Better on resume for advancement: PC repair tech, service desk or pc recycler

techfiend

Just entering the IT field and after switching to a functional resume 2 weeks ago I have received many interviews and have 2 current job offers from Job A and C, thanks TE! I am wondering what would look better on a resume for advancement into either a network position or system administration (unsure what I want to do yet) along with a BS from WGU that I'm pursuing.

Job A: Desktop/laptop repair tech at a multi site, local repair company that's been around a long time, part time, lowest pay, no customer interaction, longest drive, very little advancement, the upper level techs do the network/administering.

Job B: Service desk at a relatively new, single site, local, growing company, full time, highest pay, regular client interaction via phone, no sales, average drive, some on site work after a month or two on the job. potential advancement to senior service desk and with company growth maybe some sys admin/network position. I'm in between interviews on this one.

Job C: PC teardown/build at an older, local pc recycling company, part time, very flexible schedules, average pay, no client interaction, shortest drive, no room for promotion, not challenging, mundane work. Owner has told me that with exceptional work some have been given huge raises in the past after 6 months, which would put me way over the other 2 positions and have me living comfortably financially even on 30 hours a week, working whenever I want.

I'm leaning towards Job B because of the potential advancement and the challenge but would probably enjoy Job A and C a little more, at least to begin with. I don't see myself being at any of these jobs long term unless Job B opens up a sys admin or network position that I obtain. Any opinions or suggestions?

TomkoTech

Job B.

Unless your goal was to be a service tech long term A and C offer little in terms of experience you would need for your listed desired career paths.

xSpeTz

Job B seems like the best choice, having the highest pay and ability to advance. I'd also argue that Service desk title is better than Desktop repair or PC teardown on a resume, further on in your career.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Job B as others have said. The opportunity to prove yourself and have upward mobility inside the organization is huge. Not to mention that the starting pay is higher. The other two seem very limited at your tasks that you will be expected to do and you will in turn learn less and I'm sure boredom of doing the same exact thing day after day will get to you.

It's pretty much an easy decision and your initial leaning would be what i would classify as the best for your short and long term goals. To move up from the other 2, you will likely have to switch companies and probably start in a similar position at Job B when you get tired and have some experience.

techfiend

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to focus mainly on Job B. After completing the HR interview the tech interview keeps being delayed and the other opportunities might not want to wait longer.

Also I went to another interview today a lot like Job C above with a few more perks and when asked when I could start I said next week. They asked why the delay and I probably made a mistake by saying "I am waiting on another opportunity and this is my second out of many opportunity choices" The interviewer went on to say "We have 14 other interviews to conduct and will be contacting people on Friday but please call me if you get hired for the other opportunity to take you out of the pool" and then the interview continued on normally. Was this a job-breaking mistake? If not, is it big enough to require some contact before friday? If so, what sort?

I will never do that again but what type of response would work well in this situation?

Also I'm still going to interviews that I may have mild interest in, just set up 2 more today to keep my options open but my mind is set on Job B which is making the other interactions much less effective. Should I stop replying to new opportunities until I hear from Job B or something else?

EDIT: I wrote job offers above, should have been in interview phase for Job B instead, although I have been offered Job A and C.

Heero

Service Desk will give you experience dealing with a variety of users who are experiencing problems or need things. That experience on how to handle people will be invaluable over your career if you stay in the field. A and C sound like boring PC repair busy work that anyone with half a brain and an A+ could do.

techfiend

I do have 5+ years of customer service experience in an unrelated field but I would rather not deal with customers, tolerable for a year I suppose. I have been the IT family/friends guy for 10+ years but that's mostly malware and hardware, probably mostly unrelated.

Jobs A and C were single interviews, basically greet and meet, and then a call a few days later, which is today. I haven't replied yet and could use suggestions on what to say to them. I'm thinking of calling them tomorrow and saying "I have something personal to deal with over the next week or two and will contact you at that time."

While job B has multiple phone interviews and seems to be much more professional.

If worse comes to worse does Job A and C count as meaningful experience for a higher level position?

MeanDrunkR2D2

Job A and C are still experience, but if given the choice and you are still waiting to hear back and you get an offer from them, you could go ahead and accept the offer, but tell them you need 2 weeks before you can start. If you get an offer on Job B, then you turn down the offer for Job A or C and take Job B. While A and C are not preferable, they are at least better than nothing and can at least take up a spot on your resume with some tech experience until you find a better option.

Now, customer service in a different field (I'll assume that it's retail) is completely different than the type of interactions that you would get in a corporate environment servicing only internal customers. People tend to be nicer, caring and more professional than you would ever expect or get in a retail or outside customer base. You may still get some rude or mean people, but they are far and few between in my career.

And I would continue to look, but don't put all your eggs in one basket because if you don't get the job, you may have missed out on other opportunities that could have come up. And as far as the question of when you can start, tell them that you would need 2 weeks to give yourself to prepare for the position so you can have that leeway and not mention that you are waiting on other potential offers. It's a safe answer to give. I don't think that you ruined that chance with that company, depending on how you answered that question. Being honest is a good thing and if they really like you they will know that they can't wait around to make a decision on you and could speed up the process and get you an offer.

Good luck!

techfiend

Thanks for the suggestions MeanDrunkR2D2. This is the first time I've dealt with multiple job offers simultaneously and it's very helpful to have this advice from people in the IT field. Also the first time I've seen multiple interviews. With job B the call I received Friday a few hours after the initial HR interview was that I had been 'accepted' and to call the sr analyst on Monday to further discuss. It turns out this meant accepted to the next step, a technical interview, a good step but unexpected and hence the confusion in my OP.

The customer service was retail service, it was about 50% sales as well. It is quite a bit different then client's but still might help me in my job search. It was something that wasn't emphasized on my resume until 2 weeks ago. Just that I had received a promotion based on customer service/sales in my chronological resume.

I used the 2 weeks to prepare on Job A and C. Job A had said they are looking for someone to start next week, I told them I will get back to them. Job C was okay with 2 weeks. The job I interviewed for yesterday is making calls on Friday to start Monday. Any suggestions on what to say if they are looking for someone to start sooner?

Yesterday I declined 2 new job opportunities, contractors trying to fill short contracts, they were both a 1+ hour trip one way during traffic hours. They both approached me, I wouldn't have pursued them given the location. I'm having trouble juggling 4 opportunities/offers, adding more to the pile would make it worse. Today I have a message from a new company that I plan on contacting soon, another one that approached me. Given the rush of interview offers I might just focus on positions that offer some upward mobility.

I'm not in a desperate situation to get a job but life is ticking away. Given that I had changed my resume recently, it could be a rush on a resume update. When I added A+ a few months ago, I received 2 calls within a week then none the next month.

By just taking a job, like I have done in the past, I get stuck in the job and stop looking for awhile. Mainly because of trying to schedule an interview around the work schedule would require time off. Quitting a job weeks into it can't look good and taking time off weeks into a job never looks good I've been told and when I've asked for time off in the past saying it's personal they've asked for a more precise reason, vacation, medical, etc. This experience and social anxiety play big roles in me being overly detailed and mistake prone in face-to-face interviews. Any suggestions on how to ask for time off for an interview when you have no PTO or personal/sick days?

MeanDrunkR2D2

techfiend wrote: »

Any suggestions on how to ask for time off for an interview when you have no PTO or personal/sick days?

Well, there are many reasons to give an excuse to be let out early or to miss a day. You could be "sick" that day and try to plan several interviews for that day, which I have done. I try to see about scheduling them over my lunch break and say I'm meeting my wife (if you aren't married say it's with your GF or an old work colleague) and may end up taking a longer than normal lunch but will work later to cover for that time. I've tried at the end of the day and if I'm able to schedule it far enough in advance I'll say I have a Dr appointment at 3 and need to leave by 2:30 (or whatever time I need). Of course, I try not to make it happen every week as that would look bad, which is why I try to schedule them out a week or so and try to double up or pick a later time to do it or do it over a lunch break.

As far as the calls for interviews go, they come and go and you may have a month or 2 month period where you have issues getting any callbacks, and then end up with 4 (or more) in a week. As far as quitting weeks in, that's not a problem and you don't have to list that job on your future resume or if you do, and they ask, just say it wasn't a good fit for you career wise and had a better opportunity presented to you. Short term contracts are good and bad. Good because it's experience, but bad because they are short term and may not come across well on a resume. I removed some of those from my resume once I had longer and better experience. Of course, I could give good reason for that gap as it was when I was in college and did quit to focus on my last semester of school.

While they may want you to start, you can give personal reasons as to pushing back the start date another week (Just don't tell them that you are waiting on a better offer). If they really like you, one week or two won't change their decision (as they have already selected you) and if they need someone that badly, it's probably not a good place to be. I'm always asked when I can start and I say that I'd like to give the professional courtesy to my current employer of 2 weeks, however if they decide to cut me loose early I can start immediately after that. I've seen some folks who put in their notice only to be walked out of the office minutes or hours later. Of course, if my current employer will pay me for those 2 weeks, I may end up using it as a nice little vacation and catch up on some video games/tv and to mentally refresh myself before starting a new job.

Good luck! Sounds like you have many opportunities out there. And if you already have offers from A and C, take the one that pays the best for now. Either one sounds like a temporary position in regards to your career direction and the experience on your resume would be similar.

As far as details go, there are laws in place that they cannot force you to tell them about medical issues, so they'll usually just take it at face value and if its your first time and they are questioning you about it (or want a Dr's note), well, I wouldn't want to work at that place.

TomkoTech

No one here really knows your situation. If you are not desperate then you flat out tell the A and C companies you aren't interested. Especially if you have Job B and companies with similar positions flooding you with interviews. Only look for jobs that offer the type of work you are interested in pursuing.

On the other hand if you are worried about feeding yourself and paying your rent in 2 weeks you take what you can get job wise.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Very good point by TomkoTech. If you don't need money and a job now, just turn those both down as they really won't get you anywhere. In my situation, I would need a job and money as I have alot of expenses that I just cannot be without pay for any amount of time. I don't want to end up homeless, or not being able to provide for my family if I can help it. Of course, my situation is definitely different than yours, so I was coming from my perspective. I've taken a "PC repair tech" job because it paid slightly better than unemployment and did that for 3 months until I found exactly what I was looking for. It is a dead end job, very boring, and after your first week, it's not all that exciting.

techfiend

I think I will decline A and C on next contact even if I'm declined for job B prior to.

I have had family and friends telling me for quite a while to get a job, any job, it will look good on my resume. All of these people were hired in their field right out of college or are working dead end jobs outside of their field. They have been quiet about it lately since I mentioned I was applying for 100's of jobs and continuing education. Maybe they were just trying to light a fire, which I needed.

Coincidentally last night I was casually watching last weeks episode of Chicago PD and there was a woman working clerical in the basement. She told the brutally honest front desk clerk (FDC) she wanted to be a cop. The FDC told her you aren't going to do it working down there at a dead end job, you have to get yourself out there. It's either an ongoing story line or they were portraying a point. It's the only time I remember seeing a conversation like that on tv and it happened to come at the right time for me.