Blessing or a curse...you decide

Apparently the owner of the company wants to cut off our Net. Consultant COMPLETELY. Which means I will need to start taking over everything.

So my boss and I are in agreement that our counter offer will be having them send me to get my MCSA to start. They will pay for training, books and my certs.

I feel kinda sick right now.

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Comments

HeroPsycho

About freakin' time.

Now, go get certified, kick some butt, and ask for a raise!

YOU CAN DO THIS!

dynamik

Is this at your current job? What happened to the new one?

vCole

dynamik wrote: »

Is this at your current job? What happened to the new one?

nothing has happened from the new one yet.

This just got dropped on me today.

cisco_trooper

This is a good thing for you. It is easy to get overwhelmed by this, but you will be fine. The things you don't know you will figure out as you need to. This is a real good reason for your company to start giving you the training you want and the responsibility that leads to a fat wallet.

kriscamaro68

I would get your mcsa and if the job sucks then quit and walk away with the training you just got.

undomiel

From all of the issues you've been describing so far this is going to be some great experience for you. The training and certifications paid for is great as well! I would stick it out even with the psycho boss for a year or two just to take advantage of all of that.

arwes

Hopefully they won't make you sign an employment contract when you go for training. My last job would pay for training but you have to sign a 3 year contract. If you leave early, you have to pay back a prorated amount. One of the network admins had his contract run out and 2 weeks later he was in Fort Worth, TX.

dynamik

That sounds like my entire IT career. I installed a domain at my last company before even cracking open a Server 2003 book. Now I'm managing a lot of small-medium networks that are fugly at best. Nearly every day that I've been here, I've had to deal with some type of emergency that I had little-to-no previous experience with. It can be exhausting, but you really get to learn a lot and eventually, things should come under your control.

Daniel333

Are they planning on sending you to a bootcamp?

eMeS

arwes wrote: »

Hopefully they won't make you sign an employment contract when you go for training. My last job would pay for training but you have to sign a 3 year contract. If you leave early, you have to pay back a prorated amount. One of the network admins had his contract run out and 2 weeks later he was in Fort Worth, TX.

...and this was very likely illegal, and an invalid contract, depending on the state.

MS

jryantech

Wait... so you get to run everything? And get free training?

I don't understand the problem.

But Good luck!

vCole

Daniel333 wrote: »

Are they planning on sending you to a bootcamp?

I said I don't want to go to a boot camp. But I will take classes at the Community College during work hours though.

We're thinking I may come in later/leave early for classes and do some telecommuting.

meadIT

FadeToBright wrote: »

I said I don't want to go to a boot camp. But I will take classes at the Community College during work hours though.

We're thinking I may come in later/leave early for classes and do some telecommuting.

Yeah, I see no issues, unless they aren't going to increase your pay along with increasing your responsibilities. Even if they don't, six months or a year in that position would give you the experience and certs you would need to move on to better paying pastures.

The flexible work schedule is also a HUGE plus.

kalebksp

eMeS wrote: »

...and this was very likely illegal, and an invalid contract, depending on the state.

MS

Government agencies do this too (at least the one I work for does). I've heard of it being done in many other job types as well. It kind of sucks, but understandable, any person who gets training at one job and immediately leaves for another is an a-hole. The unfortunate thing about mine is that even if I were to get fired or laid off I'd have to pay back all the training cost. Three years seems like a long time though.

meadIT

kalebksp wrote: »

Government agencies do this too (at least the one I work for does). I've heard of it being done in many other job types as well. It kind of sucks, but understandable, any person who gets training at one job and immediately leaves for another is an a-hole. The unfortunate thing about mine is that even if I were to get fired or laid off I'd have to pay back all the training cost. Three years seems like a long time though.

That's one reason why I pay for all my own certs (it also helps that my current employer doesn't pay for certs

Kevin10686

Fade, weren't you giving up on IT and going towards Criminal Justice? Lol.

dynamik

Kevin10686 wrote: »

Fade, weren't you giving up on IT and going towards Criminal Justice? Lol.

We won her back in the end

NetAdmin2436

This sounds like a good learning experience for you, I don't see any negatives. If there's ever a problem and you get absolutely stuck you could still call the consultant (or better yet, drop us a message on TE). I guarantee if you ever went to your management and told them you were stuck with a problem and wanted help, they would not object to bringing in the consultant to help. So no need to feel overwhelmed.

You got this

BradleyHU

Kevin10686 wrote: »

Fade, weren't you giving up on IT and going towards Criminal Justice? Lol.

yeah i was just thinkin about that too...

but yeah, this sounds like a good opportunity...i'd ask straight up, is this including a raise? and it should be a huge one...to go from help desk/desktop support to network admin(cuz thats what a network consultant is) is a HUGE step...

BigTex71

Just remember this... Google is your friend, your lifeblood. There is almost nothing you can't do (IT-related) with a proper search on the internet. Also, Experts-Exchange is great for quick help for problems you can't figure out.

the_Grinch

Do it! Training and responsibility it will work out. But I will say that there is one phrase that will truly help you (as it has for me) "gimme a minute and let me do some research". Everywhere I worked it has given the time to find that answer and people tend to respect it. Only once did I have someone ask me what I did when I said that and I said "search Google". They laughed and I fixed the problem a short time later! Good luck!

msteinhilber

Isn't this the boss who would always basically ignore your input in favor of input from the outside consultant? If so, if this happens... are they doing to start listening to you, or are you going to be facing a lot of battles?

the_Grinch

I think at this point they will have no choice correct? They are dropping the consultant so she would be the go to girl now....

msteinhilber

the_Grinch wrote: »

I think at this point they will have no choice correct? They are dropping the consultant so she would be the go to girl now....

That would be logical, but I've been in instances similar and have been second guessed often and had to go well out of my way to prove why a particular way was the best way for the organization.

Slowhand

It sucks that they'd drop this on you so suddenly, and I think that's unfair and unnecessarily stressful. However, that being said, there's also a bright side to this. Experiences like this one are what define great sysadmins and make them stand out from other IT workers. If you get through this next six months, a year, or however long your solo run is going to be and you're still hanging in there, you know you have what it takes to be great in this industry. Another nice thing is that you can get a LOT of training out of this, (start with the MCSA, then begin pumping them for the MCSE, CCNA, etc. Remember, it's all about making your employers see value in your training, so present it right). You'll also get the kind of learning experience that no class, book, and most other work-situations could give you. You might feel like a junior going into this situation, but you'll come out the other end an experienced high-level sysadmin, you can be sure of that.

It's overwhelming to be the go-to person, but don't let it bowl you over. It's a challenge, it'll be a lot of late nights and by-the-skin-of-your-teeth solutions, but you can do this. Break your tasks down into manageable pieces, keep up with your reading, and remember those famous words written on the front of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "DON'T PANIC." (Written in big, friendly letters.)

skrpune

WOW, awesome! It sounds like your boss is starting to trust you and have faith in you if she's willing to go back to the owner with this training counter offer. Good sign!! That means you won't be fighting against her as you take on more responsibility & learn more.

While it may be scary or intimidating at first, this can be an AWESOME opportunity for you. Run with it as far as you can. Let them pay for as much as they want (and keep receipts for whatever they don't foot the bill for so you can deduct it come tax time next year) & get oodles of experience AND training under your belt. Then move on up the ladder there, or move on to other places - your choice.

Good luck, hope it all works out!!

Slowhand

FadeToBright wrote: »

I said I don't want to go to a boot camp. But I will take classes at the Community College during work hours though.

We're thinking I may come in later/leave early for classes and do some telecommuting.

Hell, I didn't even see this. Pump 'em for every bit of training and education they're worth.

vCole

msteinhilber wrote: »

Isn't this the boss who would always basically ignore your input in favor of input from the outside consultant? If so, if this happens... are they doing to start listening to you, or are you going to be facing a lot of battles?

She's all about sending me to training. She's been pretty good about saying how awesome I am lately, which is nice.

We had a pretty decent chat the other day so I hope things work out for the best.

vCole

Slowhand wrote: »

It sucks that they'd drop this on you so suddenly, and I think that's unfair and unnecessarily stressful. However, that being said, there's also a bright side to this. Experiences like this one are what define great sysadmins and make them stand out from other IT workers. If you get through this next six months, a year, or however long your solo run is going to be and you're still hanging in there, you know you have what it takes to be great in this industry. Another nice thing is that you can get a LOT of training out of this, (start with the MCSA, then begin pumping them for the MCSE, CCNA, etc. Remember, it's all about making your employers see value in your training, so present it right). You'll also get the kind of learning experience that no class, book, and most other work-situations could give you. You might feel like a junior going into this situation, but you'll come out the other end an experienced high-level sysadmin, you can be sure of that.

It's overwhelming to be the go-to person, but don't let it bowl you over. It's a challenge, it'll be a lot of late nights and by-the-skin-of-your-teeth solutions, but you can do this. Break your tasks down into manageable pieces, keep up with your reading, and remember those famous words written on the front of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "DON'T PANIC." (Written in big, friendly letters.)

Well she's going to push for a transition period, so I both of us don't have to be completely stressed out.

blargoe

This is really good for you. It will be very evident after about a year.

Change is stressful, but these transitions are where admins earn their stripes (and $$$)