Which position should I take?
UniqueAgEnT
Member Posts: 102
Hello,
I was offered 2 graduate assistantships since I currently am pursuing my Masters in MIS. The GA positions are nice since they pay for most of my tuition, pay health insurance, are on campus, and pay pretty well. Both positions are 20 hours a week and the pay is the same.
I am quitting my current position that was doing a wide range of things from Database administration, development, Sharepoint, tech support, and system administration. They have asked me if I would be interested in remote work when needed. I currently am certified in A+, N+, S+ and MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Administration.
The first position is SQL Server ETL programmer, mostly doing SSIS and SSAS packages along T-SQL, etc. I have had more administration than development but I am qualified for this position and can learn a lot about the BI side. In addition, the department has a consulting firm, which means if I want to work more than 20 hours a week, I can receive a higher pay per hour. It seems pretty much like contract work. In the summer, I can work 40 hours a week at the higher rate since I do not graduate from Masters until Dec 2012.
The second position is for the Information Security office, primarily as an Information Security Analyst Graduate Assistant. This role has a much wider range of duties including Access databases, Oracle databases, encryption, web development/maintenance, and various security topics. This would also allow me to work 40 hours in the summer, but it would be a lower pay rate since it would still be a graduate assistantship during that time.
SQL Server Administration/BI and Information Security are my two favorite areas in IT right now so I think I would be happy with either one. I think the Security one requires less learning overall. In addition, both jobs may have positions available when I graduate. Which do you think I should choose?
I was offered 2 graduate assistantships since I currently am pursuing my Masters in MIS. The GA positions are nice since they pay for most of my tuition, pay health insurance, are on campus, and pay pretty well. Both positions are 20 hours a week and the pay is the same.
I am quitting my current position that was doing a wide range of things from Database administration, development, Sharepoint, tech support, and system administration. They have asked me if I would be interested in remote work when needed. I currently am certified in A+, N+, S+ and MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Administration.
The first position is SQL Server ETL programmer, mostly doing SSIS and SSAS packages along T-SQL, etc. I have had more administration than development but I am qualified for this position and can learn a lot about the BI side. In addition, the department has a consulting firm, which means if I want to work more than 20 hours a week, I can receive a higher pay per hour. It seems pretty much like contract work. In the summer, I can work 40 hours a week at the higher rate since I do not graduate from Masters until Dec 2012.
The second position is for the Information Security office, primarily as an Information Security Analyst Graduate Assistant. This role has a much wider range of duties including Access databases, Oracle databases, encryption, web development/maintenance, and various security topics. This would also allow me to work 40 hours in the summer, but it would be a lower pay rate since it would still be a graduate assistantship during that time.
SQL Server Administration/BI and Information Security are my two favorite areas in IT right now so I think I would be happy with either one. I think the Security one requires less learning overall. In addition, both jobs may have positions available when I graduate. Which do you think I should choose?
Comments
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the_Grinch
Member Posts: 4,165 ■■■■■■■■■■
Depends on what you want to do when you get out. Security or Business Intelligence? Business Intelligence seems to be up and coming, plus it seems you will learn from this side. I'd say take the money out of the equation (just for now) and see what you would pick based on job duties/interest alone. Making big bucks and not liking it doesn't make things better. Maybe see if you could shadow someone from both sides to see which you like more?WIP:
PHP
Kotlin
Intro to Discrete Math
Programming Languages
Work stuff -
UniqueAgEnT
Member Posts: 102
Ended up taking the SQL job, which ended up paying about $2500 more a semester for the 20 hours per week vs the Info sec one, so that was a nice bonus.
I am thinking about doing MCITP: Business Intelligence 2008 next since that is most relevant to my new job. Anyone have experience taking those tests?
