<p>Are there ANY entry-level (I mean entry-level, not dead-end with limited or no potential for career progression) jobs out there that meets these three qualifications:
1. With the exception of a four-year college degree, requires no previous specific education/technical skills/training.
2. Not sales (though I might start considering it eventually).
3. Does not regularly require over 60 hours per week.</p>
<p>Any ideas? My degree was in MIS, but every single "entry-level" and "new college graduate" IT job, of any kind, out there either requires a Computer Science or Mathematics-intensive degree, a brand name school, or significant IT-related skills/experience far beyond what was in my school's MIS curriculum. After searching thousands of job listings (both IT and non-IT) and applying to countless types of roles wiithin many companies of many different sizes and industries, I am having no luck at all. Depending on the company/role, recruiters ask me about either mathematical or technical skills/experience, and I tell them about the experience I have (sometimes the actual skill/experience for which they are looking, but limited), along with why I am good at learning exactly what they intend for me to learn in their job (and in some cases, an actual training program), and they always act like "that's not enough," even when a role is supposedly new-college-graduate, provides training, and lists MIS along with CS as recruited majors. </p>
<p>Anyway, its clear that the technology field is overwhelmed with an oversupply of workers, especially due to outsourcing (IBM just announced it would offer a type of early retirement to a few thousand older workers so it could outsource those positions overseas). As I said, a CS major, a brand name MIS degree, or years of related experience/skills is a necessity for IT jobs now apparently.</p>
<p>So is there any other entry-level jobs I might pursue without having a degree directly related?</p>
<p>Have you looked at companies that do software installations and/or implementations? Some tech-oriented consulting firms do stuff that requires a foundational understanding of database organization and design but no real complex coding. That sounds like it might be more like what you are qualified to do right now; if you find a company with its own software, you could probably get into development down the line, should you remain interested in that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>Thanks for the IRS tip turtle, but I would prefer to start in private industry, since it is difficult to later on transfer into private from public. I guess it could be a last resort though.</p>
<p>chrisw:
I was contacted by such a company once, but they had a widespread reputation of regular 70+ hour weeks, constant travel, and low pay (that just made it even worse - at this point pay really is not a big factor). My career is my top priority, but after having zero social life in an extremely incompatible college campus for the past years, I would strongly prefer to at least have <em>some</em> life outside of work, as well as time to improve myself in ways that will directly affect my work contribution. I know investment bankers have it worse, but they don’t even sleep adequately for their health, much less have any time outside of work lol. But yes, I am completely open to those roles in general, but I am not coming across many of those.</p>
<p>Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve got several friends in that sector, and most work fewer than fifty hours a week. I am in consulting with a software emphasis and have had a few eighty hour weeks, but the VAST majority of my own weeks have been right around 40 hours. It might be worth researching. I certainly understand wanting work life balance, and many companies recognize the need for time away from work!</p>