumman Aerospace (now Northrop Grumman), I am experienced with supporting Government Clients (US Navy), as well as private sector industries such as: Financial Services, Life & Health Insurance, Automobile Rentals, Electronics Distribution, and Liquor & Wine Import / Distribution.

Can anyone give any advice on where to look????

Thanks

Although I haven't had as much experience as you- I'm in the same boat. I actually just signed up for a few courses from this eLearning program to make my resume stand out a bit more than others (refresher courses/additional education always look good:]) The classes directly correlate with the new stimulus package, and the classes are SUPER cheap (a bundle of classes for about $25) check out the site, I hope it helps! www.nefuniversity.org good luck in your search!

Hi,
Thanks for replying with the course information. I also think having a good cover letter helps a lot.

I see that you are from DC.. there are plenty of jobs there related to govenemnt support, but 90% of them require a CURRENT security clearance.. sort of a catch-22.. you cant get a clearance w/o being supponsored by a company, and no company will hire you w/o a clearance. Thera re some jobs that do not require a clearance, but there are rare.

Good luck in your job search.. we are all suffering now..

I'm in pretty much the same situation. I got laid off completely out of the blue from an extremely well-paying job that I've had for over 20 years. At this point, I'm willing to relocate basically anywhere in the country if it means that I will be employed. I'm actually really interested in the stimulus jobs and I looked over the NEF University classes... they looked promising. The classes appeared to be specifically tailored to Obama's stimulus jobs, which I feel like will be particularly useful. I'm going to keep looking into the NEF program, has anyone completed these classes that can give me feedback?

Kingsley Tagbo in O Fallon, Missouri said: Sampson ... what does the Stimulus Job offer you?

It's not 1 Stimulus Job, it's the recovery act that Obama signed for about 3 million jobs. It includes the temporary census jobs for the 2010 census as well as different specialty areas that are receiving funds to either hire new people or not lay off people they were going to initially. I just signed up for a customized package within IT and I'm going to be taking a certification prep class for a Microsoft certification. It was $25 so I figured it can't hurt to try. Better cost than other sites and I can go through the work as fast as I want. Hope that helps, good luck.

I kept applying to the same company.. I have to relocate to Fairfax Virginia for this position. I also decided to speend $400 on having my resume and cover letter professionally re-written. I had my resume done by jobfox.com..

I had three phone interviews and they made me the offer over the phone w/o meeting me in person. They sent me a formal offer letter and that is when I drove up to Fairfax to meet them in person.

I did ask my new boss what I said during the phone interviews that made her choose me. She told me that I came across as being very open to change and accetping new ways to do things. She is new to her position too, and she wanted someone that was flexible and creative to work with. She had interviewed other BA's that had as much work experience as me, but they came across as 'too stuck in their ways' for her to make them an offer. That is really the best adice AI can give. To me I think it was worth having my resume and cover letter redone, and to just come across as easy to work with on my phone interviews.

Good luck..

Mike

With government experience under your belt, I think sticking w/ government is the best way to go at the moment. They're pretty much the only folks hiring these days! Seriously. My friend used this website as a useful source. governmentjobtips.com
Good luck, okay.

MSampson in Bethesda, Maryland said: It's not 1 Stimulus Job, it's the recovery act that Obama signed for about 3 million jobs. It includes the temporary census jobs for the 2010 census as well as different specialty areas that are receiving funds to either hire new people or not lay off people they were going to initially. I just signed up for a customized package within IT and I'm going to be taking a certification prep class for a Microsoft certification. It was $25 so I figured it can't hurt to try. Better cost than other sites and I can go through the work as fast as I want. Hope that helps, good luck.

do u think this pres. is even doing his job. no way

Here are some answers to your questions..
1.) How long have you been searching or looking for work? Answer – I was laid off in July/2008 and was looking for almost 11 months, that time period for job searching had to be the worst of all. Most companies were waiting to see who was elected president before making any offers. After the election they claimed to be waiting to see what the stimulus package would look like.

2.) How many jobs did you apply for and how many job interviews did you attend? I applied to about 600 (yes you read that right) online job applications over that 10 month period. I had 8 face to face interviews and about 6 or 7 different phone interviews. I was offered my job after 3 phone interviews and without meeting anyone in person. It was all done over the phone....which was a shock to me.

3.) How much BA experience do you have? I have about 23 total years of IT experience and about 14 years as a BA. Most of my background was in banking and Insurance.

4.) What was the feedback you received from the other employers who didn't hire. Some wanted more technical people, one claimed they wanted someone who knew their internal system better (which has to be an internal hire.. since no one from the outside knows how a company truly operates). One wanted a bi-lingual person to speak both Spanish and English..Most companies really don’t give you a real reason.. Some just tell you that the position was either ‘filled’ or the company had decided to put the opening on hold until the economy got better.. The feedback u get really depends on how well your recruiter knows the HR staff.. Some have a close relationship and some don’t.

Speaking of recruiters, some are called ’first tier’..Which I think means they are given the ‘first crack’ at finding a person.. After a week or so, then other recruiters are allowed to find people.. so if your recruiter is not 1st tier, you may be applying to a job listing that has already been exposed for a week o

4.) What was the feedback you received from the other employers who didn't hire. Some wanted more technical people, one claimed they wanted someone who knew their internal system better (which has to be an internal hire.. since no one from the outside knows how a company truly operates). One wanted a bi-lingual person to speak both Spanish and English..Most companies really don’t give you a real reason.. Some just tell you that the position was either ‘filled’ or the company had decided to put the opening on hold until the economy got better.. The feedback u get really depends on how well your recruiter knows the HR staff.. Some have a close relationship and some don’t.

Speaking of recruiters, some are called ’first tier’..Which I think means they are given the ‘first crack’ at finding a person.. After a week or so, then other recruiters are allowed to find people.. so if your recruiter is not 1st tier, you may be applying to a job listing that has already been exposed for a week or more. The main problem I came across was that the HR departments work very slow. Just keep applying and stay positive.. I know it is not easy. My last suggestion would be to get your resume and cover letters professionaly written. Jobfox did a great job for me ..

Mike