Job opportunity, go for it or not?

I just had an interview at a big IT company in the area. Doing 100% Rack and stack and cabling. It sounds like the position would be making around 55k / year. During the interview the manager asked me if this position is something that I really wanted. He also noticed that this position was kind of a move backwards in my career. I wanted to be honest so I basically told him I wasn't sure yet and I'd need a day to think about if it was something I really wanted. It sounded like long term there would be good potential to advance. The question I'm asking myself is will moving backwards help me move forwards.

Currently, I work for a different big IT company and I do Rack and stack, networking administration, and vmware administration. The main issue with my current job is I've been only making 36k / year and this year almost all the senior network and systems administrators got laid off or quit and were never replaced. So there really isn't very many people I can learn from and go to with questions. Since all the senior admins are gone I feel like a lot of there responsibilities are falling on me. Since no one else is there to do the work, I'm being really pushed to learn everything and I've been learning a lot over the last few months but some days I just feel really under-qualified and overwhelmed to do what needs to be done.

To top all this off, yesterday my manager told me I just got approved for a raise. I just don't know how much it is yet and I don't know when I'll find out.

I'm just tired of making next to nothing for all the work I'm doing and not knowing what I'm going to be making is making this decision even harder.

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Comments

mweaver84

Easy, tell your current what the raise needs to be for you to stay there. And if they don't match that, take the other job

Gratz on the raise either way!

darkerz

mweaver84 wrote: »

Easy, tell your current what the raise needs to be for you to stay there. And if they don't match that, take the other job

Gratz on the raise either way!

I need to respectfully counter,

Regression in duties, responsibilities and overall employ-ability is a terrible, terrible short AND long term battle plan. The money isn't worth it.

If you're already doing rack, stack, network and virtualization administration then study up, push your certs and look for higher level "Network Admin" and "Engineer" level positions.

It's hard to see past the money, but the extra k's will only be a very short term gain... Pure rack and stack is only fun until your second day.

Verities

It sounds like 55k or it is 55k? 36k to 55k is a huge increase(19k a year!), but it sounds to me like you want to continue advancing forward in your technical skills and that the new job wouldn't let you progress. I think you should be aggressive with that raise and tell them what you want to make, then you can negotiate with them unless they have already decided what your raise will be. I think if you stay at your current job you'll learn more and end up making a huge leap in pay in the long run if you continue to sharpen your skills.

IIIMaster

I would go to the new job. They are bigger, more money, more room to grow. Yes it is a step back but the opportunity it has for advancement is huge. I would my time to get my certs up so I would be more marketable down the road. Within the next 7 months you could be that guy. Also your current job has laid people off how much job security do you think you have with them? I know its great they gave you a raise but do you think its a huge increase do you think they will match?

Priston

@Verities, the recruiter said 55k, but until I see an offer letter I can't say for sure it's 55k

@darkerz I'm worried your going to be right about pure rack and stack only being fun until the 2nd day.

At my current job which I've been at for 3 years, I started out doing 100% rack and stack, and after a few months it went down to about 80% rack and stack, about 6 months ago when I was shifted to a different building it went down to about 50% rack and stack, and now i'm down to doing less than 20% rack and stack and I only do it because I volunteer to do it to get away from doing all the technical work that they don't pay me to do.

bhcs2014

If you've got 3 years of experience doing network administration and vmware I'd think you should be able to find another technical sys/net admin type of job that pays at least 55k. I'd say throw the rack/stack job out the windows and look elsewhere.

si20

Priston wrote: »

@Verities, the recruiter said 55k, but until I see an offer letter I can't say for sure it's 55k

@darkerz I'm worried your going to be right about pure rack and stack only being fun until the 2nd day.

At my current job which I've been at for 3 years, I started out doing 100% rack and stack, and after a few months it went down to about 80% rack and stack, about 6 months ago when I was shifted to a different building it went down to about 50% rack and stack, and now i'm down to doing less than 20% rack and stack and I only do it because I volunteer to do it to get away from doing all the technical work that they don't pay me to do.

My recruiter told me i'd be on 27k and i'd get training on top. 7 months into the job i've had 0 training and i'm on 24k (but they started me on 20k for the first month!). Recruiters aren't to be trusted from my experiences.

Verities

bhcs2014 wrote: »

If you've got 3 years of experience doing network administration and vmware I'd think you should be able to find another technical sys/net admin type of job that pays at least 55k. I'd say throw the rack/stack job out the windows and look elsewhere.

This^. If you get a huge raise at your current job, then stay. If they don't compensate you, find a new job that will pay you for your skills.

techfiend

I'd pass on the 55K position but use it for leverage for a raise. Say a recruiter contacted you about doing your original responsibilities for 55K and you've taken on many more responsibilities, but don't say you pursued it and see what they offer you. It might work to your advantage and it seems like they really need you so the chances of it backfiring are near zero. While you probably won't get bumped to 55K, that seems really high for rack and stack, it could get you to a level you are happy with, if not look to move on to a higher level job, at least jr admin or network engineer, whichever you are more passionate about. I agree you are getting underpaid for being the smartest IT employee that alone should be worth 50K+ even for a small business.

Verities

techfiend wrote: »

I'd pass on the 55K position but use it for leverage for a raise. Say a recruiter contacted you about doing your original responsibilities for 55K and you've taken on many more responsibilities, but don't say you pursued it and see what they offer you. It might work to your advantage and it seems like they really need you so the chances of it backfiring are near zero. While you probably won't get bumped to 55K, that seems really high for rack and stack, it could get you to a level you are happy with, if not look to move on to a higher level job, at least jr admin or network engineer, whichever you are more passionate about. I agree you are getting underpaid for being the smartest IT employee that alone should be worth 50K+ even for a small business.

There are always chances of things backfiring. Please review a previous post about counter offers: http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/74026-beware-counter-offer.html

kohr-ah

I wouldn't take the new job. The point of moving would be to further yourself and challenge yourself and therefore bettering yourself and your career.

As for using the offer as leverage for better pay I'd say depends on what you get as a raise first. Sometimes using that as leverage will end up getting you shown the door.

impelse

For me depends of many factors, if you are not in an economical sitatuation keep the job, wait for the raise and keep studying, and studying more.

You are now in a position where many people dream, to get the change to get more experience and you are getting it right now, you just told us how your job is changing from racking to more technical.

Just wait a little beet, keep getting experience and somebody will pay your skill.s

Priston

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to stick with my current job for now and keep looking.

Maybe I'll try and cram for the CCNA this week or over the holidays.