Which job should I take?

jareddr09

I have 3 interviews coming up this week, and this will be my first IT job. Let's just assume I get offers for all 3 positions. Which would be the best job to take for someone in my position just starting out? I only have my A+ right now, have just started studying for CCENT.

1:
Tier 1 Helpdesk
Salary is the lowest of the 3, by a decent amount (probably around 13/hr)
They train you on everything, I will learn a lot in this position

2:
Support center technician
Salary 19-20/hr
Mostly providing support for proprietary software and POS systems, some general network and software support also

3:
NOC technician I
Salary - unknown at this time (will be higher than job 1 for sure, 15-20/hr range I'm assuming)
Typical NOC responsibilities

dustervoice

Only you can answer this for yourself. Go with the Job that gives you most satisfaction and is in line with your long term goals.

dsgm

Depends on what you want to do career wise, are you going for Helpdesk(1), systems(2 maybe a little) or networking(3).

scaredoftests

go with your gut, what would most be gratifying for you?

jareddr09

scaredoftests wrote: »

go with your gut, what would most be gratifying for you?

I think the NOC position would be fantastic. It's at a really great company. Although to be completely honest I'm surprised that they wanted to interview me. I applied for a help desk position at the same company and they did not interview me for that, but they want to interview me for a NOC, which I have basically no background in.

I think job 1 would be good as well, the pay is so low though I'd be eating ramen until I can move into a better position. Job 2 offers much better pay but I feel like I wouldn't really be learning that much relevant technology. Anyone else had a position like job 2?

Tibs

There is really no obvious winner here. You need to take into consideration pay vs. what you will learn vs. work environment.

1: Although the pay is low, you said they will train you on everything and you will learn a lot. This can really help to get you started in IT and find the subjects within IT that interest you. As helpdesk you will likely see a good variety of work and experience. So if you think you can live off the pay it can be a good learning experience for someone starting out. Keep in mind as helpdesk you will often be interacting with employees within the company you are working for. Or if this is a company that provides outsourced helpdesk for multiple companies, it would be similar to customer/technical support.

2: "Support Center Technician" is a little vague. I would more or less approach this as customer technical support, answer phone calls or tickets for people that are struggling to get the companies product to work. It is important to remember in positions like this many of your contacts will have a sense of urgency (and maybe entitlement) that can quickly eat away at someone's spirit. I wouldnt be surprised if the pay was that high for customer technical support, the pay is essentially compensation for doing a job that not many people enjoy.

In addition to this, you mentioned the support was for proprietary software. In a support position people are trained and educated to support the product, but not much else. This doesn't leave much room for learning and exploration.

3: If your primary interest is networking this would definitely be the best one to go for. This gives a lot of potential to learn and grow. It would be a great starting position for someone just getting into the IT field. If this employer gives you an offer they may also ask you to get a Network+ or CCNA soon after starting. Even if they don't, this job experience would play into earning those certifications later.

Remember at the interviews you can also ask them questions about the positions so that you can get a good grasp at what the job entails. It is better to look at what the job can offer you in terms of growing your learning and experience; which 1 and 3 can certainly offer if you can live off the pay. Or if you feel you need it you could take the higher pay option without much room to learn on the job from 2, but while in that position be sure to advance your learning and experience outside of the workplace with the additional funds you would be making.

Tibs

jareddr09 wrote: »

Anyone else had a position like job 2?

I provided tier II technical support for a video game company for over 5 years. Sure it was cool working for them and getting free games and being in that "gamer" work environment.

But looking back on it now, I know way too much about systems that I will never revisit. The experience was only good for that job really, and potentially other similar customer support jobs (hooray soft skills!). When I did tech troubleshooting "beyond my means" or beyond what was required of my position, that was the only time I got new experience which would be applicable to other IT positions.

Like what I mentioned earlier; if you choose to take that position I would use the extra pay to further certifications or education, instead of relying on that job experience to advance your career.

Phalanx

jareddr09 wrote: »

I think the NOC position would be fantastic. It's at a really great company. Although to be completely honest I'm surprised that they wanted to interview me. I applied for a help desk position at the same company and they did not interview me for that, but they want to interview me for a NOC, which I have basically no background in.

Maybe they saw more potential for you in the NOC than in the Helpdesk?

LeBroke

NOC sounds like by far the best opportunity.

You don't want to learn super proprietary stuff (job 2) since proprietary tech is difficult to translate it into a better job when compared to stuff like Linux, Cisco, or AD.

soccarplayer29

Another vote for the NOC position

bpenn

Depends what you want to do. Could you see yourself in networking? Go with the NOC. You prefer to dive into systems? I would go with the Help Desk, contingent on them offering training and developing you. Also, how large is that department? Is there room to grow within the company? Given the right organization, it isnt unheard of to work Help Desk for a year or two and then transition up to sys admin-type roles.

LeBroke

bpenn wrote: »

Depends what you want to do. Could you see yourself in networking? Go with the NOC. You prefer to dive into systems? I would go with the Help Desk, contingent on them offering training and developing you. Also, how large is that department? Is there room to grow within the company? Given the right organization, it isnt unheard of to work Help Desk for a year or two and then transition up to sys admin-type roles.

If the NOC position is more hands on, it's also a great way to learn Linux, which unfortunately, is hard to get professional experience in junior roles. Help Desk would only teach you some Windows stuff.