It's been a crazy week..

Mrock4

So, I've been passively looking for "the" job. Not just a job- I have a job, but a job I could keep long-term and really sink in, and grow with. My overall goal long-term is more than one CCIE, so I'd like to be somewhere where I can keep being challenged. That being said, I have literally interviewed all over the place, and gotten several offers in the last few months. I've turned a lot down for various reasons (not a long term position, salary, lack of benefits, etc), but made it a point to keep in touch with each company.

That being said, about a month ago I interviewed with a Fortune 100 company. It went really well, and it was a "real" tech interview. As I say, a good tech interview usually feels more like a conversation about technology rather than a Q & A session. It was just like that. Walked out of there, got an offer a day later. The offer was mid 100k-200k range'ish. I turned it down amazingly, because it was a short term position (6 months) although it had the possibility of going longer. I was more concerned about taking care of my family at the time. Plus- there was some amount of loyalty to my current employer since they had promised me a bootcamp soon.

Time goes by, the bootcamp falls through with the current employer, and miraculously I got a phone call from the hiring manager on the way to work the other day. He basically says "We have a permanent position that just opened up..if you want to apply..let me know"- of course I said "you'll have an application by this evening" and moved on from there. The offer *should* be coming soon, so I don't really have any numbers, but I can't imagine it'll be much different than the other position, since this job will be replacing their lead engineer.

What's really crazy here is not that they approached me, I think, it's rather that they came back after I turned them down, and asked me to apply again. That's insane!

To make it crazier, the same thing happened to me last week with another employer, although I turned them down again- because not enough had changed with the offer. It's a long story, but basically the job seemed "good" but not "great", and the changes they made in their offer two months later after my first offer, was still not that great. It also required a ridiculous amount of travel, which was not discussed at the time of our interview.

So, I guess the lesson to be learned is..make an impression at interviews, and you may end up working for them in the long run. Unlike most people, I do believe sometimes it's necessary to burn bridges, but just don't burn them unless you *never* want to work for the company, because you just never know!

NotHackingYou

Congrats!!

mapletune

Thanks for the share.

I completely agree that we should strive to maintain a cordial and professional relationship with other companies/people in the business.

After all, you never know what's going to change in the future. Maybe there will be opportunities that you hadn't thought of before.

anyway, congrats on your job have fun!

the_Grinch

Congrats! Hoping for some positive changes for me this year!

Akaricloud

Some like it when you play hard to get.

Seriously though, good job! Let us know when you get the offer.

whatthehell

*envy* Big congratz and best wishes!

YuckTheFankees

I hope you get another offer from them. It's always nice to have a company ask for you to apply, it says a lot about you as a person and as a professional.

Mrock4

Thanks everyone

I was hoping by now I'd have an offer, but they're bringing me in for another interview. It seems almost as if it's a technicality, but I still want to perform well during the interview. More to follow!

lantech

Good luck on the interview. Though it doesn't really sound like you need it.

Cleverclogs

Sounds promising, congrats.

Zartanasaurus

I'd wish you good luck, but you don't need it!

Mrock4

Thanks everyone..and yes, I can use all the luck I can get..

Also, another gold partner called, so tomorrow I have a phone interview (second one with this partner) in the morning, then an interview in the afternoon with the company mentioned in this thread. I plan on taking one of them- both fantastic companies. Both have been on various "best company to work for" lists, so I can't really go wrong. Just depends on timing and all that. We'll see...fingers crossed!

Mrock4

So the saga continues. The gold partner called this morning, and offered me a 100% remote opportunity which would put me well above $100k/yr. Going to my other interview (the one I posted this thread about). Something is definitely to be said about them from a character standpoint. Both places have had a great interview process (and been very professional, but laid back at the same time)- but it just makes sense to follow through with both interviews.

So I guess I'll know what I'm going to do by tomorrow. Worst case scenario though, I found "the" job where I can work from home 100% (which was my goal when I started this search).

networker050184

Good luck!

Zartanasaurus

Mrock4 wrote: »

So the saga continues. The gold partner called this morning, and offered me a 100% remote opportunity which would put me well above $100k/yr. Going to my other interview (the one I posted this thread about). Something is definitely to be said about them from a character standpoint. Both places have had a great interview process (and been very professional, but laid back at the same time)- but it just makes sense to follow through with both interviews.

So I guess I'll know what I'm going to do by tomorrow. Worst case scenario though, I found "the" job where I can work from home 100% (which was my goal when I started this search).

Gold partner seems like a dream job. What's the difference between the two work wise?

Mrock4

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Gold partner seems like a dream job. What's the difference between the two work wise?

One is in a design capacity- working as in a customer facing pre-sales role. The other is more of an "in-house" lead engineer role for a 10,000+ node network. In the "in-house" role I'd be responsible for a couple of large-scale datacenter migrations, which should be really cool. I think in short, one (the in-house one) would give me lots of BGP/MPLS experience, the other (pre-sales) would be more in-line with my career goals since I'd be working almost exclusively with datacenter technologies (nexus/UCS/etc). I already do a lot of nexus work, so that'd allow me to continue in the datacenter direction.

Mrock4

Got a verbal offer after the interview from the in-house engineer role. It REALLY is a great opportunity- but just not as great as the gold partner opportunity.

That being said, once I have a written offer from the gold partner (should be monday'ish), I plan to submit my resignation notice.

Mike-Mike

congrats!

WiseWun

100% remote work? Does this mean you wont have the opportunity to work hands on with the technology? Congrats on all the hard work and good luck.

Mrock4

WiseWun wrote: »

100% remote work? Does this mean you wont have the opportunity to work hands on with the technology? Congrats on all the hard work and good luck.

Not quite- the majority of the work will be done remotely (which will be design-oriented)- the only exception is before (doing site survey's and such), and after. Once the design aspect is complete, I'll be onsite for any installs to ensure they go smoothly (and according to plan). I don't *think* I'll be configuring every device, but will be available in an engineering capacity if any issues arise (ie: compatibility issues, configuration issues, troubleshooting, etc). At least that's my understanding of the position so far.

One thing I should mention- the gold partner already brought up the possibility of shipping equipment to my home and/or providing remote access to anything I need- so that means lots of nexus/UCS access, as well as the usual cisco product listing.

Roguetadhg

Congrats man, you've got things falling all over the place for you - and why do you want your numbers?

I know the feeling that you've described - the ability to just stay put. Learn and stay within a single company. That's what I'd like to find, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way.

Good Work Mrock4. When you get your digits. I'll ship you some wine, or bottled water.

VAHokie56

sounds great man, good luck!

petedude

Mrock4 wrote: »

The offer was mid 100k-200k range'ish.

Holy cow. Maybe I need to try to get different letters after my name.

Keener

Sweet! Congratulations on the transition (I am assuming you have received the official written offer by now).

Zartanasaurus

petedude wrote: »

Holy cow. Maybe I need to try to get different letters after my name.

You can make that type of money as a Microsoft consultant as well. Tons of money to be made out there if you have the right stuff and can demonstrate it in crunch time.

Mrock4

No formal offer yet- I haven't forgot about this thread! Talked to the company, and it *should* come tomorrow. Can't wait!

Mrock4

Still no offer letter. Trying to be patient, but I may have a formal offer from the other company mentioned in this thread soon, so I'm going to go down that avenue until my #1 pick comes through (or doesn't).

lantech

I hate when they take so long. I'm not sure how it is for you but for me it's very nerve racking. Especially when it's a job I really want.

Mrock4

It is. I really want this opportunity. If it doesn't work out I'll be OK, but since they already told me I have the job, it sucks waiting for a piece of paper to make it formal. Not putting in my notice until I have that paper in hand.

lantech

I interviewed with a company a month for a server tech position in a data center. They had already hired someone when they interviewed me. But they told the temp agency to keep me in the loop for when a future position opened up. Two weeks ago they were told that another position had opened up so the agency sent my resume back saying that they wanted them to keep them in the loop about me. They haven't heard anything yet. They have been dragging their feet. I guess I just won't get that job after all.

At the same time they got a NOC position opening at a internet provider. The ISP finally decided to start compiling names for interviews this week. But I still haven't heard about an interview time.

Waiting to hear about both jobs is really nerve racking.

zrockstar

MRock,

First of all congratulations! This thread is appealing for many reasons, but probably mostly because you are in a position right now that we all envy to be in. For those of us that don't know you, would you mind filling us in a little about yourself, i.e. how long you have been in the industry, your current position, certification path? I think it will be helpful for us noobs to not just say, "man I wish I was that guy," but more, "hey, I can be that guy someday!" Thanks.

ZRock (<-- sorry, had to :P)