Worth Reading:

http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_07_22_a_talent.htm

The largest districts and state offices, where IT budgets run in the tens of millions, look into OSS. Of all public school districts, large district budgets most closely resemble the private companies that actually have the money to benefit from the TCO of OSS. It's not just about the money, because there is plenty of money kicking around in large districts. It's about directing it to OSS. OSS is slow to catch on in K-12 because the private technology companies have boots on the ground like you wouldn't believe. Having worked on OSS and proprietary projects at large school districts and the state level, I can tell you that private companies approach K-12 CIOs on a regular basis. They have sunk billions into marketing to K-12. Too often the worst technology is what rises to the top in K-12 and this is because the companies that get in have the best marketing, not necessarily the best technology. Plus, once a technology has been deployed it usually rots on the vine because people are too busy to do the work involved to make it great, useful, and most importantly beneficial to student learning. If a teacher actually learns and uses a system that crashes or does not make his job of educating childrern easier, he's going to walk away and probably not go back, so the expectations here are extremely high. After all, he's got hundreds of kids in his face all day, papers to grade, and he's probably not that interested in technology to begin with. Yet the school or district has plunked down cash and invested human resources, so the golden handcuff syndrome begins. It's a different story with organizations who rely on technology for revenue, such as private companies, where employees often have the time to get the training they need. Right now, the Holy Grail of OSS in K-12, IMHO, is an open source assessment system. There are only a few assessment systems on the market. All of them are proprietary and they are all lame.

Since you are getting in the door, I will not waste time talking about your resume. It sounds to me like there is something about the way you talk about your experience and/or come across that sends up a red flag. Since another responder dealt with the topic of dress code/appearance, I will skip that piece and offer up other ways in which you can go about improving your ability to land your next job:

  1. Get a tape recorder and record yourself answering the top 20 most frequently asked interview questions (google them). Better yet, get a video camera. Are you saying um over and over? What is your body language like? Are you too laid back in your chair, appearing aloof? Are you leaning forward, appearing insecure? Answer the questions with SPECIFIC examples from your experiences. Do not ramble. Are you having fun or are you uncomfortable? Practice asking questions of the employer and/or of the company. (It is important to be able to ask the right questions so that you can identify the employer's greatest need and/or the problems they are looking for someone to solve. The next challenge is to speak about your experience, when answering their questions, in a way that convinces them that you have the experience to solve their problems. This is not an easy skill to master. I have met very few people who can do it well).

2. Make every attempt to follow up with employers who reject you and ask why you did not make it to the next round. I still do this after almost 20 years.

3. Keep in touch with folks who reject you, if you liked them, and especially if you liked the company. Do not harass them, but if you are still interested in working in that position or for that company a year later, shoot them an email and see how things are going. Getting hired is more about networking and who you know and less about applying to jobs via monster. You will see that when you get older many of the high tech people follow their friends around from job to job. It is a really incestuous field, and as such is quite dangerous for companies. I rarely hire friends of friends and have more respect for folks I interview, who are good candidates, who do not have any connections.

4. Do not apply to jobs via monster. That is where millions of people look, mostly in vain. You are better off sending your resume into space. Contact employers regarding jobs posted on their websites. Better yet, contact employers you want to work for regardless of whether or not you see a job just to find out if you can get an informational interview. Keep in touch with the person who interviews you.

5. Even though you are inexperienced, do not forget that you have to be confident in your ability to be successful and solve problems in order to convince someone that you are the right person for the job. Anyone who looks down upon tech support experience knows nothing about what makes technology successful. You do not want to work for them. Fact of the matter is without tech support most technology would fail. Tech support should be a mandatory rite of passage for engineers. Did you know that UPS makes all its employees start off by driving a truck? Even MBAs from Wharton.