Two Jobs, 1 man

Ok guys, so I'm just looking ahead a little and trying to see things for what they are.

Little background: 8 years IT in the military, very knowledgeable, but no actual credentials except my experience, awards and recognition. All I hold is a Sec+ and no degree. I'm currently a helpdesk jockey of 4 months right after I got out of the military. I work 2 days a week and 2 days on weekends and make right under 60k.

I have two prospects and all moving forward around the same time. I killed both technical interviews, 1 job offer overseas (AFG) and one prospect at a IT company (Big 3) that is an 2 year paid internship. If all goes to plan (I have face2face this week) I will have both job offers at around the same time.

What are your opinions on either?

1. Overseas contractor, Net Admin, Good money/not great, step up from help desk, 1 year max (personal preference)

2. Search Engine giant wants me for internship of 2 years, better pay than I'm getting now, but at the very least I work at an awesome place and get to put it on my resume. I think it's mainly desktop support with chances of other projects.

EDIT (New Offer): #3 Helpdesk Team Lead. Pro: more responsibility, step-up from current position, permanent, little more money. Con: more responsibility = More stress, most likely a 8-5 schedule, Moving, staying in helpdesk.

Any and all opinions appreciated. Thank you guys, I been a long time lurker here.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

josephandre

Lol @ "big 3 search engine giant". What's the point in that?

anyway. Contracting gigs especially overseas are always there, always hiring and especially prior service. Take number 2 and you can go back to the other (or any number of comparable options) any time you want

xxxkaliboyxxx

josephandre wrote: »

Lol @ "big 3 search engine giant". What's the point in that?

Big 3 cause I was in the interview process, NDA and stuff like that. You know or maybe you don't and that's why you asked

Edit: ah, I see you been in DoD contracting for number of years, probably Army. If you ever interview and get a job offer from the likes of MS, Twitter, FB, Google, etc you have to sign a NDA about their interview process and job offer and I can only assume they would monitor my online footprint for various reasons.

josephandre

xxxkaliboyxxx wrote: »

Big 3 cause I was in the interview process, NDA and stuff like that. You know or maybe you don't and that's why you asked Edit: ah, I see you been in DoD contracting for number of years, probably Army. If you ever interview and get a job offer from the likes of MS, Twitter, FB, Google, etc you have to sign a NDA about their interview process and job offer and I can only assume they would monitor my online footprint for various reasons.

oh nah, I'm well aware of NDA's (well not that you couldn't say you were interviewing, obviously not disclosing the actual interview process etc) I was more laughing at your way of describing it. Might as well had said "rhymes with moogle" Was just funny.

xxxkaliboyxxx

Another update: So after being a Service Desk Supervisor down in DFW, I stayed hungry. I worked on my level of knowledge, attended security courses (paid out of pocket), kept a positive attitude (tough in a service desk) and kicked ass (tough in a service desk). I am glad to say I'm moving into a pure Cyber Security role in the private sector (Oil & Energy) in the Austin area. Nice pay bump (about 20%), but better yet is my ability to be able to grow professionally. I admit it was a tough decision turning down the counter-offer from the current company, but ultimately I handled it like an ex-girlfriend (go cold turkey), it was just time to get away from DoD all together.

So yes, I started off Tier I at the helpdesk less than a year ago, I have no degree, no high level certs, but I do have experience (9 Years Army InfoSec, 1 year Service Desk). Hard work does pay off, but I would say having the right attitude and a passion is worth its weight in gold.

Wanted to thank the lurkers, dwellers and scumbags of TE for sharing their experiences, guidance and reviews, I would defiantly say it had a big impact

Cheers!

PocketLumberjack

As someone trudging through a service desk position right now this is light at the end of the tunnel. It is very hard to stay positive on the service desk for sure!

xxxkaliboyxxx

PocketLumberjack wrote: »

As someone trudging through a service desk position right now this is light at the end of the tunnel. It is very hard to stay positive on the service desk for sure!

Little tip, volunteer to work weekend night shift. If you can ask for a 10 or 12 hour shift so you can have 3/4 days off at a time. You get paid to study! Of course you can't make a big fuss and you have to be on point on your tickets.

Also the helpdesk is a real good place to network. You talk to everyone!

And last, volunteer for every project, even the one's no one want to do (hard drive inventory uggghhh). You'll start to get recognized especially in the helpdesk, it's high visibly, with high turnover rates so that means you can move up rather quickly.

GeekyChick

Hey congrats on your new job! Hard work and a positive attitude do pay off! Now go and protect our oil and energy.

PocketLumberjack

xxxkaliboyxxx wrote: »

Little tip, volunteer to work weekend night shift. If you can ask for a 10 or 12 hour shift so you can have 3/4 days off at a time. You get paid to study! Of course you can't make a big fuss and you have to be on point on your tickets.

Also the helpdesk is a real good place to network. You talk to everyone!

And last, volunteer for every project, even the one's no one want to do (hard drive inventory uggghhh). You'll start to get recognized especially in the helpdesk, it's high visibly, with high turnover rates so that means you can move up rather quickly.

Funny you should mention that, I just switched my shift to m-f 2nd shift. I was 4 10s Thursday through Sunday, but the Thursday and Friday shifts would average 50-60 calls so I was really getting burned out. Now that I am second shift I have more time to study then my brain can process. Also the calls are a little more challenging which is really nice.

ande0255

How do you make just under 60K on a help desk? You make almost as much as our admittedly underpaid network "engineers" where I work, is your 60K purely from help desk pay?

Also to answer your question, I'd go for the funner job, money can't buy an enjoyable work atmosphere and they are not easy to come by now adays!

xxxkaliboyxxx

ande0255 wrote: »

How do you make just under 60K on a help desk? You make almost as much as our admittedly underpaid network "engineers" where I work, is your 60K purely from help desk pay?

Also to answer your question, I'd go for the funner job, money can't buy an enjoyable work atmosphere and they are not easy to come by now adays!

Nope, just the help desk pay. To be fair, it's technically a service desk and we were expected to solved 90-95% of the problems. They are under a DoD contract, maybe that's why they have so much money to throw. I also haven't seen anyone else pay that high for a service desk/help desk role.

I assume part of the equation is the secret clearance and the DoD baseline certification.

Also, I am already moving on, going private sector.