Network Admin Question

chmorin

I could use some professional advice at the point in my career. I may be coming to an interesting fork in the road for my rather young career, and I'll have some choices.

First some background information on me:

Professional IT Experience: 2.5 Years
Professional Networking Experience: 1.2 Years
Certifications (signature): A+, Net+, CCNA:Voice
Professional Exams: CIPT1, QoS
Age: 20
Time at current job: 6 Months
Current Position:
Title: Network Administrator
Mixed Infrastructure. Minimal salary for the area. No educational support until after one year, and then its only 1/2 of it. No study material support, or exam support. Relaxed work atmosphere as long as work is getting done. Three man team for the nation's network. We are a good team. I am able to make large infrastructure changes to their voice network. Work week ranging from 40 hours to 100 hours. I don't mind hard work, but I am overtime exempt and underpaid (5th percentile for my title in the area).

I'll hope that some of you have seen me post around these forums enough to know I'm serious about my pursuits.

Okay, so the situation. My last work place, my boss was the Network Admin of a Campus Sized network, and he recently got a promotion to an engineer higher up. I am lucky to have him suggest me for his old position, and knowing his salary, is a 10-15k bump in salary from my current position.

Now, this comes with some up's and down's.

Suggested Position:
Title: Network Administrator
All Cisco Infrastructure. Higher salary. Potential to move to an engineer position after awhile should a spot open. Paid Study Material. Paid Exams. Raises for Certification. Excellent work environment. Part time workers to help.

Where I currently am I get to have direct experiance with what I love: Cisco Voice. I would lose that at the new job, however I would have the ability to afford to study it on my own and move up to an engineer position specializing in voice in the future.

My current job is going to have a review session up soon. Would it be unreasonable for me to ask about salary and a title change? Most of what I do and specialize in for the company is in telecommunications. I would stay away from applying for the other job if I could get a title change and 5k more in salary. I'm not sure with only 6 months time in the company I can be asking for this. So that's what im asking you. Is this reasonable? If they comply, I wouldn't dream of applying for the other job. If they didn't, then I would probably leave if I got the job offer.

Comments? Support? Concerns? Tear me apart before I make a mistake please!

Geetar28

First off....this is a nice predicament to be in. lol. I would try to worry less about making a mistake and just look at things as objectively as you can. You say that Voice is what you really enjoy...and you're in that role.

You also say that if you were making 5k more in your current job you wouldn't even think of applying for the other...so obviously you're liking your current job pretty well. One thing I would also advise is to not worry about titles at all. Hell "Network Administator" (your current title) sounds good to me...ha ha. What was your work environment at the old job? You say the new place is pretty relaxed...was the old place similar? Would there be any odd 'karma' walking back into your old workplace? I'm not saying don't consider going to back to the old co. it sounds like a big opportunity. You just need to weigh it against your goals.

It sounds as though the predicament you have is weighing opportunities. Again, I would say relax, try to be objective, go with your gut and don't second guess yourself or look back thinking you messed up...sh@# you are 20 years old dude...your gonna make mistakes...but you look like you've done a hell of a job so far. Much good luck to you!!

SteveO86

In my opinion, their is nothing wrong with asking for a title change/raise at your current job.. Present it logically look I've worked here for so many long now, I've dedicated a good amount of my time to the technologies here to make them work properly, is their anything you can do for me. (Just a sample speech you could probably make that sound a lot better, just mention gas prices and other expense increases lol)

Or try and compromise, for some of the study material asking for some type of training budget for the good of the department.

If you truly work a for a decent company they will listen and work with you (it might not be on the spot though)... Of course if they give you excuses about this and that then you have a problem, or if they get slightly defensive when you ask for a raise. Then I would leave.


The other position with higher salary, paid study material/exams that's pretty hard to look away from in my opinion.. If you truly want to work with voice that much I would ask them if they have any plans to implement voice in the near future. (or if it's handled by another team completely).

I don't know how important this is to you, but I would ask about the study material they purchase, most likely they keep the material as the companies property so it won't truly be yours (not a big deal since most books/cert guides will be irrelevant in a few years anyway, but something to think about)

----

Really it's your call, but that sounds like a nice position your offered I'd have trouble turning down anything with higher salary and paid material for advancing your own career, it shows the company wants to hire someone that will continue to grow and they seem to be offering reasons to stay with them.

networker050184

What are you wanting to have your title changed to? To me it sounds like you administer a network so net admin sounds about right. A lot of times titles are mandated through HR and can't be changed "just because".

As far as a raise, I think you have a good argument if you are as underpaid as you say. Its been six months, assuming you haven't had any issues I can see a small percentage raise. Probably not a $5K jump at only six months, but anything is possible I guess.

My advice would be to stay with the job you are in now if its doing what you want. Rack up that voice experience and some more doors will open down the line for you. You will be much happier working with what genuinely interests you. At the same time, if you need the money a $15k bump for the other job can be a lot of help.

drainey

I'd say you should look at the long term issues that might arrise if you go back to the old job and an opportunity to jump to the voice team never comes around. Are you going to be ok with that? Or is the extra pay and study material just going to make it a little easier to go in every day at a job you will have started to dislike/hate because you're not doing what you really want to do? I left a 35k/yr job to take a 45k/yr job and after a year I'd have gladly gone back to the old job if it'd been possible.

Doing what you love, at a company you enjoy working for, for a company that values you as a person and an employee (in that order) is unquantifiable, but worth a lot in my opinion.

earweed

It's just my opinion but you've said your primary interest is Voice and that's what you do now. If I were you I wouldn't worry about te title and maybe even expect less than a 5K bump but since you are pursuing more education try to get them to sweeten the pot in that area. Them helping with your education is a win-win as it would give them a tax break (mention that to them) as well as being equivalent to a bump in your salary.

chmorin

Thank's everyone for your replies. Where I would be working is a fantastic enviornment, and they actually do buy the study materials for you, there is not 'library' of sorts. It is: Place order, hand books to you. I would be dealing minimally with voice there, only adding phones pretty much and aiding the engineer's when real problems arise.

I would love to have telecommunications in my title or VoIP, since this is essentially what I do mostly for the company. We are a well rounded team, and we can all do a little bit of everything, but I'm the only one who knows (or can get to know) our cisco phone's and third-party systems inside and out. We are growing to be an international centralized call control soon, and I'm trying to prepare for that. (believe me... they weren't)

Now that you all tell it to me, though I have thought this for awhile, the voice experience itself is worth a cut in salary just because it will directly affect my future job opportunities. It is just so hard to live on my own when all of my extra cash goes to education. I'm still a full time student and everything, and I won't be able to keep that up without a loan soon. I have invested thousands into my education since I joined, without a single dime from the company that I support. If I could get them to pick two of these three I would be happy: Reasonable Educational Assistance, Title Change, Pay Raise. I'll probably pitch the pay raise as a means to support my education, and the title change just because, well, its what I do.

And if they ditch all the ideas, I'm probably not going to stay with them. I know the company I would move to would be great if I get the job. It isn't like I would hate the work, I would still be a network admin with a cisco infrastructure. That is a dream for many, and I would love it.

EDIT:

As everyone said, this is a good position to be in really. I really cant make a wrong decision. It is just a matter of which is better.

MentholMoose

chmorin wrote: »

I would be dealing minimally with voice there, only adding phones pretty much and aiding the engineer's when real problems arise.

Talk to your old boss and see if you can take over some more voice responsibilities. You have voice experience so you might be able to do more than that position previously handled.

chmorin

MentholMoose wrote: »

Talk to your old boss and see if you can take over some more voice responsibilities. You have voice experience so you might be able to do more than that position previously handled.

That is a good point. I'm sure they would allow me to be a bigger part of the voice infrastructure if I offered my time. The VoIP Engineer there actually has worked with me on some voice things before and is on good terms. I never thought about that... thanks!