In a predicament with my job/career

You may remember I was offered a digital forensics role recently. Well, i'm in a predicament. They (law enforcement/police) have offered me just 21k ($30,995) for a role with a 12-month probation period. I'm currently on 40k ($59,029) for a large global company.

So what's the predicament? Well, here goes:

New job has significantly less money (I knew this going in. I was expecting another 2k though.. But forensics seems to pay VERY poor wages considering the knowledge you need
New job is 90 miles away - meaning i'd have to move 90 miles and live on my own for 21k (£)
Current job (40k job) is moving locations in 8-9 months (45 miles away. I already to a 40 mile round trip to this job). I do not want to move with this job
Current job is very poor. It's soul destroying

I'm wondering if I should take the 21k offer and risk the 12 month probation period Or should I just ride out the 8-9 months, and look for a new job that's more local. But bear in mind, if I turn down this forensics job, it's highly unlikely i'll get into forensics.

There's a part of me inside that is beginning to wish I went down a different career path, but that's not a possibility at the moment.

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Comments

Chev Chellios

Hey si,

This is a really difficult call in that I have worked soul destroying jobs I've hated, so a drop in pay to do a job you enjoy isn't usually a bad move. However, that is a low salary here given living costs and the fact you will be using a lot of petrol travelling to the new job or relocating. Will the salary improve or do the other benefits help? At least you don't have a family to support or that would have made it even more difficult.

I know the job market here is tight and forensics roles with the Police do not appear very often. If you think you can afford the pay drop and you really want to do the job then go for it mate! You can always look for other jobs then during your probation if the money situation gets too bad.

dustervoice

The forensic role salary is very low and I've never heard of a 12 month probation.I couldn't imagine living on that kind of money here in London. If your heart and soul is into forensics i would say go after your passion. This is really a tough choice but go with your heart on this one. Good Luck mate.

Kinet1c

You need to look at the salary scale for digital forensics, what is the top end of the scale and how likely are you to get there?

When you say your current role is a SOC, what do you do on a daily basis? How open would you be to moving to something closer to your potential new role in Ireland?

si20

Kinet1c wrote: »

You need to look at the salary scale for digital forensics, what is the top end of the scale and how likely are you to get there?

When you say your current role is a SOC, what do you do on a daily basis? How open would you be to moving to something closer to your potential new role in Ireland?

On a daily basis? I log onto an ESM, run reports, export them as CSVs and run through them, looking for signs of obvious false positives. I'm an escalation point. I'm essentially a senior analyst (doesn't say senior in my title, but that's the role). I wouldn't ever consider a SOC job ever again. They seem to attract a certain type of person. In my 2 SOC jobs, i've worked with the following kinds of people: technical, lazy, yes-men. I know you can get those kinds of people anywhere, but in my 2 SOC jobs, 99.9% of people (made up figure) fit into the lazy, or yes-men category.

Just to put it into perspective, i'll explain why they're lazy/yes-men. In my first SOC job, we'd be constantly hiring new people because we had a high turnover of staff. On one of the intakes, we had a guy come into the SOC. He would spend 4+ hours on youtube, 2+ hours on the phone to his wife, 1 hour lunch etc. Then at the end of the shift, he'd do a tiny bit of work. He got promoted above me. I don't mind someone getting promoted, but my god, they couldn't have picked a worse option.

2nd SOC job - My colleague goes on SANS training. I don't get offered SANS because i'm new. He fails the exam (because he didn't bother to revise). I tell him to download VM's and do some practice pen-testing. He downloads a VM from vulnhub (one that took me 4+ hours to pen-test). He turns around after 30 mins and say he has rooted it... Little did he know I saw him on youtube copying the commands from a walkthrough video. It was at this point I thought "stuff it, I don't belong working amongst this crowd".

Clients don't give a crap about security, they just do this for compliance. And the clients that do claim to care about security have lax security policies and often don't communicate with the MSSP as required. I really have a grudge against SOC's (I seem to rant about them alot on here!).

If there was a forensics role in Ireland i'd consider it. If it was a SOC job, I couldn't do it. I'd honestly rather quit IT and work in a supermarket stacking shelves. Working in a SOC has killed my love of IT and i'm trying to get back to how I used to be.

danny069

That does seem pretty low for a forensics role, what do they have in their tea over there? j/k What comes after the 12 month probation? Do you know/ask? If a substantial 10k+ raise comes with it, then I'd say go for it, you also have to evaluate if your expenses will suffice that salary. In the end, it comes down to personal fulfillment, not monetary value.

si20

danny069 - unfortunately they've not mentioned what happens after the 12 months. I will ask. I've already asked them for 2k more to see if they'll at least do that. If they do, i'll ask about future pay rises. I think their answers will be the deciding factor.

Thanks everyone for the opinions so far. It's really helpful to hear what everyone thinks.

colemic

That's a tough spot to be in. Remember too, that you don't have to be in that low-paying job forever, just enough to get some good experience and get your foot into the door of that world.

Let us know how it goes.

UncleB

si20 wrote: »

They (law enforcement/police) have offered me just 21k ($30,995) for a role with a 12-month probation period.

You would be paid much, much less than the market rate for this skill:
Computer Forensics Salary | Indeed.com

I would carry on where you are, save as much as you can and keep looking while updating your certs and getting as much practice as you can (get old computers and work on getting into the nuts and bolts of the forensics) so you are ready to impress new employers with your ability if you don't have the experience.

I've worked with a few people who spent time working with the UK police and they did not paint a pretty picture at all for IT staff there - lack of funding, office politics and the constant exposure to stuff that makes you want to cut your own wrists at how bad your fellow humans can be.

I don't see any worthwhile upside that would make the puny salary tolerable.

thanks
Iain

Kinet1c

I've dropped you a PM.

si20

The stuff I might see in forensics puts me off, but i'm going in blind - I don't know *exactly* what i'd see. I've got a rough idea, but that's all. It's the 12 month probation and low pay that's the real turn off here. But money isn't the biggest factor for me. It's a shame that there isn't a more local job opportunity.

UncleB

Think about the sort of thing the police investigate using forensics - they aren't going after tax avoiders, embezzlers or internet trolls but people who share child abuse material, kidnap, threaten or kill and have an electronic trail to look for.

Could you go home and switch off the memory of the images you uncover or the proof of the evil of mankind and the levels of suffering some endure - if the answer is no then focus elsewhere. I know too many police IT staff who need regular counselling for the trauma of what they uncover, some of which can build up to a breakdown or destroys their trust in people.

You may want to consider working for an outfit like the Competition And Markets Authority who raid companies engaged in market fixing, cartels etc so there is much less of a human element in their crime. They have the power to seize computers from companies and have staff who work on them in a forensic lab - it is civil service work so doesn't pay a lot, but should be at least twice what the police pay.

Good luck with whatever you chose as a path.
Iain

si20

Thanks Iain. Definitely gives me a lot to think about. I'll have to make up my mind soon. I'll look at the job sites tonight.

si20

Update: The police emailed me with a contract. They haven't received a reply from HR, so my request to have 2k added onto the offer isn't decided yet. Hopefully they'll get back to me today. If they add the 2k on, i'll do the gig. If they don't, i'll have to decline.

dustervoice

I think they will add the 2k. It would be a shame to lose someone of your quality for that small amount of cash. Good Luck keep us updated.