Need opinions please help!

mwill

Hello all,

I have a bit of a situation here. I interviewed for a job yesterday which is a 40 minute drive from my house. The job is a PC Maintenance Technician III. When I was at the interview I thought I blew it. Just horrible I said to myself. It seemed from the title and their short description before the interview they wanted more of a hardware/software/network support guy. But, after the interview they wanted more. Actually its more like a Network Administrator. Their required exp is 5-7 years. I only have 2/5 years of experience. So a lot of their qualifications and needed skills were beyond the scope of what I do.

So I left the interview with high doubts and some relief because thinking if I got the job I’m not sure I can do everything they expected of me. But up and behold I got an email this morning:

“Mr. Williamson,
I enjoyed speaking with you today. Thank for taking the time to come in and interview with me today. I have a few follow up questions/requests.

1.) Can you please provide names, addresses, phone numbers, and relationship to you of three references not related to you. Please have at least one be a personal reference and at least one be a work reference.
2.) Can you obtain a certified copy of your transcript from Miller-Motte Technical College and either fax it to (615) XXX-5555, or email a scanned copy of the certified transcript to me.
3.) Would you be available to come in again on Thursday any time?

Thank you, and I look forward to speaking with you again.”

So now I’m not sure what to do. I’m not sure if this is just a second follow up interview with the other candidates or if he wants to make me an offer. It seems since its only a day past the interview, I don’t think it’s a follow up, but it could be.

It could be that I offered a salary range which is a lot lower than what the job is actually paying for also. I said high 38-45,000.

Do I take the job if its offered to me and try my best, but knowing I don’t have all the knowledge their looking for and I could blow it. Or do I not take the job and be more secure with having a stable full time job I’m not going to lose.

Also more background info. It will only be me and one other at the site supporting many other sites. I’ll pretty much be his manager. (never done that either) and hes 20 years older than I am, hes on the helpdesk. (not sure how that will work out with the age thing)

The job is a great opportunity, but I’m just scared about it.

remyforbes777

I say take it. As long as you have good resources, and an ability to learn on the fly, I would take it. Resources as in other techs, google ha ha, other tech sites and forums. No one person knows everything in IT. I see you have Network + and CCNA, which is a good start. This is experience if nothing else. To be albe to put that job title and description on your resume is excellent.

BubbaJ

Fear of failure will prevent you from succeeding.

If the salary and benefits offered are acceptable, take the job.

keenon

i once took a gig that i know i was way underqualified for but they offered it to me anyway..

i had about 1 year of IT under my belt when i started as a Jr. Sys Admin supporting 5 sites and 100+ users at my own site.

2 years later i was the IT director i had removed most of all the outside company vendor support for basic programming, db stuff, all server admin, all router configuration, majority telecom stuff to say the least.. i was doing it all and mostly in my sleep

after company folded

i was well qualified for most anything i wanted to do..

mwill

Thanks guys,

I guess your right, I shouldnt be scared of this, but ofcourse i am.

But i wonder if hes thinking about picking me only because of my salary range I gave

Guess i'll find out.

What do you think about his email? Think its just a follow up or an offer next time?

sharptech

This brings up a good question..

Should you apply to jobs you are underqualified for?

I saw a nice tech job that required an A.A.S degree in computer science, however was just desktop/software support and some telecom. The desktop and software support is no problem, not sure about the phone end of things. Also my degree is a B.A...

should I apply for the job even if I do not meet all the requirements?

mwill

I'll reply to this only because you hijacked my thread! lol. just joking, but since i know from exp. Yes, you never know who may take a chance on you. Just from this example here! I guess they just might take that chance with me. (still scared though hehe).

Hardly no one can meet all their expectations, but maybe the ones you do have will make up for it. This job i'm speaking about in this thread, from the description i was given it didnt look over my head, just some areas i havent done, like unix/linux support and some Database stuff. But i applied for it anyway. Got an interview, and found out it was WAY more than that!

So yes, do apply for stuff that you think you may have a chance at.

My two cents.

Danman32

If your inexperience that you are concerned about were disclosed in the interview, then you have nothing to fear, especially if you can learn it. They may have seen your potential rather than your current abilities. If it was mentioned how long it took you to learn what you do know, and what you are looking to do in the future, that may be what got you the followup. Sounds though that the job title/description in the ad was misleading, but they may have intentionally done that to either keep the salary low, or because the position is expecting that level of work but with expectation of growth.

If a job title is something I'd like to do, then I apply even if I am not qualified.

sharptech

Mwill - Thanks! Did not want to hi-jack :P just saw this mentioned so I thought I would go further in detail - thanks again.

Dan- Thanks, good information.

Sie

I would say apply for jobs your not 100% qualified for!

As long as you dont lie about what you can do and what you cant do then its their choice to hire you or not.

If not then you get interview experience from these 'better' jobs.

If you do get an offer then they know what you can do and see potential for growth.

Also some companies prefer to be able to mold and sculpte employees and if you not 100% yet they can 'produce' you to 100% in a way that best suits them.

Go for it, what do you have to loose?

You go in with nothing, you get nothing what have you lost? Nothing!
(Monty Python )

But then you could come with something!

If you always aim at your current level or below who will you climb up the 'ladder'?

keenon

i think i have posted this same comment several times and some just now are getting it

if they have 5 requirements and i got 3 i'm there
if 10 and i got 5 i'm there

what the hell i'll post just to see if they'll call if i don't have any

sharptech

LMAO Keenon!

I think I am going to take that approach... I have not applied to some jobs because I was missing one requirement!

I am just going to go nuts and apply even if I am missing some!

mwill

I've replied back to his email and this is the email i got back:


"Thank you for the information. I will accept the unofficial copy of your transcript. Please fax it to 615-XXX-XXXX or email a scanned copy.

I understand that you can't make it on short notice. No problem. I may have our HR representative contact you to set up a time to come in and meet our General Manager next week. I am leaving this Friday to go back to South Dakota.

I may wish to contact you via telephone. Please specify a good time, and the best number. Thank you.

Have a nice day. "


What do you all think about this? Is it just a follow up interview with the GM? Or maybe an offer? mmm...

Go Bucks

Could be a follow up, but I think it sounds like a potential offer since they are checking on your transcript and references.