Competing For IT Jobs
We in the Information Technology field better get used to competing for jobs. The economics are hard to dispute with tight corporate IT budgets and huge incentives for outsourcing to low wage places such as India, China and Malaysia. I'm not saying it's impossible to compete with these realities, only that you had better have a plan and be prepared to work it hard.

It wasn't always this way. In the 1990's all you seemingly needed was a pulse and you could get trained and hired in these United States. That is not the case now. Though fear not, here at Pugs of War we are optimists. We try to share what we know and what we regard to be the facts of life. All the time keeping in mind it is up to our readers to judge their merits.

Here goes my 2 cents about getting hired, please forgive me if it sounds painfully obvious. In order to get hired you have to possess skills and talents that employers want and need. For example, employers want IT Professionals who are hard working and who will be flexible enough to accept new assignments. Employers need people who are well versed in Network Security. Combine these ideas and you have what I have pursued these last few years with some small success.

If I could offer one piece of advice to those starting out in IT, or those who want to try something new, it would be to act fearlessly in the face of challenges, to never take your career failures personally, and to make yourself likeable to the person who you would like to work for. This advice combines hard skills (knowledge of IT) and soft skills like proper hygiene, humility, and being well read in subjects not related to IT (try Major British writers of the 19th century). In other words, don't simply be a geek, be a geek with a sophisticated outlook and a respect for the people around you.