Contacted for new job - confused

UnixGuy

So I got approached by someone on LinkedIn who said he's got a good "Storage Consultant" permanent opportunity with government, it pays 30K more than what I make now.

I'm confused. I really like where I work. What would you do in this kinda situation? I haven't replied yet!

iBrokeIT

I trade my working hours for money so it sounds like that job would check off the first item on my list (its probably somwhere on your list too). Fill out the rest of your list of what it would take for you to switch jobs.. commute, benefits, work environment, whats the new boss likes, will it advance my career ect.. and then go interview them to see if they meet your criteria for a switch.

cyberguypr

There's never been a job that I moved on from that I didn't love. The answer is easy: REPLY! It may be garbage or it may be gold. Won't know for sure until you scope it out.

UnixGuy

I replied and asked for more details...thing is, I don't want a stressful job at this point.

N2IT

30k more though...... Yes I am greedy

Either way good luck I hope it works out!

lsud00d

It's funny how various levels of government make positions, attach consultant to the end, and voila they can pay an absurd amount more than they would pay someone without the consultant title.

the_Grinch

I'd find out how long you would be consulting for. I know we paid a lot for our consultant, but he doesn't get benefits and his contract is up in a month. After that we will not be bringing him back, not because he was bad, but because we've gotten to the point we needed and we can handle everything in house. Also, as with most things that deal with government, when revenue is down people get cut.

UnixGuy

He hasn't replied yet but he did mention that it's a 'permanent' position.

I'm not too sure if I want to be a Storage consultant...but hey why not?

Any thoughts regarding the Storage market anyway?

JustFred

An old guy said to me once. Always follow the money. until you hit your mid 50s then take a step back and do some **** you love, because you could then financially afford to if you play your cards right. I'm not sure whether he was joking or not but he seemed pretty well off and was teaching IT part time for giggles. lol

Just my two cents

Verities

The storage market is ripe for the taking.

I can't speak for all government entities, but based on my experience in the US, specifically the DoD, there are not enough people that can actually understand/setup/manage/troubleshoot back-end storage devices. The result is the creation of super high salaries for those people because they need to keep them. Additionally, this leads to them contracting out a lot of storage engineers and speaking with NetApp residents specifically, I found out they make 100k+ easy.

clouder

NetApp guy here, Verities is definitely correct. With that said, it can be stressful at times because everybody else's stuff rides on our stuff, but it's great because we get such a big-picture view of the whole environment. In the span of a day I can troubleshoot everything from FC switches to SQL backups to a troublesome VM.

UnixGuy

Thanks for the replies. I'm waiting for his reply.

I noticed that Storage salaries are pretty decent. What I don't like about the Linux/Unix market is the constant decline of salaries. I see the list of requirements for Linux jobs increase (please add the name of every new 'hip' open source tool), and the pay is decline. Unix jobs used to pay easily six figures (120k-160k), now I see more requirements for 60K sometimes. No thank you.

Essendon

Did Gerald Clemente contact you about it mate? If yes, I've seen that job advertised for months on end, probably just a resume-gathering exercise.

Plantwiz

UnixGuy wrote: »

So I got approached by someone on LinkedIn who said he's got a good "Storage Consultant" permanent opportunity with government, it pays 30K more than what I make now.

I'm confused. I really like where I work. What would you do in this kinda situation? I haven't replied yet!

Late to reply, but I would get more information, but not certain I would take something merely for more money. Yep, $30K is a decent jump, BUT, "It depends"...location, co-workers, stress, boredom, etc...

once more info is in hand, you have time to discern what is best for you and the family (if one is involved). I've never found that more money in a job is a better trade off for a job that is satisfying. Others here have stated the opposite, but job hopping for money has never worked to my benefit. The 'whole' package is what I have found best for me.
Good luck in your decision!

pinkydapimp

Every job i have had i got while i was currently employed in a job i loved. However, you have to do whats best for your career. There is nothing wrong with talking to a recruiter that reaches out on Linkedin. I get hit up regularly. Some are a joke and present me positions that make no sense. Others come to me with stuff that fits my skillset. And those are the ones i talk to because they could be a huge asset for you in the future. They can also be helpful and telling you what employers are looking for.

You should always be looking for ways to move your career forward. Whether that is more money, more skills, getting certs, better work/life balance... etc. So i see no reason not to hear them out and see if this new role could improve on these things. Once you hear them out, or going a step further, once you have an offer on the table, then you can decide whether or not you want to move on. But i dont see any harm in hearing them out.

Regarding that position. I work in the storage realm and data is most companies biggest asset. And for most companies its growing exponentially. So storage right now is huge. SO getting exposure to the storage realm is a great skill to pick up. People realize you know your way around a NetApp, VNX or Isilon and that could be huge. Plus, i usually try to grab skills that arent "common". That makes you stand out!

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

UnixGuy

@Essendon: No, the guy who contacted me isn't a recruiter, he is a solutions architect with solid experience...which is pretty uncommon!

Nothing to lose so far, I'm waiting for his response.


@Plantwiz: I agree. So far location is alright, it's in the same city where I'm at. I agree with you, my current job has an amazing work/life balance (crucial for me) and I have great work colleagues so it's hard for me to leave it. But moving to a Storage consultant position is a good job for me money wise and skills wise. So I'm gonna have to weigh my options carefully.



@Pinky: Great tips mate!! In my current job I work with Isilon and VNX...and to be honest this is kind of straight-forward stuff for me. I was trained to support and install Sun StorageTek in the past, and I find storage work easy. While my duties were never direct storage work (I'm usually on the server/OS side of things), I did significant storage work in the past. However, I've yet to get exposure to NetApp.

pinkydapimp

UnixGuy wrote: »

@Pinky: Great tips mate!! In my current job I work with Isilon and VNX...and to be honest this is kind of straight-forward stuff for me. I was trained to support and install Sun StorageTek in the past, and I find storage work easy. While my duties were never direct storage work (I'm usually on the server/OS side of things), I did significant storage work in the past. However, I've yet to get exposure to NetApp.

FYI. You should be able to find a Netapp simulator out on the net(alot of the common ones have sims actually). If you have a home lab its worth downloading to get familiar with it. good luck!