Does this sound logical?

I explained this to my wife and I "think" she agrees but not sure if she is because she does not want to stress about anything.

I am currently unemployed now, well I was unemployed a couple of weeks ago but was on severance pay so I had to wait to file for unemployment.

I pretty much gave up on that offer and hiring freeze from a couple of months ago, hiring freeze still has not been lifted and no way in heck am I waiting for a "maybe".

I have a few options but nothing solid yet, Michigan really sucks right now because of job consolidation and pay decreases. My old company offered me a position in another state with relocation assistance but I have a house that is worth almost 50K less than what I paid for it and my wife has a good job with awesome benefits so its a no go for me now.

What my situation is I could wait and live off savings and unemployment for some time but using savings stresses me the hell out. Reason is when you need savings and things like car repairs and unplanned emergencies occur you start burning a candle at both ends.

I have an interview today for a Tech Support position for the Government at a military base today. It is a couple of steps down for me career wise but its a GS 11 position and the base pay plus my location means it pays a lot more than normal help desk positions in my area.

What is pushing me to accept a job that comes available now vs later is a few things:

1. Wife is due to give birth in 10 days. Our first child been trying for years to have one, and I mean YEARS.

2. My Windows admin certs are obsolete. I need to retrain/upgrade.

3. In January I leave for two and a half months of Cisco training for the National Guard. The military upgraded our equipment to satellite when it was radio before so our MOS is heavy IT now. From what I was told its router/switches and VOIP. I will have to do the CCNA course as part of the training and I get a voucher at the end to take the test. But Cisco Call Manager and other things will be covered as well.

A problem is my unemployment and job search will probably conflict with my upcoming training. I have several months to go but I really feel awkward getting a job say November and then telling them I have to leave a few months later for training. It is against the law to discriminate against military obligations but really how do you know you were turned down because of it? So I feel I have to keep it from a potential employer during the hiring process, I tell them I am in the Guard but withhold the training period.

My "logic" is this, if I get offered the job it will pay a lot more than unemployment and not require me to use savings. I know I can ace the interview and the guy who called me understands from what I told him that I just want to work in IT and thinks I can easily do the job.

I think I can use this year or so working help desk to continue work on my Masters Degree, and get my certs upgraded. I have the 70-642 exam scheduled in two weeks. I then leave for training and bust my butt on the Cisco stuff do the CCNA and then I found there is a CCNA Voice title. A lot of our military work is VOIP and video conferencing.

I guess I am looking at this as a "sometimes you need to take a step back in order to take a step forward" way to look at things.

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Comments

msteinhilber

By all means, take any work you can. It might be a step down, but it's a job and it beats a lengthy lapse of employment on your resume. It sounds perfectly logical to me, if I was out of work especially with a new child on the way, I would take what I can get.

I would agree, sometimes you do need to take a step back to move forward. You just have to view every possibility as an opportunity, even if it's a step backwards. It beats what you have now, and who knows - it's not at all unheard of for people to make the right connections and accelerate forwards, you just might make such a connection at this job and end up transitioning over to a position that you prefer.

4XJunkie

+1 to the above poster.

undomiel

If you can afford to be picky then by all means be picky. But from what you're stating here it sounds like pickiness may not be an option. Don't bring up the training period unless asked or until an offer has been made. That will make it more difficult for them to discriminate.

tpatt100

Easiest interview I have ever done. Got done a couple of hours ago. There is promotion opportunities elsewhere internally there. I have a feeling I might not get the position though, they pulled a person in from another department and she was pretty smart. Not the questions she asked but she started to give me a "your over qualified" tone from the questions she asked.

A huge plus for me though is they have on site day care.

veritas_libertas

tpatt100 wrote: »

Easiest interview I have ever done. Got done a couple of hours ago. There is promotion opportunities elsewhere internally there. I have a feeling I might not get the position though, they pulled a person in from another department and she was pretty smart. Not the questions she asked but she started to give me a "your over qualified" tone from the questions she asked.

A huge plus for me though is they have on site day care.

I hope it works out for you. Michigan is not an easy state to find work in right now. If you ever have the chance to move (unless of course you are staying for family reasons) do it. It has benefited me greatly.

I'm not sure why you would think your Windows Admin certs are obsolete. MCSE is still a powerful tool to use in the job market.

billscott92787

I would take it if you get it. It's better than being unemployed, especially with a baby to take care of. I'm sure over time you can move up and being government you can't get anything really more stable.

tpatt100

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I hope it works out for you. Michigan is not an easy state to find work in right now. If you ever have the chance to move (unless of course you are staying for family reasons) do it. It has benefited me greatly.

I'm not sure why you would think your Windows Admin certs are obsolete. MCSE is still a powerful tool to use in the job market.

My MCSE is NT, my MCSA is 2000. I moved into security when 2003 came out and I did migrate a network to 2003 but my duties as an admin became less and less needed. I really was looking to upgrade so if I get into a job with admin responsibilities I would not look confused.

tpatt100

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I hope it works out for you. Michigan is not an easy state to find work in right now. If you ever have the chance to move (unless of course you are staying for family reasons) do it. It has benefited me greatly.

I'm not sure why you would think your Windows Admin certs are obsolete. MCSE is still a powerful tool to use in the job market.

I would love to move but my house is selling for 50K less than what I paid for it. Plus my wife has a good job at U of M and her benefits are excellent. I am almost better off taking a pay cut than moving.