Which Job would you choose? Job Dilemma

Hi guys,

Great forum. I used to be a member back in the early days 2005/6 I think. While I stopped posting and forgot my login, I've been consistent lurker.

Here is my current situation:
I'm on the job market for a short time, after being laid off recently. I just received two job offers. I am having hard time deciding which one to accept. I have 10 years experience, started in pc repair, moved on to desktop support then spent the last 5 years in system and network administration with some desktop support involved.
Here are the two job offers:
Job 1: Desktop support at a hedge fund, $95,000 a year, 15 minute commute. With possibility for performance bonus twice a year.
Job 2: Systems Administrator at a University, no dealing with desktop support end users, purely server work, $80,0000, 30 minute commute.

Both jobs have the regular health benefits.

Which job would you choose?

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Comments

koz24

I would take the System Admin job in a heartbeat. It will look better on your resume when you apply for future System Administrator jobs. Taking the Desktop support job would be short sighted imo.

Also, where did you find this 95k Desktop job? NYC? I know a lot of Desktop guys would kill for that salary.

pinkydapimp

Id go with the hedgefund. You can make big money in those hedgefunds. I know app support folks that make $170k at hedgefunds. if you are ok with the high paced/high stress role, you can really make good money there.

No_Nerd

95K for desktop support means that you might be the smartest person in the room ( which is never a good thing right). I would take the Sys admin job for sure .

case in point I turned down 90K for desktop support for that very reason.

pinkydapimp

No_Nerd wrote: »

95K for desktop support means that you might be the smartest person in the room ( which is never a good thing right). I would take the Sys admin job for sure .

case in point I turned down 90K for desktop support for that very reason.

90k at hedgefunds(in nyc) isnt that much tbh.

No_Nerd

Yea I keep forgetting that my view of wages is a bit off . In Hawaii everything is depressed so it is difficult to make over 70K. Thanks for the info I will keep it in mind when I am job hunting.

Remedymp

Hedgefund. You'll learn a lot about that market and can easily use it to transition into another position at another institution later on. You can be a Sysadmin later on somewhere else. Can't always have the opportunity to work at Hedgefund though. IMHO..

BradleyHU

pinkydapimp wrote: »

90k at hedgefunds(in nyc) isnt that much tbh.

basically...

but to answer the question, it all depends on what industry, size of company, and room for growth. me personally, i love being in financial services, so i'd go with the desktop role, on the conditions that its a relatively small team(less than 10), and that there's opportunities to do sys admin/networking stuff along side the desktop duties. Also some of these newer hedge funds, especially the quants, are huge on technology, so they're always doing all sorts of projects & implementations, and you can get involved in that as well...

but hey, if you don't want that desktop role, and if its in the NYC area, shoot that on my way...

jimjames

Thanks for the replies so far guys. It looks like the desktop position is getting more votes. I'm leaning more towards the systems administrator job though. As koz24 mentioned, taking the desktop support job would look like a stepback on my resume even thought it's a more money. Also doing desktop support for hedge funds can be very stressful from what I've heard.

dhay13

another thing to consider....do you have a degree? can you complete your degree for free or discount at the university? that could be a hefty benefit. i have a friend that took a lower paying job at a local university to complete his Masters free and stayed until his obligation was up.

LeBroke

dhay13 wrote: »

another thing to consider....do you have a degree? can you complete your degree for free or discount at the university? that could be a hefty benefit. i have a friend that took a lower paying job at a local university to complete his Masters free and stayed until his obligation was up.

This would be my vote too.

I'd take the university job, especially if I wanted to do any kind of education. Chances are, it also offers much better benefits. I don't think a 15 vs. 30 minute commute is a huge difference, unless one is walking and another is 30 minutes by car/transit.

Also, daytraders tend to be extremely high-strung... And at the place you'll be dealing with them, there's a good chance someone's trading computer dying in the middle of the day could easily cost the company a few times you salary in just a few minutes. Are you prepared to take that kind of stress/abuse (not even necessarily directed at you, just from working in that environment)?

The fact that one is a sysadmin job, and one is desktop support swings the vote even more.

dhay13

also, many colleges will let your immediate family (spouse and kids) attend for free so that may be something to look into

Danielm7

I'd go for the sysadmin role (assuming that's the direction you want in the future) and see if there is any flexibility in salary. As the others mentioned, likely you get free schooling which may or may not be a big deal for you. Also, from what I read, hedge funds can have crazy/unreasonable hours, that extra money can disappear very quickly in lost time.

ImYourOnlyDJ

I would go with job 2. You will be doing higher level work in a less stressful environment. Job 1 I'm picturing dropping everything you're doing and running to the hedge fund manger to solve their mini crisis while they breath down your neck because they are losing money. And as mentioned above you will probably be working crazy hours.

Kinet1c

SysAdmin job, no competition. You need to think long term.

pinkydapimp

I think you need to compare more than just the job titles and salary. Do you actually have job offers in place? do you know more about those roles and what you will be doing? For example, there are desktop support roles that might be more like architect roles and expose you to many technologies. On the flip side there are sysadmin roles that are more glorified desktop roles. You need to really understand the jobs and what they entail. Are they 9-5, do they require after hours or on call support? how often? etc. Then weigh all those factors. I think folks are getting too caught up on the job titles. Its really more about the roles. Having a desktop support title isnt a step back if the role is better and you get more experience, and having sysadmin title isnt automatically better either.

Hopefully you have more info about these roles and can make a decision based on all of this information.

sthomas

Does the Desktop Support position require you to maintain SCCM for desktop deployment? If so that is a good skill to have IMHO and that would make me consider that role. Otherwise I personally would take the Systems Admin position.

Danielh22185

Holy lord I wish that kind of salary existed for desktop roles in my area, that means I'd make like $200k doing what I am doing with the same scale of pay considered!

On a serious note I would also take the sys admin role, desktop roles are very volatile positions, plus the pains of dealing with end users drives me insane too. I think you would be best suited for your experience building opportunities by taking the sys admin role.

joelsfood

Go for sys admin. There's never a question when it's users vs systems, always choose systems.

markulous

Are the job descriptions pretty typical for those job titles? In other words, is desktop support going to be strictly dealing with end-users and no backend issues at all other than going on AD and doing basic stuff (password resets, etc)? If it is, then I'd rather have the sysadmin job based on that, but hard to say without more info.

jimjames

The desktop support will involve some server admin work as well, but most of my time will be spent doing end user support as explained to me, may even have to support some remote offices.
The sys admin is purely server admin. They have a help desk / desktop support team
The school is a junior college so the education there is of no use to me.

Still leaning towards the system admin job. Have you guys ever had to back out after accepting an offer before starting the job? What kind of impact would that have on future employment?

pinkydapimp

jimjames wrote: »

The desktop support will involve some server admin work as well, but most of my time will be spent doing end user support as explained to me, may even have to support some remote offices.
The sys admin is purely server admin. They have a help desk / desktop support team
The school is a junior college so the education there is of no use to me.

Still leaning towards the system admin job. Have you guys ever had to back out after accepting an offer before starting the job? What kind of impact would that have on future employment?

So have you accepted either of the offers yet? Backing out happens. It will likely burn a bridge though(hedgefunds all know each other and talk). However, you can always explain that you received an offer you couldn't refuse.

Matt2

Do what you enjoy the most. Do what will most benefit your career goals. And if that means less money (but still decent money) so be it.

I once made the mistake of not doing that and am sorry. Since then took a lower paying job but what I wanted to do, much happier.

jimjames

My main issue with the system admin job is the slow communication and lack of organization I noticed during the interview and the offer process. The HR department is very slow to answer questions, they seem very disorganized and management prolongs the process for no reason.
IT management seems to be also slow in approving stuff. This has worried me a bit because I've spent years dealing with that at my old job and it was irritating to say the least. I like getting stuff done quickly.

xnx

SysAdmin

NotHackingYou

Sysadmin role

markulous

jimjames wrote: »

My main issue with the system admin job is the slow communication and lack of organization I noticed during the interview and the offer process. The HR department is very slow to answer questions, they seem very disorganized and management prolongs the process for no reason.
IT management seems to be also slow in approving stuff. This has worried me a bit because I've spent years dealing with that at my old job and it was irritating to say the least. I like getting stuff done quickly.

Are both jobs better than what you have now? In other words, have you decided to definitely take one of them? If they are disorganized and have poor management you may want to pass. Then I'd ask myself for the desktop support position, if it would make me happy and if it was an improvement from what I have nor will it impede my future goals.

techfiend

Sys admin, I wouldn't be all that concerned about disorganization. Education is likely the most liked area to work in. Support can be soul sucking and a regression in your career. Don't chase money if you don't have to. The SA job will get you bigger money quicker.

jimjames

The issue is I accepted the desktop role already and have a start date and everything set up, I start next week. I have 3 biz days to respond to the sysadmin offer. Any advice on how to handle this?... Since I was recently laid off, I needed to get my hands on on something quickly. The sysadmin people are slow in their process while the hedge fund moves quickly, so their offer came first. I have cancelled 4 interviews since. Hope I'm not making a mistake.

pinkydapimp

jimjames wrote: »

The issue is I accepted the desktop role already and have a start date and everything set up, I start next week. I have 3 biz days to respond to the sysadmin offer. Any advice on how to handle this?... Since I was recently laid off, I needed to get my hands on on something quickly. The sysadmin people are slow in their process while the hedge fund moves quickly, so their offer came first. I have cancelled 4 interviews since. Hope I'm not making a mistake.

I mean, if you want to take the other one than take it. It happens. Its your career and you have to do what you feel is best for your career. So if that is taking this other job which you feel is a better fit, then there is nothing wrong with that. You will likely be burning a bridge at the desktop job. But at the end of the day you have to do what is best for you.

Both jobs seem to have their pros and cons. I know plenty of people at hedgefunds in IT. Some love it, some dont. They all make plenty of money. But it can be pretty stressful. i also know plenty sysadmins who love their jobs and some who hate their jobs. Some also have stressful jobs. It sounds like you really wont know how it is until you start the role. So go with your gut on this one. But dont feel bad for making your decision. Its your career, not theirs. They should respect that.

BradleyHU

jimjames wrote: »

The issue is I accepted the desktop role already and have a start date and everything set up, I start next week. I have 3 biz days to respond to the sysadmin offer. Any advice on how to handle this?... Since I was recently laid off, I needed to get my hands on on something quickly. The sysadmin people are slow in their process while the hedge fund moves quickly, so their offer came first. I have cancelled 4 interviews since. Hope I'm not making a mistake.

hey, what type of hedge fund is it? is an old school (event-driven, long/short, arbitrage) one, or the newer shops that rely on algos & quants? The algo/quant ones are very techie, and they're always looking at bringing in new technologies. So you could definitely be involved in several high level implementations & deployments.

And whats the infrastructure @ the JuCo? It might not be that great, and on older tech.

And $15K plus difference even more on potential bonus isn't exactly peanuts, even @ that wage level.