Marian Said:

Is a career in e-learning development and implementation a "recession-proof" job?

We Answered:

No job in the IT field is recession proof. I administer e-learning programs at a community college and all of our permanent positions are frozen for this year and next year, at all of the state's public colleges and universities. But I can hire part-time, temporary staff.

It's true, e-learning is widely popular, but the first thing to be cut at corporations and small businesses is anything to do with education and training (I worked at a number of Fortune 500 companies as a computer trainer and before that as a computer consultant). Even at firms that focus on instruction and e-learning, they are going to have a large pool of laid off workers to choose from, and they could hire the experienced staff, but to save money, they may hire ppl with little experience because they can pay you low wages.

On the plus side, few ppl are going into IT and millions of baby boomers are retiring from IT. In the next 5 years, there's suppose to be huge shortages of IT workers, especially in areas you can't export, like networking, database management, and security administration.

But if you're going into IT you have to keep track of the latest trends and popular products and make sure you get out of companies that don't have the latest products and/or are having problems with sales; and make sure you keep up with your skills and get them upgraded on your own, if your company won't pay for it. I only got laid off once, and got hired almost immediately. But I've gotten into lots of different types of companies and types of IT jobs, too.

Good luck-do what you love if you can, but be prepared to do what you like when times are tough, like now, in a recession..

Wendy Said:

what can i do with a CCLD 3 qualification ( childrens care,learning and development)?

We Answered:

I think you need to start in "standard" child care, to get experience.

Then get a post with special needs children later.

Max Said:

what kind of jobs can I get with a BS in Child Learning and Development?

We Answered:

education (probably early childhood)
psychology
social work
family medicine
public health
family law
public policy

Lloyd Said:

Can anybody provide any tips and suggestions on getting my first few web development jobs?

We Answered:

Sounds like you have some great skills (although personally I dont like PHP, but thats just me). If you want a job in web development I would suggest running your own portfolio/blog site which can basically "advertise you" to them; However this would take time to build, and to get people interested in (although in the long term it's good).

If you want immediate work then you can post on related forums that you can do some freelance work, or just go out there and contact some companies.

Personally I got my first freelace web development job by a company just contacting me through the contact page of my site..

Whatever you end up doing, Good Luck!

Tanya Said:

how do I get IT s/w development jobs from around the world?

We Answered:

visit monster.com, naukri.com

Lance Said:

Cache level 2 child care, learning and development home study course?

We Answered:

I am doing it next year at warwickshire college and have a bit of information. The level 2 qualification is vital to getting a job in childcare or becoming a teaching assistant.

If you are thinking of taking it as a first qualification I would whole heartily recommend it to you. It will be a real help finding a job.

As for the studying from home option, you really need to be applied to get a qualification that way. I think only about 10% of people who start one get a qualification, but don't let that put you off.

Any qualification will help you be more employable.

Violet Said:

How to find jobs in Software development?

We Answered:

I had a hard time when I first started out trying to find a job in the Aerospace industry. In the end I had to wait 4 years after graduating (including doing an MSc) to finally land a place on a graduate scheme! I didn't have great grades either during the BEng and had no industrial exprience either, so I know where you are coming from.

However, things started to look up for me about a year after I had finished my MSc (yes, I had to go through another year of unemployment/temp jobs), when I finally had my break and was offered a job.

The thing that piped it for me in the interview was all the stuff that I had learnt outside of uni - everything that I had taught myself. During the times of unemployment/bordem/temp jobs I learnt how to program with PHP/Javascript/HTML (I had some basic C/C++ behind me), set up websites using Apache/MySQL, Linux skills...and also outside of programming I learnt Russian, taught myself the guitar and also how to repair laptops.

So in answer to your question about CCNA etc - yes, working towards those goals are the soughts of things that will make you stand out at interview level. Perhaps throw in a foriegn language while you're at it... ;-)

Good luck.