Job related question

Johnjones

My job is labeled system administrator. We tackle everything from servers to point of sale systems. At times we have to carry heavy HP printers and computers about 300 yards at a time.

Also, we are expected to troubleshoot a wide variety of other off-related items such as hand scanner devices. We have to use our personal vehicle to travel about 120 miles to an offsite location whenever there is an issue...could be the smallest thing. We have no medical or dental until after 3 months. No 401k or any other benefits at all.

Is this normal these days?

Nafe92014

I can't really say for my area, but it depends on what the job market for IT in your area is like. Some places do require employees to travel (through reimbursement), others don't. It's all about location and requirements.

pinkydapimp

Yea it really depends. But when you are interviewing for a job these are the questions you need to ask. Typically if you use your car either the company reimburses you for the miles driven or you can usually get it back when you file taxes.

But really, nothing is guaranteed or typical. If a company can find people to do the job without having to give them benefits then they will do it. Typically a company wants to pay as little as possible for the best talent. Some companies value top tier talent and as a result will pay more, give better benefits and such. Other companies may be looking to find someone to fill a void on the cheap because they feel that money is more valuable in other places.

Johnjones

You're right I should have asked.

Another question - Is there any reason why you should not update windows workstations and servers with the latest patches AND keep the built-in firewall completely turned off? Isn't this inviting someone in?

pinkydapimp

Johnjones wrote: »

You're right I should have asked.

Another question - Is there any reason why you should not update windows workstations and servers with the latest patches AND keep the built-in firewall completely turned off? Isn't this inviting someone in?

Well, if an organization has a strong change control policy, they may want to strictly monitor and dictate when and why upgrades are done. Also, many organizations may want to test the updates in a dev environment first to confirm they dont impact anything. Also regarding the builtin firewall, that also depends on the setup. They may use other controls to prevent access and the built in firewalls on each individual computer may be overkill in this instance if they have the network segmented and firewalls between each vlan along with IDS/IPS and anti-malware software. TBH i work in alot of different environments and many times people turn the built in firewall off on servers.

New2ITinCali

I live and work in the Bay Area (CA), and I am currently in a Technical Support role where travel is required. We get reimbursed for mileage 6-8 weeks after submitting our reimbursement form. Also, 401k, medical and dental are started within 30 days of hire.

Where do you work? as in location. I've never heard of a company not offering 401k unless it's a very small business.