Opinions Wanted

Hey, gang, I am in a Cisco shop, working in the voice team, but I do a lot of Switching and firewall work, as well. Currently working on my CCNP R/S. I have an opportunity on the near horizon for a position that sounds great, is way out of my comfort zone but has some negatives. The position is a WFH gig working on VMWare and AWS. There is some R/S that they need a person to do, also, which would be my small niche, but my primary function would be the virtualization stuff.

I have some VMWare, no AWS. It is also more of a systems job vs a network job. I haven't done much in the way of systems in a while. The pay probably won't be much of an increase, if any, but it is new stuff that they are willing to train me in.

The biggest negative that I can see is that the person I have been talking with about the position (friend from high school, not the actual hiring manager), tells me that it's not too big of a deal that I don't have a lot of experience in the job functions, as they are so specialized that I will require training either way, and that they really just need someone with critical thinking skills and creativity. I am worried that the skills would be so specialized that they would not translate to anything other than this position.

The WFH is HUGE to me, though, since the family wants to move to NC RTP in the next couple of years, it would relieve the stress of finding a job in the new location. Plus, if the skills are translatable, which I am confident that I can most likely apply at least some of it to other applications, I plan to do some independent consulting when we get to the south to make some extra scratch.

Just looking for other perspectives here, maybe something I haven't thought of to help me in making this decision when it comes up. Thanks!

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Comments

kurosaki00

Let me be the first to say that AWS seems to be here to stay. A lot of companies use it and it will definitely be advantageous for you in the future. This, considering you get into teh technical/config part of AWS

AWS is no magical thing, if you're using aws clients and sites you will need to employ network skills. You will still need to create routes n stuff. As you say, it will be more on the systems side but AWS is definitely very valuable skill to learn and have.
This is not an obscure proprietary tool that no one uses. We use AWS and I know of plenty of companies who use it.

iBrokeIT

Pretty much every company I've ever worked for has had proprietary applications that I've had to support as part of my role. If you are touching the Cisco VMware and AWS infrastructure portions on a regular basis that should more than offset those concerns because those skills are very much in demand.

Sounds like this job will allow you to achieve your goals so if I were you I would negotiate at large training stipend so you can be confident on your ability to deliver.

Good luck!

thomas_

Linuxacademy has AWS training that you can go through.

Mow

Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

kurosaki00, I actually meant to say that the procedures they use for getting things done is unlike the ways most companies do it. I look at this as an opportunity to learn their way and possibly find ways to improve them, as long as I can get up to speed in the various technologies in a decent amount of time.

iBrokeIT, no training budget, from what I understand. But that's ok, I have gone this long with no formal training budget. All my training comes out of pocket or from our partners/distributors.

thomas_, I saw that Udemy is having a $15 sale right now on the Linuxacademy AWS training, and also the CloudGuru training, but I lost my wallet earlier this week and had to shut down all credit cards, etc, haha, so looks like I might have to wait for the next sale!

joelsfood

Go for it. AWS is definitely a good skill to add to the arsenal, and 100% wfh jobs aren't always easy to find. The flexibility on where you live is priceless

jdancer

Yeah, AWS is the next "big" thing. About to move half of our stage environment to the cloud. To me, it's just another Linux server on the Internet.

OctalDump

I'd be asking a lot of questions about the organisation, and their plans and specifics of the technologies and roles.

On the face of it, AWS and VMware are excellent things to get involved with. It's the current boom area, and getting higher level skills there is not going to do you any harm.

I'm all for getting outside your comfort zone. I think it is an excellent way to grow professionally and personally. Certainly if you chase those kinds of roles it does pay off down the track, as you will have a reputation for "heaps of experience" and will have more opportunities.

Those softer skills of critical thinking and creativity are also long term what gets you into secure roles. At some point you might get tired of learning new technologies and keeping all your skills up to date, so if you have broad experience and good soft skills, you can look at management type roles.

But don't go jumping in without looking first. Get as good an understanding as you can about what will be involved. Generally, questions from job applicants are seen as favourable things, so don't be afraid to ask them anything.

Mow

Update/Thread Resurrection:

Tomorrow will be two weeks since I had my first interview with this company. It sounded like a great environment (my house), with amazing benefits and lots of room to grow. I will be touching not only the stuff I mentioned earlier, but also much more systems admin stuff than I do now in my current role. I am anxiously awaiting a call for a second interview. Thanks, everyone for your support on here.

E Double U

Good luck Mow!

bumg

Good luck! How did you come across this position if you don't mind sharing?

Mow

Thanks for the well-wishes!

I went to high school with one of the guys on the team.

Mow

Had my second interview last week. I think it went really well. We spoke over a Go TO Meeting, and at one point I stopped the interview to apologize if it seemed like I was talking over him, there was ridiculous latency on the call. He laughed it off, and said that he is used to it. I am supposed to know something by the second week in March. I am extremely excited. The more I learn about this place the more I want this. I would be transitioning from a Cisco Voice role to a systems role, growing into a DevOps guy. It's work from home, travel three times a year. They will pay for travel, and I heard a rumor that they will also pay to put up my family while I travel so they can come along. It's a non profit that is eligible for student loan forgiveness and yearly bonuses are possible. Lots of other perks, as well. I am super-excited and hope I nailed the interview! Going home today to clean out my basement office and get ready in case I get the call!

Mow

Third interview coming up this Thursday. The VP and manager are flying to a city close to my town to meet me. It is in an upscale martini bar in the cultural district. I am getting excited, I think I am going to get this!

Mow

Did not get the offer. Got my rejection email last night. Back to the grind!

BerkshireHerd

Bummer! I got invited onsite several states away for round 4 interview, hopefully it goes well. I don't want to get too excited myself but it is exciting to think of the possibility to say the least.

Mow

Good luck to you! For me, it's back to CCNP studies, followed by CCNP Collaboration conversion, followed by VCP-DCV 5.5 exam. Busy year!