Starting the search

This past spring (2012) my wife and I sat down and talked about our future. The business that we started together 8 years ago is not growing at nearly the rate it needs to be be sustainable and provide for us as we get older (We are both about 50) and also get our kids through college. She had already gone back to work about a year ago and brings in well over $100k but we live in an expensive neighborhood and have piled up a lot of debt trying to our business off the ground.

Well, it's become pretty obvious that I will need to go back to work full time and bring in a paycheck. I have always liked making money. The more the better! The years I spent working at Microsoft were some of my best earning years, but I never made as much as my wife. She has always had a knack for really raking in the bucks. So, we ended up in a pretty high rent district and at one point, lifestyle to match. I left Microsoft to be a Stay At Home Dad/Work from home because my wife was out earning me 4 to 1.

So anyway, here I am starting the search. I have been actively searching for about a month now and boy things have changed since the last time I looked for a job in 1997. It was pretty easy back then. There was not nearly as much competition for positions in the IT world as there is now. Unemployment was fairly low and it in the middle of the dotcom rush. I was able to quickly get a job at MSFT as a database programmer and had a good run for 6 years until my wife had our first baby.

Fast forward to 2012... Unemployment is high at 8%. There is tons of pressure from outsourcing and overseas workers clamoring for jobs in the USA. I know I have my work cut out for me and I'm up to the task. I am no slouch. I worked for 18 years in IT before I left MSFT. I had, as one recruiter told me, a gold plated resume. Having an 8 year gap on a resume is a bad thing, but I don't think insurmountable. I don't exactly have a gap, but the business we were in had absolutely nothing to do with IT work. I do have a B.S. in Computer Science and many years experience programming and doing database work.

So, here it begins. I think, unless I'm lucky, this search could take the better part of six months or even longer. In the meantime, I am actively networking and attending classes at the local community college getting a refresher on the latest and greatest database tools. I might even get a certificate in Database Development. Stay Tuned!

First Post

Hi, My name is Steve. I live in the Seattle area. I am looking for work in the IT world. I am putting together this blog to help me keep track of all the things I am doing and maybe do some networking with others.

A little about me first, I am trying to re-enter the IT world after a lengthy absence of about 9 years. I left Microsoft in 2003 to be part stay at home dad and part small business owner. My business is run mostly out of my house and has absolutely nothing to do with my former career, unfortunately. The kids have gotten to the age they no longer need me 7x24 and my business is not growing at the pace that my wife and I need for college tuition and retirement. We are both about 50 years old and obviously that will come into play as my job search progresses.

I am going to post about a variety of job searching techniques and methods to aid others at they come behind me. The trick will be to see if I can re-re-invent myself back to my former career in a time of high unemployment and a complete change in the way people are being hired.