I just got two Job Offers....

GGrill

I received a job offer with IBM for a position working with securing equipment for customers traveling abroad at a large federal agency. The position works with securing data on machines and encryption technologies to ensure data integrity for equipment coming in and leaving the country. I also have an opportunity to support in the creation of the SOC for the agency as well in the near future. It pays 15K more than what I make now, unlimited sick time with 4 weeks vacation time on start date and better benefits than what I make now. The position is about a 40 minute drive though.

The other position is working for Siac with application support for customers at a small government agency. I would be troubleshooting application issues for a suite of propriety software such as java/flash related issues or compatibility, user related questions, account issues. I wouldn't be editing the coding but I could potentially move or promote towards the development team. The position pays 9K more than what I make now and has good benefits as well. This position is about a 20 minute drive.

I'm currently doing work as a security auditor following the NIST framework and writing up findings. Basically reviewing the 800-53 and check boxing the findings. It's good experience although sometimes boring, but the benefits are lacking and the long term outlook is mixed considering it's a small business.

Which position would sound more appealing if you were looking at both?

snunez889

The only question I would myself is "What are my long term goals and which job will get me there."

si20

A 40 minute drive is nothing in my opinion. The job itself more than makes up for having to drive a little bit longer. The experience you'd get would be mind-blowing. I'd be more concerned about the working hours. SOC's are generally a 24 hour operation (I know, I work in one). Would you be doing 12 hour shifts? 12 hour shifts followed by a 40 minute drive wouldn't be nice. If you're on a 9-5 then i'd go with IBM.

dewey hafta

"What are my long term goals and which job will get me there."

Truth. That is how I would approach this.

GGrill

I am in the process of figuring out exactly what I want to do in the future of IT but I like the idea of getting exposed to new technologies. I'd like to stay around the security side and possibly get more technical, I don't think auditing is something I'd like to continue doing at the moment. I'd like to find a company where I'd have potential to move around in and stay with company for maybe a few years. My current company is small and doesn't offer much opportunity except maybe a TS position in the next 3 - 4 years, however with the company surviving contract 2 contract it's not stable enough for me to feel comfortable with a family to support.
For the IBM position, the team works M-F 9-5.

techfiend

I'd go with the big blue position, it seems much more technical and a bigger challenge. If the other job is proprietary software support, it sounds like a high risk of getting pigeonholed, you learn the software but you get little knowledge of what other companies look for. My current position includes a very minor responsibility of proprietary software support and I know if it was main responsibility I wouldn't learn much of anything that's transferable to other companies. 40 extra minutes of driving a day is very minor and 6K more than makes up for the gas unless you are driving a real gas guzzler.