Dell in Nashville, TN

sheckler

Did you already have a security clearance from being in the military before getting this job?

rdzdubz

sheckler wrote: »

Did you already have a security clearance from being in the military before getting this job?

Yes, I received my clearance when I was in the military.

rdzdubz

tprice5 wrote: »

Congratulations, man! Where is your town house located? Also be careful on the 76 connector; that is the road you turn onto when taking exit 11. There have been some pretty gnarley accidents there, though, I hear it has gotten better since they installed the traffic signals.
I highly recommend going to Jazz on the Lawn once you get settled in. It is a music/community event at the local winery. HERE is the link to their site.
Also I am not sure what kind of hobbies you are into but if you are into cycling there are some clubs to ride with. Used boats can be had for < $5,000 if that's what you are into. Definitely go to Blackhorse and get a Red/Vanilla ale mix. Trust me.
Clarksville is a great town. I know you had mentioned you lived their previously but I thought I'd mentioned a few things to get you off your feet.

Townhouse is located on Dunbar Cave rd. It's about a mile from the mall/Exit 11. nice little quiet area and some new development also. It's a two bedroom and smaller than where I live here in VA, but I only did a 6 month lease because I plan on using my VA loan to buy a home after that.

I've been to Jazz on the lawn and it is nice. Especially on a warm summer day...man its just nice to relax for sure. Im glad they are still doing that! I was actually talking to my wife about it the other day, haha.

I'm gonna have to try blackhorse, never been there before. When I went down they didnt have that kickers club anymore, its called Electric cowboy or some crap like that now. Clarksville is growing pretty quick, 4 years makes a difference in that town, Im just hoping they get some more IT positions!

Im more into cars and stuff like that. Not really an outdoorsy type of guy, but I wouldnt mind trying a thing or 2 for the first time

My biggest concern is jobs. If the Dell position falls through, I doubt I find another job that requires a clearance, so I might be stuck for a bit for sure. I looked on a couple of the job sites and Clarksville has nothing IT related. Everything is in Nashville, but hopefully after I get Sec+, ITIL, and Windows 7 certs, more doors will open where I wont care so much for maintaining my clearance. Making the move from VA to TN is easy due to cost of living, but moving from TN back to VA will be way harder, If I cant find anything in TN.

tprice5

rdzdubz wrote: »

Townhouse is located on Dunbar Cave rd. It's about a mile from the mall/Exit 11. nice little quiet area and some new development also. It's a two bedroom and smaller than where I live here in VA, but I only did a 6 month lease because I plan on using my VA loan to buy a home after that.

Dunbar cave gets super crowded around 3pm when Rossview highschool lets out. There will be a line of cars stretching from Wilma to Warfield. Avoid it like the plague. The golf course right there is nice and cheap if you walk.

rdzdubz wrote: »

My biggest concern is jobs. If the Dell position falls through, I doubt I find another job that requires a clearance, so I might be stuck for a bit for sure. I looked on a couple of the job sites and Clarksville has nothing IT related. Everything is in Nashville, but hopefully after I get Sec+, ITIL, and Windows 7 certs, more doors will open where I wont care so much for maintaining my clearance. Making the move from VA to TN is easy due to cost of living, but moving from TN back to VA will be way harder, If I cant find anything in TN.

Yeah, IT isn't Clarksville's strong suit. There are usually some teaching positions at Daymar, IT jobs with banks and of course Fort Campbell. I've got a recruiter who does a lot of work for the Army who I could send your way if you get in a pinch. APSU also had a tech team that needs new talent occassionally but they usually hire from their graduate pool.

rdzdubz

tprice5 wrote: »

Yeah, IT isn't Clarksville's strong suit. There are usually some teaching positions at Daymar, IT jobs with banks and of course Fort Campbell. I've got a recruiter who does a lot of work for the Army who I could send your way if you get in a pinch. APSU also had a tech team that needs new talent occassionally but they usually hire from their graduate pool.

Yea, Im gonna check out Fort Campbell to see what they have available. Since I will be on the AESD desk with Dell, we support all army personnel, so it shouldnt be hard for me to get into Ft. Campbell if a position opens up. Man, I will definitely hit you up if I get in a pinch, appreciate it!


As far as traffic on Dbar cave rd. I dont think I have to worry about it too much. My townhouse community is towards the end of the rd closest to exit 11.

HireMe

This thread may be dead, but I came across it by chance and figured I could provide some insight for the position.

I worked this contract for nearly 2 years before moving on to bigger and better things. From my time there I can honestly say it was a great experience and a stepping stone for my career. Dell will hire you on if you prove yourself, but let me say you WILL have to prove yourself. It's not an easy job and I saw quite a few people that couldn't make the cut. Because of this we were always understaffed meaning a lot of back-to-back calls for an entire shift. The fact that you would end up working on multiple fronts answering calls from different helpdesks only increased the challenge. In short, the job is demanding.

A lot of skill going into this job isn't required, but you will have the resources (KB's) available to learn the ropes. If you're diligent in solving issues you'll even write some KBs. You'll come to find there are a lot of things you can fix remotely with limited permissions; maybe even more so now considering I obtained an admin account just prior to leaving. It can be frustrating at times to know you can resolve an incident with the right access, but always troubleshoot up to that point and hand it off to the NEC from there and you'll be fine as far as quality auditing goes.

Apart from following the scripts for the audits your performance will be measured by call metrics. (Hold time, call length, etc.) This is where task management and communication skills come into play and this is where a lot of people find they're just not cut out for the job. You have to learn to thoroughly document, talk, and problem solve all simultaneously.

The greatest thing I can say about this job is that hard work is rewarded. I consistently had top notch metrics and quality audits which led to a permanent hire, a shift of my choosing, and time off the phones to train others\pick up various tasks. I was training for a coaching position before I left, but had better offers elsewhere. I had great respect for the coaches there as they were always helpful.

My only complaint:

I say go for it if you agree with the pay. It was quite low while I was there, but enjoying the job made that aspect easier to swallow. Hell, Dell was paying back pay up until December of last year, because the company wasn't meeting the minimum pay grade for our position. Those were some nice fat checks. Thanks SCA!

All in all this job kept me fed out of college. I wouldn't call it a career considering the nature of contract work (you never know what's around the corner), but I did have the opportunity to learn a few things and get some free certifications under my belt courtesy of Dell. It helped me get that first System Admin position that I so desperately wanted.

Edit: There's one more thing I wanted to point out. The security clearance that comes with this job is very valuable to other government contracting agencies. They don't come cheap and will give you a lot of preference when applying for other DoD contracts.