Another "new job!" thread

After 5 years in the IT support field, I have finally broken out of the end-user technical support/helpdesk game. For the past several months, I’ve been applying to a lot of job postings and have had multiple interviews. Well today I’ve officially accepted an offer from a very large corporation as a Systems Administrator. It’s a 5-6K bump in pay and it’s doing something that I’ve been working my whole career towards. Not to mention, I can wear shorts to work if I want (awesome huh?).

I wanted to post this because, not only am I extremely excited, but I wanted to give another encouraging post to everyone else here trying to move up the IT ladder. All the previous posts have inspired me, so here’s to letting you guys know that there is hope! To be honest, every time I would hear that from someone else, I would usually roll my eyes and think that it would never happen to me, but alas, here I am! I start my new position in two weeks.

The position itself is more of an application server support role . Basically, I’ll be the one managing, implementing, and designing the backend to their internal applications and managing the servers that house them. The system I’ll be using allows me to map certain portions of the application’s GUI to specific databases. Basically, it creates the SQL queries for me. I’ll also be handling escalated issues from the Tier 1 support. All applications are developed in-house. So, if I have a development issue, I don’t have to contact some vendor and wait a few weeks for a resolution (this is the norm at where I currently work).

A little bit of my background: Currently, I work at a bank providing software support and testing for 10 different financial applications that the bank sells to their business clients. Prior to that I worked a three month gig at an IT consulting company providing outsourced IT support to small and medium sized businesses that could not afford their own dedicated IT department. Before that, I worked in the call center for Cingular Wireless doing data support (blackberries, palm, windows mobile devices, etc). And even before that, I worked in big box electronic retail stores such as Office Max, Staples, and Circuit City. I did electronic sales and some pc technician work there.

Based on the nature of what I’ll be doing at this job, I think I’ll be postponing my Security+ studies and start focusing on some SQL certifications. Perhaps the MCITP: Database Administrator cert. Afterwards, I’ll upgrade my MCSA to MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. What do you guys think?

So, for those of you struggling in tech support and help desk, keep studying and working hard. IT WILL HAPPEN (advancement that is).

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Comments

120nm4n

Congratulations, and I hope your new job treats you well! It's always nice to hear about people advancing their careers, especially give the current economy.

CompuTron99

Congratulations...

Good Luck with the new position.

Bl8ckr0uter

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

After 5 years in the IT support field, I have finally broken out of the end-user technical support/helpdesk game. For the past several months, I’ve been applying to a lot of job postings and have had multiple interviews. Well today I’ve officially accepted an offer from a very large corporation as a Systems Administrator. It’s a 5-6K bump in pay and it’s doing something that I’ve been working my whole career towards. Not to mention, I can wear shorts to work if I want (awesome huh?).

I wanted to post this because, not only am I extremely excited, but I wanted to give another encouraging post to everyone else here trying to move up the IT ladder. All the previous posts have inspired me, so here’s to letting you guys know that there is hope! To be honest, every time I would hear that from someone else, I would usually roll my eyes and think that it would never happen to me, but alas, here I am! I start my new position in two weeks.

The position itself is more of an application server support role . Basically, I’ll be the one managing, implementing, and designing the backend to their internal applications and managing the servers that house them. The system I’ll be using allows me to map certain portions of the application’s GUI to specific databases. Basically, it creates the SQL queries for me. I’ll also be handling escalated issues from the Tier 1 support. All applications are developed in-house. So, if I have a development issue, I don’t have to contact some vendor and wait a few weeks for a resolution (this is the norm at where I currently work).

A little bit of my background: Currently, I work at a bank providing software support and testing for 10 different financial applications that the bank sells to their business clients. Prior to that I worked a three month gig at an IT consulting company providing outsourced IT support to small and medium sized businesses that could not afford their own dedicated IT department. Before that, I worked in the call center for Cingular Wireless doing data support (blackberries, palm, windows mobile devices, etc). And even before that, I worked in big box electronic retail stores such as Office Max, Staples, and Circuit City. I did electronic sales and some pc technician work there.

Based on the nature of what I’ll be doing at this job, I think I’ll be postponing my Security+ studies and start focusing on some SQL certifications. Perhaps the MCITP: Database Administrator cert. Afterwards, I’ll upgrade my MCSA to MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. What do you guys think?

So, for those of you struggling in tech support and help desk, keep studying and working hard. IT WILL HAPPEN (advancement that is).

Congrats!!!

I added to your rep because I have become very discouraged with my current job and what you said has given me some hope. I don't want to go into sys admin type of work but I always find someone achieving goals a great thing.

Good luck on your new job!!!

sharptech

Excellent! Congrats and have fun w/ the new job. Hard work pays off!

networker050184

Congrats!

human151

Congratulations on the new gig

I noticed your in Florida. Hows the Job Market out there, specifically Jacksonville?

The reason I ask is that my wife and I have been planning to move out there in about 1 year but when you think of tech, Jacksonville doesent even seem to be on the map.

By the time I move out there I should have my CCNP so Id be looking for a Network Engineer type of position. I have experience and currently work at a very large Data Center here in the pit of hell....Las Vegas, its like 110 outside, but luckily I work in the DC

.

Anyways, just curious.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

human151 wrote: »

Congratulations on the new gig

I noticed your in Florida. Hows the Job Market out there, specifically Jacksonville?

The reason I ask is that my wife and I have been planning to move out there in about 1 year but when you think of tech, Jacksonville doesent even seem to be on the map.

By the time I move out there I should have my CCNP so Id be looking for a Network Engineer type of position. I have experience and currently work at a very large Data Center here in the pit of hell....Las Vegas, its like 110 outside, but luckily I work in the DC .

Anyways, just curious.

I actually live in the Orlando area so I can't really speak much for Jacksonville. Here in Orlando, there seems to be an abundance of network engineering jobs. But, just like anywhere in this market right now, there seems to be an abundance of people fighting over these same jobs. I had three different interviews before I landed this job. This is the primary site I used for my job search: https://www.employflorida.com/
This site works alot like Indeed does. It's a job search engine for the state of Florida. I found jobs here that didn't show up in Indeed, Monster, or careerbuilder. Alot of the things that this site finds are jobs that are posted on company websites only. I hope this helps.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

Oh, and I also wanted to let you guys know that I used some of the tactics discussed here in these forums for salary negotiation.

During my interviews I stated that my salary range was 45-55K. Well, when they called me back today, the HR rep offered me a starting wage of 45K. Remembering what some people here have said, I asked if this number was negotiable. Based on how the conversation was going, I figured that I really didn't have anything to lose by asking this. She asked what I was making now and I stated that it's already pretty close to 45K. I then stated that based on what the job entailed, my experience, and what I can bring to this company as well as what the market rate for a position like this would be; I stated that I am looking at somewhere around 50K. I asked "how close can we get to that number?" She then said she would talk to the manager in charge of that department and would see what he says. We hung up and 10-15 minutes later she called me back and stated that "we can start you off at 49K" I was thinking to myself, "why in the world are they holding out on just a thousand dollars?" But, I didn't want to give the perception that I was greedy since I would have really taken the job at 45K so I accepted.

There you have it. All I did was ask and I gave a good reason why I should get paid at a certain salary and a few minutes later I added 4K to their original offer without even doing much! I give much props to everyone here for showing me how to do that

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

knwminus wrote: »

Congrats!!!

I added to your rep because I have become very discouraged with my current job and what you said has given me some hope. I don't want to go into sys admin type of work but I always find someone achieving goals a great thing.

Good luck on your new job!!!

Thank you

And thanks to everyone else for their kind words.

mikej412

Congratulations on the new job!!

dynamik

Hey that's fantastic, congrats!

human151

Thanks for the link and GL with the new job!

tpatt100

Congratulations

snadam

sounds like a good opportunity! congrats and good luck!!!

Lamini

Congratulations.

I can feel what youre going through as I just went through the same. When I got my first offer, people noticed I had changed, I went to work happier, like a new fresh breath of air. I never thought I would feel that again, until another company countered and then another..

Keep it on pushing, gambatte! make yourself an asset, irreplacable. its rough, i know, i worked 35hr+/week at staples and my regular 60+hr/week job, with a family and college, and certs. Load up your ammo belt and dont stop (education/ITcerts), and stay alert for when that moment comes. Remember that someday is not tomorrow, it is the day YOU make it. Grab your cajones and bring your game, everyday, never let your offenses down.

dps

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

Oh, and I also wanted to let you guys know that I used some of the tactics discussed here in these forums for salary negotiation.

During my interviews I stated that my salary range was 45-55K. Well, when they called me back today, the HR rep offered me a starting wage of 45K. Remembering what some people here have said, I asked if this number was negotiable. Based on how the conversation was going, I figured that I really didn't have anything to lose by asking this. She asked what I was making now and I stated that it's already pretty close to 45K. I then stated that based on what the job entailed, my experience, and what I can bring to this company as well as what the market rate for a position like this would be; I stated that I am looking at somewhere around 50K. I asked "how close can we get to that number?" She then said she would talk to the manager in charge of that department and would see what he says. We hung up and 10-15 minutes later she called me back and stated that "we can start you off at 49K" I was thinking to myself, "why in the world are they holding out on just a thousand dollars?" But, I didn't want to give the perception that I was greedy since I would have really taken the job at 45K so I accepted.

There you have it. All I did was ask and I gave a good reason why I should get paid at a certain salary and a few minutes later I added 4K to their original offer without even doing much! I give much props to everyone here for showing me how to do that

Congratulations! And a 4K increase on their initial offer is always good in my book.

Best of luck to you.

NetAdmin2436

That's great news, congrats!

captobvious

Great news! Good luck and have some fun!