I Need Help with a Job decision ASAP

Sorry, about the bad grammar, and spelling my stomach is in knots due to stress.

Jobs—what to do

what to do
I had 4 interviews this week. Plus 3 request for interviews.

Two jobs one offer and a start date, while another one could become an offer…..

So here’s the deal:

The recruiter got me an offer today with a start day of Wednesday at a company that makes library security and self-checkout equipment.
I liked the people that I interviewed with, and they seemed to really like me.

Job 1 –Support Libraries
It would be great to have a job, but it’s not very technical. In-fact I think the hardest thing I would have to do would be to inspect packets with a packet sniffer or check ports. If there is an issue with a computer, we just have a tech go on site and replace the computer. If it has a virus we send a tech on site and..boom it gets replaced. There would be other troubleshooting items too. I do remember they said they needed people to answer the phones.

Job-2 MSP
So after I accepted the offer with the recruiter, a MSP called me 2 hour s later.. This is an MSP I interviewed at. They said I made it to the next step, which is the background check. I said I accepted another offer and start a new job soon. Also, said I had 3-4 interviews this week, but they were my number ONE choice. They said if things change fill out the background form and get back to them. I asked if I passed the background would I get an offer, they said they can’t legally say.

Job 1 is 5 month contract possible convert to FTE

Job 2 is full time.

I’m scared and I’m not sure what to do.
If I drop job one which is a sure thing, I could go after job 2, but I might not get it.

Question:

1)For job 2 MSP
Is it normal for jobs to start with a background check, and then do a drug test, and then give you an offer? Would it be a gamble to see if they give me an offer? Is this normal process at companies?

2) How come the recruiter can guarantee a start date before the background and drug test come back?

3) If a company asks you to take a background and drug test, then is it a sure thing you will get an offer?
I can pass both.

This is a very hard decision because I’m not working right now at all. I would love to be at the MSP, because there are so many different technologies.

The supporting libraries job would be fun, but I’m sure it would get old soon.

The job that has me supporting libraries wants me to fill paper work out by tomorrow.

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Comments

stryder144

Here is how I see it: I wouldn't spend the money on a background check/drug test for someone who I didn't want to make an offer to. Here in Colorado, passing the drug test isn't a given...so it would likely turn into a several candidate process for us. Plus, MSP/full-time...um, I'd rather go for that one than the contract. Just my thoughts.

TheFORCE

Take the risk with the higher reward, go for job two. If you accept job 1 5 months from now you might still be looking for another job.

scaredoftests

First of all..BREATH! I'd take the 2nd job.

IronmanX

Since job 1 is a 5 month contract why not fill out the paper work for job 2 while you are working at job 1?
It could be awhile before job 2 is ready to bring you on.

volfkhat

LOL

Kids today are fuuny indeed!

Obvious Solution:
Accept job #1.
But continue the process with job #2.

Test-drive Job #1... see how you like it.
If job #2 eventually turns into an offer... then decide then if you want to TAKE it.

It's really quite simple.

There is no loyalty in the U.S. anymore; so don't be feel obligated to show any.

other tidbits:
Recruiters dont give a CRAP about you; they only care about that Finder's Fee/Commission.
Please Keep that in mind.

Also, i work at a MSP.
Craaazy EXP; it's like a Paid Bootcamp.
But im not answering phones/resetting passwords all day; I'm a Jr engineer.
If you land a role like that; i'd definitely JUMP for it.

But be careful... lot of positions out there want to make you a Ticket-B#itch...

Panther

OP, concern of burning bridges? ... Take job 1, later jump to job 2.

Will you burn bridges though, with job 1?

Will they spread the word about OP?

I've seen something like it. Prospect got hired, but decided not to come on board. Don't know of the consequence though. Probably can't reapply to same company?

I maybe bias in agreeing with volfkhat (recently laid off). Recruiters/employers have no loyalty to you. So why have loyalty to them. You got to watch out for you.

Fulcrum45

I would take Job 2. It was your preferred job AND its Full Time- not contract. I agree with Stryder144; they wouldn't bother spending the money on a background check if they weren't certain they wanted you. They probably can't "legally" say because they don't want to put themselves in any awkward situations should you not come out squeaky clean.

DatabaseHead

I'd take job one, MSP's are horrendous.......

Hey there Jimmy, how 'bout dem billable hours?! 100% Utilization there Kimmy, 90 isn't going to cut it! Excuses don't pay the bills!

Blucodex

Job 2 without question.

NetworkingStudent

volfkhat wrote: »

LOL

other tidbits:
Recruiters dont give a CRAP about you; they only care about that Finder's Fee/Commission.
Please Keep that in mind.

Also, i work at a MSP.
Craaazy EXP; it's like a Paid Bootcamp.
But im not answering phones/resetting passwords all day; I'm a Jr engineer.
If you land a role like that; i'd definitely JUMP for it.

But be careful... lot of positions out there want to make you a Ticket-B#itch...

Thank you to everyone that replied to this post! I gave everyone rep

I went with the MSP job. They said they will get back to me on Tuesday with the results of the background test. They also asked when I can start.

The recruiter was pretty angry with me. You would have though we went on a few dates...ahaha

He said " this is going to ruin my rep as a recruiter" I told him I had to make the best choice, but apparently that wasn't good enough for him.

It is a make a ticket job, but there is room for growth.

Welly_59

Job 2 is a good choice. Whatever your role is with the msp make sure you keep studying, learning, and be keen!!

yoba222

Awesome. Going through that with the recruiter will make you so much more resilient now in the future with any other recruiters. Background check should be very easy to pass unless you are an axe murderer wanted in another state, or a drug addict or something.

volfkhat

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

The recruiter was pretty angry with me. You would have though we went on a few dates...ahaha

He said " this is going to ruin my rep as a recruiter" I told him I had to make the best choice, but apparently that wasn't good enough for him.

Bwahahahaha!

Keep us posted as things proceed along :]

scaredoftests

I have pissed off many a recruiter. LOL. It's your choice, not theirs.

DatabaseHead

Good luck on your new job!

TechGromit

Panther wrote: »

OP, concern of burning bridges? ... Take job 1, later jump to job 2.

Will you burn bridges though, with job 1?

I agree, if Job 2 was also a contract job, I would be concern about burning bridges, but it's a Full time gig, by the time you need to make a move, it's unlikely the recruiter will even still be around.

NetworkingStudent

I wanted to update this thread really quick.

Here is what I have learned so far in my first 2 weeks:

I have met a lot people at my current company, and everyone seems to love their job.

I start on support this Monday, I still feel like I’m not 100% ready, but someone will be shadowing me.

There are some guidelines I need to memorize for processing and working on tickets. Also, there are some tools that they will want all of us to know.

Somethings that I question:

Well one of my managers(service desk manager) knows pretty much everything on the help desk. He’s been in this position 5 years. He told me he has a background in programming and security.

I wonder why he left programming. I never did ask him this… Anyways, he told me he loves his job, but I wonder why you want to stay on the help desk forever. He likes to play on the internet and joke around a lot. When I ‘m around him I don’t learn a lot.

Our team is fairly new.

One guy started 3 months ago, and has 8 years of IT experience.

Another guy started 4 months ago with no IT experience.

Then there is me with 2 years of IT experience.

Seems like people don’t stay long in the Service Desk/Help Desk role.

Welly_59

Some people love working on help desk. I know people who have been there for 7 years.

But ideally its a stepping stone. You can do so much more than help desk if you want to and you put the effort in

TechGromit

Welly_59 wrote: »

Some people love working on help desk. I know people who have been there for 7 years.

Seven years doing password resets and assisting users with desktop problems? At some point you stop seeing new issues and it's the same problems day in and day out. You stop advancing as a professional, your just existing at work. As you continue to get raises, you become an "expensive" employee, at some point management starts to look at you as someone they can get rid of and replace with someone new earning 2/3 of what you do. There are exceptions of course, companies and unions that protect long time employees, but it should be a concern to anyone in the same entry level position for an extended period of time.

volfkhat

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

Being let go Before 90 days.

I did find a job at a MSP that I really enjoyed.
I was 30 days in and I was let go.
I started on the Service Desk as a Level 1.

Then one day one of the guys pulled me off the service desk to help him with a PC refresh project for the entire company.
Well we lost a cleint and things seemed to really slow down.
The project was tough at times, because it was just me and aonther guy.
So my superviosr and the owner brought me into the conference room, and said they're letting me go.

They said they see struggling. ( they were vague when they said this) They mentioned how I set up my supervisors computer. I used to many cords for the monitor. However, I made sure his computer worked before I left.

Then they mentioned that the guy that trained me for two days, saw me struggling. No one said they see me struggling. to my face.
Infact what is really weird is we had a service meeting a week ago and my superviosr said it's slow, and they are not letting me go.
Well at the end they said I'm a nice person, and feel free to apply again when I have more experience.
Also, they said they don't have time to train me. What was weird is I was let go right after the project was finished.

–
How do I bounce back from this?
Do all MSP want level one's to actually be level 2 and pay level one rates?
It's hard because I had a lot of recuiters that wanted to work with me before taking this job.
Also, I did turn down a temp job for this one.

Merging this together (for continuity).

Hey man, that's Life.
don't beat yourself up too badly :]

The way i see it... maybe they did you a favor.

Working at an MSP can be a good opportunity (i work at one); but Not if you are answering phones all day.
I'm not sure what you did on the level 1 "Service Desk"; but if it meant Being on the phone all day.... Not that great.

So you got a couple weeks of doing desktop stuff? And you struggled?
ha! Sounds like you were learning new things to me :]

Did you like the project/that-kind-of-work?
Let that affect how you choose your next gig.
Hopefully, it will be a place that will legitimately train their people "up".

In short,
that MSP lost a contract and had to "cut" some deadweight.
Period.

Get used to it; it will/can happen a lot in one's career.
The trick is to have the skills in-place to easily land on your feet (if need be).

Lastly, don't bother putting the MSP on your resume :]

NetworkingStudent

volfkhat wrote: »

Merging this together (for continuity).

Hey man, that's Life.
don't beat yourself up too badly :]

The way i see it... maybe they did you a favor.

Working at an MSP can be a good opportunity (i work at one); but Not if you are answering phones all day.
I'm not sure what you did on the level 1 "Service Desk"; but if it meant Being on the phone all day.... Not that great.

So you got a couple weeks of doing desktop stuff? And you struggled?
ha! Sounds like you were learning new things to me :]

Did you like the project/that-kind-of-work?
Let that affect how you choose your next gig.
Hopefully, it will be a place that will legitimately train their people "up".

In short,
that MSP lost a contract and had to "cut" some deadweight.
Period.

Get used to it; it will/can happen a lot in one's career.
The trick is to have the skills in-place to easily land on your feet (if need be).

Lastly, don't bother putting the MSP on your resume :]

Yes, answer phones all day

To be honest when I was on the Service Desk I only got maybe 3-5 calls per day. I would hit f5 to refresh the ticket que/dashboard.

The level 2 guy I was training with would pass me tickets sometimes.

I didn't enjoy the project work. Everything was rushed and there are always problems that come up.

I did struggle and I did learn a lot. I was learning new things everyday. I get the feeling they don't want that though. They want someone to come in and hit the ground running by day one.

scaredoftests

and sometimes, that is impossible. Hit the ground running. REALLY.

NavyMooseCCNA

I would love to have this problem. I've never been lucky enough to have more than one offer at a time...