How to get a new Job?

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Hi, I am in the situation that I need to get a new job within 2 month, befor my unemployment insurance will run out and the govermental help system kicks in, but with a big financial cut to my wife and me.

I am skilled in the IT business, have some certificates, have much experiences with first and second level support, have only some experience with network (server&client administration) and little with enterprise infrastructures. But my further business education training classes I attended to last year for 8 month, gave me big insight and knowledge to MS-Server 2008R2 and Exchange 2007/2010 with some certificates. Recently I am preparing doing the exam 70-646 MCITP, I could not do/pass because I got seriosly ill within the MCITP class training last year. So I got 70-620, 70-640, 70-642 and Exchange 2010.

Now, I have some MCTS certificates, have 6 years experiences of working as an IT professional, but still I get refuses and rejections for all my very many appications I e-mail to companies in my city who are looking for new employees (IT-Systemadministrator).

I know, the job situation in Germany is different than in UK or USA. How a application has to look like may be different. But still, do you have tipps and ideas for me what I should care about and check my CV, profile and application letter, so I have better chances to get a new job?

I cannot fake having much more experiences than I actualy have in my CV. I need a job with which I can get this lacking experience! How do you do it? How have you gotten an IT job or any other specialist high educated job? How to leave the old path doing jobs with tasks you are able to do waiking up in the middle of the night almost still asleep and transition over to a more challenging job you have done special training for?

Tough questions, especially the last one. To begin with that, I would recommend try to search for jobs outside your city, within the range of 1.5 hour travel in one direction. You are in the perfect age to get a more challenging job with your experience and training. Today's economic situation does not make things easier for a job seeker, though. As for your CV, try to shape it so that every application reflects the need of the employer. Leave out what is unimportant and write more about what is sought for. At least in the motivation letter or in the text of the e-mail. Give a few words to your motivations and carrier thoughts. Hope I could help.

Are there any employment agencies in Germany? Im sure there is or something similar anyway...

In NSW, Australia there is Campbell Page... I dont know much about them, if the do other states or anything like that... basically you give them copies of all your qualifications and whatever you can give them to prove your experience such as contacts and references and they will have employers who will look for new staff through the agency... who will forward your resume and any appropriate qualifications to the employer... they keep it pretty anonymous which is good...
I just had a formal interview a few days ago for an apprenticeship in the automotive trade which started with a link i was sent from the agency...

so yeah something along those lines... they typically dont help to much but you can get lucky...

Well, I have some trouble driving to a company 1 to 1.5 hours away oneway. First I live in a rather big city, Hamburg, where very many companies are publishing IT vacancies and second my last job was with a real lot of driving involved. The company base was near, just 15min to drive, but I was a service technician driving out the the customers site, up to 6 or even 8 hours drive oneway, within two to three days for getting the task done.

Driving three hours every day to the company and back again in total, would make me drive 5days x 3hours + 40 hours work each week = 40 + 15 hours being away from home. Who does my housekeeping work? How could I do my fitnesstraining every second day? 30 to 45min. oneway drive to work is the maximum for a normal payed IT-Systemadmin job within this big city. The more distance the company would be away, the more money I have to earn, in order to pay the gas and pay to keep my car running.

The gas price is up to about 1.60€/1l to 1.65€/1l in germany. That would be about $2.24/1l or $2.24/0.26 gallons or $8,48 for 1 gallon. That is about double the average gas price per gallon in NY City today! http://www.newyorkgasprices.com

In most cases the employer does not pay my gas usage for the work travel. My car uses 9 litre per 100km or 2.38gallons per 147,89 miles, thats 1.61gallons / 100miles (all converted to US unites) Just think about paying double for what you are used to pay driving 1 to 2 hours oneway to get to your work...

If you've connections with an autism support organisation in your area, it might be worth asking them what influence they can call on in your support. After all, all you need is one person with a need you can fill to give you the chance. With one effective assignment in your past, your worth increases dramatically.

Employment agencies or job-headhunter agencies... well, we donot have many of them. What we have are Temp agencies. I am listed to about 6 or 8, I lost count, who are looking if I fit a company vacancy, so if I fit into the vacancy their customers file in. But They have a lot of IT specialists waiting to get a job, so their customer company has a lot to choose from. They choose more often the one with the best qualifications AND work experience. They do not like to train me longer than they have to train someone who has more experience than I have, right?!?

Some of these Temp Agencies are trying to mediate/transite me to a new job, the most agencies only lend me out for a project period of time length.

Do you know stepstone.com (in my country it's stepstone.de)??? I am searching there for new jobs, but that's not the only online agency/portal where I am looking for a new job.

I have to guess that the difference between 1. and 2. Level Support to the job of a IT-Systemadministrator (3. Level) is so big that I am overqualified for the jobs I had in my past and still lack the work experiences for the server/network administration jobs. No one who rejects my apllication tells me why they did not choose me. So I will never get to know if I can improve my CV, resume, motivation letter and stuff.

I have had some jobs already. The last one as an automated tool crip technician (AutoCrib) lasted two years 'till the bad economic hitted the company, cutting the orders into half, so one of us two technicans had to go.
But that job gave me a lot of IT experiences as well... the AutoCrib unites had to be connected into the customers network, had to run a SQL Server etc. and I was the one who kept the IT of my last company running.

To answere your question: There is no such autism support organisation in my area. Their is one in Cologne and one in Munic, maybe in Berlin as well. But not in Hamburg. Just use maps.google.com and look up Germany and these three / four cities...

I just found one "Association for the Advancement of autistic children" in Hamburg. So ah well, I am not a child anymore... right?

But finding a new job is not a matter of being an aspie in teh first place, but about hitting the nail mailing my application stuff to companies having vacancies I could fit in. I have been to 8 job interviews, all have been very positive, but as many more are applying for the same job, they always found someone who fits better.

Just a update: I just had a call with an job agency. They are seeking jobs for me. A real big company got my CV and got realy interessted in me! It is a hour drive away, with normal traffic just about 45min. drive, but I could get the job as an IT Manager!! ! Wow! About 45,000€ p.a. that would pay the gas useage easy! It would as well pay for hiring a housekeeping craft to keep our home clean! I am jumping around as it is right now - I am soooo joyfull about that job offer!! !! !

Cool... lucky one there... i would never consider driving an hour to work but it sounds good... employment agencys are on a roll this week... keep us posted

it's ok, it's 90% highway driving. All over three hours is work. Up to one hour drive I hardly notice. What I hate is driving within a city. Stop and go with a manual shifting gear...

But getting a manager job, would be sooo hight level for me, I never thought to get such a job so fast without ever been working in a real big company... but I already worked this job before in a more downsized scale...

I'm sure you can do it. Your efforts will pay off. Good luck.