Career Crossroad.... Lost... Help

Hi people...

My first post and I’m already asking for advice... Sorry...

I wanted to ask you guys, on advice on possible career paths... As I feel at the moment I am a little bit lost and am unsure options are available to me next. I am really eager to go as far as I can. I love working in IT and want to make the most of it.

I’ve been working in IT for around 8 years now, and 29 years old. First couple of years on support and for the past 4-5 years I have been Systems Administrator at two small companies of which my present company I have been there 3 years. My main reason for me thinking which options are available, is even though I had a glowing appraisal, I was informed in not so many words that I would be outgrowing my position. I have a good relationship with my current boss, although we both know there is no room for movement as I work for a small team.

In my current role I am the Technical lead on most solutions. Jack of all trades as they say. Ranging from, Vmware vSphere installation, through to Exchange 2007, to Desktop rollout using SMS, scripted packages, ISA and the like. I am a particular fan of Vmware.

I have obtained my MCSA and VCP3, of which I soon plan to upgrade to MCITPRO:Enterprise and VCP4 respectively. Is possibly doing a part time degree once I move positions an option.

What do you think? Do I go for another sys admin job and go from there or pick something a little more specialist?

Thanks in advance..

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GAngel

tris179 wrote: »

Hi people...

My first post and I’m already asking for advice... Sorry...

I wanted to ask you guys, on advice on possible career paths... As I feel at the moment I am a little bit lost and am unsure options are available to me next. I am really eager to go as far as I can. I love working in IT and want to make the most of it.

I’ve been working in IT for around 8 years now, and 29 years old. First couple of years on support and for the past 4-5 years I have been Systems Administrator at two small companies of which my present company I have been there 3 years. My main reason for me thinking which options are available, is even though I had a glowing appraisal, I was informed in not so many words that I would be outgrowing my position. I have a good relationship with my current boss, although we both know there is no room for movement as I work for a small team.

In my current role I am the Technical lead on most solutions. Jack of all trades as they say. Ranging from, Vmware vSphere installation, through to Exchange 2007, to Desktop rollout using SMS, scripted packages, ISA and the like. I am a particular fan of Vmware.

I have obtained my MCSA and VCP3, of which I soon plan to upgrade to MCITPRO:Enterprise and VCP4 respectively. Is possibly doing a part time degree once I move positions an option.

What do you think? Do I go for another sys admin job and go from there or pick something a little more specialist?

Thanks in advance..

That depends on if you like what you're doing. There is always demand for senior system admins having the VCP is like icing on the cake. If you like what you're doing start browsing the local job boards and see what they're looking for. If you're looking to move into a net admin position then you'll want to show a bit of cisco or other router/switch experience which i already assume you have on your resume. Just remember you'll be spending atleast 35 hrs a week doing it so take the time to find a company that suits you and your goals.

laidbackfreak

tris179 wrote: »

VCP3, of which I soon plan to upgrade to MCITPRO:Enterprise and VCP4 respectively.

I'd look sharpish at upgrading your VCP, unless you want to do the course again. VM have just extended the upgrade exam to end of Jan due to demand, after that its the course again.

As to answer your question, really it comes down to what you want to do, your background sounds similar to mine, although I ended up at some mid size companies (2-4k user base).

I took the plunge to start to specialise as my aim is to do consultancy at an architect level., I’ve done some consultancy previously as an all rounded but figure the focus and a few certs will prove more worthwhile to employers and thus to my bank balance

Ps oh and I speccialise in what I'm REALLY interested in so I'm still being paid to do my hobby

tris179

Thankyou for your really quick responses....

I've got some switch programming experience, but to concrete this up I should get the CCNA under my belt just to have it confirmed. I've forgot to mention, ive also been involved in a cutting edge VIOP\Unfied Comm deployment.

I am lucky enough to have got onto the "Whats New" course already; but I do on plan on getting this done in the next couple of months..... Have you done your VCP4 yet?

Thats why I posted, to see the options... I see most peoples goals are to become a sys admin. I guess a network admin would be the next in line, but at a bigger environment... But I guess I could argue I do that now... Just small scale.

I am a very goal orientated person, I like to know that im working towards something.... (bigger pay check hopefully )

Helpdesk --> Sysadmin -- > Network Admin ---> ??

I'm tempted to go down the Vmware route fully as a specialism, as you did laidbackfreak (makes me giggle).. but I feel going from hopefully being a 'good' sys admin to a specialist is a big gap to breach... Is this the case...?

Thanks again

laidbackfreak

Sounds like you’ve got some desirable skills all round, always good  Add the CCNA in there and you’ll become very desirable imo. Personally I’d still say look at a larger environment, while the sme set up is a great learning ground, enterprise environments do present more challenges.

VMware is pretty hot right now and a fair few vendors are seeking certified people for those roles. I haven’t got my vcp as yet, my current gig is perm and the boss wont spring for the course. I’m hoping to get back into contracting later this year and will spring for the course then and sit the exam.

Kaminsky

Don't make the mistake I did and stay in your job now you are outgrowing it. You will regret it long term as you are currently throwing away years that could be spent in much bigger companies. The longer you stay there you are just lowering the sorts of salaries you will end up earning. Be adventurous and branch out into the big leagues now and don't be afraid to jump about a bit regularly.

Based in London, you have a lot of options. Don't be afraid of applying for big name companies and don't be afraid of contracting. The people doing these jobs have no better skills than you have and typically a lot less. Get your foot in the door while you are youngish and start working your way up. Eventually the salaries, skills and exposure will get bigger and bigger so that in 10 years time you will be on a much bigger salary than you would be if you stayed where you are and got little incremental pay rises but sat there bored out of your mind and able to do your job in your sleep.

impelse

Kaminsky wrote: »

The longer you stay there you are just lowering the sorts of salaries you will end up earning. Be adventurous and branch out into the big leagues now and don't be afraid to jump about a bit regularly.

This is for me, I need to think about it.

tris179

Kaminsky, Laidback think you have both his the nail on the head....

I do feel a little frustrated where I am.

I agree, the only way to progress is to get into a bigger environment and get into a meaty environment(s)... Are we talking 2k users plus? or even a IT Company (Would the prospects be better) that runs outsourced systems possibly, and therefore leads to consultancy?

The only positions left here are Management... Not that I would say no, its just I am a techy at heart.... Maybe leading a team of Techies in a certain area would be a goal...

Excuse me for my ignorance, but going to a larger environment, I guess I would automatically narrow down the area that I would support? (not that this is bad thing), meaning I really could concentrate on these areas. Therefore meaning, the extra promotions\cash comes from being a specialist?

Would you mind mapping your path Kaminsky to show a possible route, just to open my eyes....

Many Thanks guys...:)

tpatt100

I moved into security from sys admin work and now I am finding out having current sys admin skills are almost a must for the jobs I get called for.

I try and keep up and right now my mission is getting really comfortable with Linux server administration and studying for the CISA in June.

With that when I was looking at jobs I see that Virtualization is big and imo will continue to grow.

Kaminsky

tpatt100 wrote: »

... I see that Virtualization is big and imo will continue to grow.

it is. However, it will grow faster the more clients are willing to accept a generic windows and just disk space rather than wanting to put all the infrastructure in a DC for themselves and owning it which makes the initial outsourcing outlay quite expensive.

Outsourcing doesn't lead to consultancy.

tris179 wrote:

... Would you mind mapping your path Kaminsky to show a possible route, just to open my eyes....

You get big IT companies with all sorts of staff disciplines spread across various accounts. IE depending on the level of support required, they'll get First line help desk, wintel teams, network teams, security teams, unix teams, database teams, application support teams, and a whole raft of PMs, change managers, architects all looking after the same client. Each account can have it's own setup of teams like that whilst you also have the same setup, though typically the more experienced staff, that look after the core business. So you end up with hundreds of staff that are all either wintel types, routing and switching types, firewall types, voice types, etc.

They need to have this level of internal backup because of the SLAs they offer to get the big business. Our Sev1 (client wide loss of service or partial service) is a 3 hour fix or the client gets back £14,000 ($22,400) per minute over breach. The major govt types incur £110,000 ($175,000) per minute over breach. So you need to know your stuff to get in the door. One cock up could cost the company millions.

Thing about this is every few years you are kind of encouraged to move on to new experiences, not even within your current discipline necesarily. If you are in wintel but would one day like to be a PM, you work out a path that will get you there one day and you bounce from job to job every fews years working toward being a PM one day. Takes a bit of getting used to.

Core types are usually 9-5 but most client serving types are shift workers who typically work 4 on and 4 off for anything from 20%-30% extra money. 4 on 4 off takes some getting used to but it is great when you get used to it.

Only the big IT companies can work this way but getting into them isn't easy due to the quality of staff they need so your certs or experience (not necesarily both) get you in the door.

The added bonus is should you want to leave, rather than just change jobs internally, job applicants with experience in these large organisations are looked on favourably at candidate selection. You still have to prove your stuff at interview but you would come with a "they used to work at xyz...." reputation which kind of imparts that big companies reputation on to you personally somehow.

This is the high end corporate type of outsourced data centre support that looks after govt and worldwide brand name clients around the world. Some IT types enjoy it, many do not. I never thought I would work for a corporate being part of a 15 strong team looking after 8500 users for 10 years. Now I have been in a corporate for a few years now, I wish I had done it years ago. I would be a lot higher up the ladder and in the realms of the big bonuses by now. Being actively encouraged and paid to take certs so you can go work in someone elses department is just wierd.... but they see it as it benefits the company as a whole in the long run.

Bigger companies also offer benefits you would never thought you would get. Like me getting sent to Washington DC for a week on a Juniper training course. Like the time, before I started, they need upping the overall cisco cert level to get gold partnership and they put an email out to anyone with a pro level cisco cert to be trained up to IE level. Many, many applicants but they took 10 and trained them up, allowing them work time to study, sent them on courses, loads of lab time, all during working hours until they got them through and got the gold level cert which gave the company huge discounts on cisco equipment. One IE I know told me, without him applying, when he got his IE, they automatically put on an extra £16k a year for as long as he has a valid IE.

Thing that will get you going tris is that my base is near the Dartford Tunnel. You would be surprised how many big companies and their data centres especially are around you in London.

tris179

Many Thanks for your replys. Kaminsky, many thanks for your post...

WOW, that is quite a fine.... That is some responsibility....

I think the general consensus no matter what I decide to do is that I need tp move to a bigger environment. So we talking 10,000 users plus?

Would a bigger in-house environment or dedicated IT firm be more beneficial?

In relation to firms paying for Certs this is true.. Time to moan now.... I sometimes feel that we are not treated in the same way as other professions (from experience anyway). They pay for the courses, you work hard to the cert etc, which in turn makes you more marketable, and I would assume earn more money if\when you have the relevant experience. I have gained all my Certs at my current position, taken on a lot of extra responsibility in regards to various aspects as I have really pushed myself learning in my own time, but the financial reward has been minimal.. IT seems to be unstructured in this regard. Unless this is just my own experience. Can anyone else comment on this?

For example, many accounts have dedicated training path, and after each stage there is a reward...

Stating the obvious, but summarising, I will need to pick an area when moving too a larger environment, thinking about what I would do next....

I do like the idea of the bigger environment with the added benefits... I’d better start looking..

Thanks again