What to do?

I am working right now full time and I got a job offer of Computer Technician and a community college. I am in a dilemma whether to take it or no. There are some reasons behind it.
1 - It is a lateral move i.e. I will be doing the same thing I am doing at my present job which is fixing computers, printers and the basic stuff.
2 - Money is not great at all considering I will have to move and at the end of the day I will bring in a fraction more (I would say around $400 more)
3- I will get not get any hands on server, networking experience.
I am not happy at my present job, not because of the job but other aspects of the company. The thing is I want to move up and not parallel, I don't want to be in desktop support for the rest of my career.
There are some good points also:
1 - Since its a college, I would think there is an organized work flow.
2 - New opportunities might show up at the same place where I can jump to.

Tried to talk to the wife about these points but she will not understand because she only sees it that I am not happy at my present place.

I would like to know some of your opinion, what would you do? I know eventually its my decision but would like some insight from outsiders people looking inside.

Thank you.

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Comments

Mike-Mike

$400 how? a week, a month, a year? that's a big difference

dadaji

Sorry for the confusion, $400/month increase.
On paper it seems as if changing jobs will give a substantial raise to my income but when I figured the costs associated this is the number I came up with, give or take some.

ssampier

A lot to consider for sure.

Are you giving up really close friends and family by moving?

If so, I wouldn't bother; $400 is really not that much more money. Unless your current job is in jeopardy, I would say, "stay put" and look elsewhere, close to home, ideally.

If you really want a fresh start somewhere else, why not take the chance and move on, pocket the $4,800 a year extra, and continue to look for upward momentum.

dadaji

I am not worried too much about relocation. The wife will be staying back as she has a steady job but can join me in a couple - three months. Also the job is only an hour and half away so I will not be too far.
Also, my current job is not in a jeopardy, I just don't like the working of this joint. Basically, there is no organization, its crazy.
Also, I am in a dilemma because after 10 - 11 months of looking, this is the first offer I got and if I pass this opportunity I am not sure when will the next opportunity arise.

ssampier

I completely understand. I am going to guess: you're worried that the new employer is bad as the current one?

That's always a risk isn't it?

How big is this community college? If there are a couple of techs working there, I'd chat them up and see how they like it. I am assuming you haven't already done this.

RobertKaucher

Do you get a discount for courses at the school? If you are able to take courses while there to advance your education, I would say do it! If they have any sort of courses for Cisco or Microsoft thn you could take those and potentially make contacts to help you get promoted to networking or server admin positions in the school or eventually at another job. And I would not turn down an extra $400 a month if you wanted to pay me that much for my advice! That's almost an extra 5K per year.

veritas_libertas

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Do you get a discount for courses at the school? If you are able to take courses while there to advance your education, I would say do it! If they have any sort of courses for Cisco or Microsoft thn you could take those and potentially make contacts to help you get promoted to networking or server admin positions in the school or eventually at another job. And I would not turn down an extra $400 a month if you wanted to pay me that much for my adice! That's almost an extra 5K per year.

+1 Those Professors/Instructors usually have contacts within companies that can greatly benefit you. Make friends with the Profs and it can do nothing but help you

edit: If I was you I would take it. I worked at a small community college and the experience was priceless. Then again, each experience will be different.

Devilsbane

First off, if you don't like where you are then you need to move. Life is too short to work at a company that you don't want to.

Second, don't knock $400 a month. That is a lot of money. Almost an extra $5k a year or $2.30 an hour depending on how you look at it. That could pay your rent (if you have a small apartment) or cut a mortgage in half. Or maybe just a new toy to play with or a new study material each month.

Plus as mentioned above, there are other benefits about working in a college. Discounted/free training (even if you don't take a class, there are opportunities to chat with professors) and the fact that there should be room to move.

I would take it

earweed

I'd say to take it just for the fact that you will be somewhere where you may be able to get free tarining. The extra money doesn't hurt either.

zerglings

Take it. $400/month is a money that you currently don't have now. Heck, after work hours, you can even sign up for a class and not worry about the commute to go to school since you're already there.

Mike-Mike

yeah $400 sounds pretty healthy to me

eansdad

What are the "perks"? Free/reduced courses, benefits cheaper/better, more experience on current systems (ie old job using XP while college is on Win7), chances of moving up/raises? All things to consider it does sound like a good opportunity aside from the moving part. I know a lot of people who commute 1-3hours a day. I've done a 1.5hr commute for 3 months it isn't that bad. I guess it would also have to depend on if you/your wife wants to move or even if you can and what type of environment it will be for your family.

Good Luck with what ever you do.

dadaji

Thank you all for the replies.
I haven't looked into classes offered will be discounted or not because I was not looking into taking classes but that can be a possibility in the future. There will be no server/network experience in that department because they have a separate department for that altogether but you never know, I am not striking that possibility off.
All in all, I have given my notice to my present employer and will be starting the new gig on Oct. 11
Hope it all works out for the good.

ssampier

Sounds pretty cool to me.

You, of course, can finish your MS server certs and ask for a transfer to that department.

Let us know how everything shakes out, you hear?

Devilsbane

Congratulations! good luck

za3bour

Congratulations, you need to finish the Cert you have started and since now you are in a college it should be both easier and cheaper.

if you don't wanna in the same place then you gotta work hard for it and now you have the plus that your wife will be away for 3 months. I would use those three months and finish at least 1-2 exams.

Good Luck