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Very Different Opportunities
RouteThisWay
Member Posts: 514
I have been working as a Virtualization Engineer for a large international bank the last year or so. I am responsible for the VMWare and Citrix implementations and management in US, Canada, and South America. I like what I do- however, I am really not thrilled with the direction our new management is taking us and their expectations (70+ hour work weeks, not filling open positions to "save costs", etc). Typical things really.
Well, out of no where this week- I was contacted for two positions. One seems like an almost identical job for a competitor. The title is "Virtual Systems Engineer" and I would again be responsible for VMWare and Citrix on a national and international scale. Their data center is much nicer than ours and is one of the tour-worthy places in my area. The pay would be another 5-10k/year increase which is okay. I am starting to wonder if I am pigeon-holing myself though because this is yet another job for a specific niche. And the market in my area is very "jack-of-all-trades" heavy. This job doesn't seem as exciting to me- because it is exactly what I am doing now. I would take it for the pay, and the hopeful possibility of a different change in direction management-wise. I have a 2nd interview Wednesday morning.
The second job is also interesting- but much different. The guy who called me runs a software development company/consulting group and received my resume from a friend of a friend type of thing. Doing some digging on them they seem to specialize primarily in developing addons/optimizations for a specific ERP/MRP application that is used nationally. They also have partnered up with an app developer in another state and they seem to be focused on a specific application used to give "virtual tours" for various retail stores. They don't seem to be a very large consulting firm but they are growing. They apparently have bought the building next to them and are moving in there as well. They seem to be pushing hard into the IT infrastructure support type of contracts. I got the feeling they were looking to replace someone who is failing to meet expectations multiple times and is becoming a liability. I was told they want someone to come in and take ownership of these IT infrastructure contracts and drive these projects. He is looking for someone to lead their IT team (team being I think an admin, a dba, and myself) to complete these. I do have a "jack of all trades" back ground as a System Admin generalist for a few years. I am a bit nervous because I have never worked as a consultant and I have never worked for a company this small. But I think the challenge is a bit exciting. They dress pretty casually in the office and only dress up a bit when going onsite to customer locations. The guy who runs the company is taking me out to lunch on Wednesday afternoon.
I don't think the second job is going to pay as much as I make now or at the 1st opportunity. But I think the work/life balance may be a bit better which is important to me having a 4 month old at home. I think there is also more opportunity to grow with that company and really see an impact my work is making. It also will give me some great all-around experience doing both tech work, project management, and personnel management. But I also think the risk is quite a bit higher- they have a much better chance of going out of business than my current job or the other opportunity I have been presented with.
So.. on Wednesday I will go in for my interview with the 1st opportunity and then have lunch with this guy to discuss that position. It is just hard to weigh the options and intangibles. It is making my head spin!
Well, out of no where this week- I was contacted for two positions. One seems like an almost identical job for a competitor. The title is "Virtual Systems Engineer" and I would again be responsible for VMWare and Citrix on a national and international scale. Their data center is much nicer than ours and is one of the tour-worthy places in my area. The pay would be another 5-10k/year increase which is okay. I am starting to wonder if I am pigeon-holing myself though because this is yet another job for a specific niche. And the market in my area is very "jack-of-all-trades" heavy. This job doesn't seem as exciting to me- because it is exactly what I am doing now. I would take it for the pay, and the hopeful possibility of a different change in direction management-wise. I have a 2nd interview Wednesday morning.
The second job is also interesting- but much different. The guy who called me runs a software development company/consulting group and received my resume from a friend of a friend type of thing. Doing some digging on them they seem to specialize primarily in developing addons/optimizations for a specific ERP/MRP application that is used nationally. They also have partnered up with an app developer in another state and they seem to be focused on a specific application used to give "virtual tours" for various retail stores. They don't seem to be a very large consulting firm but they are growing. They apparently have bought the building next to them and are moving in there as well. They seem to be pushing hard into the IT infrastructure support type of contracts. I got the feeling they were looking to replace someone who is failing to meet expectations multiple times and is becoming a liability. I was told they want someone to come in and take ownership of these IT infrastructure contracts and drive these projects. He is looking for someone to lead their IT team (team being I think an admin, a dba, and myself) to complete these. I do have a "jack of all trades" back ground as a System Admin generalist for a few years. I am a bit nervous because I have never worked as a consultant and I have never worked for a company this small. But I think the challenge is a bit exciting. They dress pretty casually in the office and only dress up a bit when going onsite to customer locations. The guy who runs the company is taking me out to lunch on Wednesday afternoon.
I don't think the second job is going to pay as much as I make now or at the 1st opportunity. But I think the work/life balance may be a bit better which is important to me having a 4 month old at home. I think there is also more opportunity to grow with that company and really see an impact my work is making. It also will give me some great all-around experience doing both tech work, project management, and personnel management. But I also think the risk is quite a bit higher- they have a much better chance of going out of business than my current job or the other opportunity I have been presented with.
So.. on Wednesday I will go in for my interview with the 1st opportunity and then have lunch with this guy to discuss that position. It is just hard to weigh the options and intangibles. It is making my head spin!
"Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture." ~ Vaclav Havel
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TheProf
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I can understand this being a tough call, especially having a 4 month old so the dependency on the job becomes a lot higher. The only thing I would say, and this is something that I would do myself, is to tough it out a bit, a year at most and see where the company direction/management is going. One thing I learned is that there will always be opportunities, its just a matter of timing.
Each individual has their own pro's and con's to stay or leave. I've left a company in the past due to poor management and to be honest it turned out okay, however career wise, didn't really change much. People that want to hire you can make the opportunity sound great, but the truth is, we don't really know what its like until we take the job.
It's like you said, the risks are higher and its not just about the possibility of the company going under, but you also lose your seniority, stability, etc. Being a new guy on the team is not always an easy task.
What are your instincts telling you?