Systems Engineer 2 Job Interview on Monday, Oct. 4th

Hey guys/gals,

A couple of weeks ago the company I work for signed with a Managed Service Provider and the transition has begun to move things over. I'm safe as the Executive Director has assured me that neither my Title nor my salary will change and that I'm not going to lose my job as a result of this transition.

However, he and everyone else knows that there will be nothing for me to do so it's really a "Go out and find your dream job but in the meantime, sit here as long as you need until you find it."

Anyway, I've been out looking for jobs and thus far I've turned down one Network Administrator job as they wouldn't pay more than $65K/yr. I have one small company that has been authorized to offer me a job (so says the owner) at $70K/yr but they're waiting until they can bring in some more business before they officially offer it to me.

And then there's this job that I'm interviewing for on Monday. It will be my 4th interview (2 phone & the 2nd in-person) and this is with the hiring manager directly. It's a strange gig in which I'm being hired by one company who's contracting me out to another company who's then contracting me out to the client. So it's a 6 mos contract-for-hire so converting to fulltime is guaranteed once you hit 6 mos. All well and good right?

Well, the contract rate is $45/hr and the conversion salary is $80K/yr. That and I'll be working for a Billion dollar bank with a network containing over 500 servers. Not the biggest company I've every worked for (Wells Fargo/Symantec/Earthlink) but a respectable size nonetheless.

Anyway, just wanted to post as I hope I get this last job. Please feel free to post any tips or suggestions on interviewing for a level 2 Systems Engineer job.

Thanks for reading!

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Comments

puppy001

wow your situation looks real good god i wish i would get job offers like that.

genXrcist

I didn't even mention that the Managed Service Provider asked my boss if they could approach me about a job.

When I was laid off from Symantec I was counseled by a placement firm rep. who told me that 90% of jobs come from a referral of some sort. I bring it up because networking has been key.

If your company sends you to a training class, make friends with the other students. Ya never know what could come up. Get together and have lunch with other TE members that live close to your location and share contacts. Use Linkedin.com and other networking sites. Get friendly with your vendor rep's as they may have opportunities in their company or perhaps know of an opportunity. Ya just never know.

Oh, and I heard this once and I totally agree. Try to go to at least 2 job interviews per year regardless of employment. It will not only keep your interviewing/Resume writing skills sharp but it will also give you a great pulse on what your local market is paying in salary these days.

Until I found the $80K/yr job it really seemed my market wasn't going to cough up anything more than $70K/yr and I was fine with that.

genXrcist

Well I found out today that the $80K/yr job has one more interview on Thursday but has committed to a decision by Friday. My recruiter has a conference call at 130pm with the hiring manager where he'll be informed. I'll be notified shortly thereafter, good or bad. So far I am the leading candidate.

I'm really praying I get this job as my current job is a joke. The managed service provider sucks but they're there to stay. However, I was told from the beginning that neither my title nor my pay would change. The Exec Director just told me today that that has changed and that my title would change to something stupid and the pay would be dramatically reduced.

I need something to open up soon.

za3bour

90% of jobs come from a referral of some sort

This is so true all the jobs I've got in my life come through this. Good luck for you, I've been in situation exactly like this (was promised that title/pay will stay) and It did last for 3 months but I really had nothing to work so I was out.

It was for good though since I found a better job with better salary so hope the same for you.