Some Light at the end of the Tunnel

So I've been working at a dead end IT Service desk where I handle about 6 companies for all of there first level troubleshooting, and AD administration. I only make about $20,000 a year which to me seem about 5-10K lower than what it should be. But it has given me a lot of experience with a lot of different systems.

So on to the good part. A position just opened in at a company in town for a Jack of all trades position. I have experience in 90% of their prefered skills and all of their requirements. So I saw the position was opened and applied for it yesterday right after it posted. Less than 24 hours later I get a call from them wanting to talk to me about the position. Unfortunately I was at work and couldn't take the call. I called the person back about 20 minutes later when I could get away from my desk. She was not there but I left a message to have her call me back. I will be calling in the morning also as I don't get off till 7 tonight.

I'm really hoping this job will pan out. It's everything I really want right now. It's 25% travel, and I'll be working with MS 2000, 2003, XP, 7, Citrix and Cisco. This could really jumpstart my career and give me tons of experience. I'll keep you all posted once I talk to her tomorrow.

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Hypntick

Nice, hope that pans out for you. I've been kinda looking for that kind of thing as well, something that gives me a ton of experience with a lot of things. 20k a year for help desk seems a tad low, depending on where you're from. Heck even here in Memphis most tend to start in the 30k range on up depending on responsibilities. Good luck.

chrisone

yeah 20k is very low, you might get more working at McDonald's on minimum wage. Do you work full time or part time?

Anyways definitely it is time to move on to the next level. Go for that next job or aggressively apply for a new job elsewhere.

Krusty_47

chrisone wrote: »

yeah 20k is very low, you might get more working at McDonald's on minimum wage. Do you work full time or part time?

Anyways definitely it is time to move on to the next level. Go for that next job or aggressively apply for a new job elsewhere.

Yeah I was offered another Service Desk position at a company in town. It would have meant a 10K a year increase but it would be a lateral move which I really didn't want to do. Plus, I'm sick of call center type jobs since I've been doing them for 5 years.

I've been applying all over the place for a better position. I'm hoping for something like a jr. network admin or something to that effect.

I still can't believe I got a call less than 24 hrs after applying for the position. It's kind of crazy.

But while I'm on the subject of a new job I have a question. Would it be better to take a Job at a multi billion dollar company at a lesser position or take the more technical position with more responsibility at a less prestigious company?

Hypntick

Krusty_47 wrote: »

But while I'm on the subject of a new job I have a question. Would it be better to take a Job at a multi billion dollar company at a lesser position or take the more technical position with more responsibility at a less prestigious company?

I actually may be in this boat fairly soon. There are pros and cons to both.

Huge company - Pro - Can be more stable, easily recognized name on resume should you switch jobs, better benefits, can work with you a bit more on scheduling usually.

Huge company - Con - Can also afford to outsource and they do seem to be more likely to do so. Corporate politics kinda suck. The jobs tend to be more easily replaced so you can have less bargaining when it comes to raises or promotions.

Now as for the small company, i'm not really experienced with them myself. But I imagine the increased responsibilities and experience with new stuff would be a great help in the end. Just my 2 cents.

aethereos

Krusty_47 wrote: »

But while I'm on the subject of a new job I have a question. Would it be better to take a Job at a multi billion dollar company at a lesser position or take the more technical position with more responsibility at a less prestigious company?

The big co will give you the oh-ah everywhere you go b/c everyone has heard of it, and you will learn many business formalities and processes. These will be good down the road if you want to implement them in some ways. You won't have to re-invent the (corporate) wheels if you've seen others done them.

The small co will have you do your primary tasks plus just about everything else, from procurement to vendor management, and everything in between. Sometimes it can feel like you're running your own shops because of the entrepreneurial opportunities.

So essentially both have their pluses and minuses. I wouldn't fuss over either, but just make the best of your environments. You sound really determined so I'm sure you'll be very successful no matter where you go next; about time someone recognizes you're an IT ninja (every good intention of that word), and pay you accordingly.

Good luck.

Krusty_47

aethereos wrote: »

The big co will give you the oh-ah everywhere you go b/c everyone has heard of it, and you will learn many business formalities and processes. These will be good down the road if you want to implement them in some ways. You won't have to re-invent the (corporate) wheels if you've seen others done them.

The small co will have you do your primary tasks plus just about everything else, from procurement to vendor management, and everything in between. Sometimes it can feel like you're running your own shops because of the entrepreneurial opportunities.

So essentially both have their pluses and minuses. I wouldn't fuss over either, but just make the best of your environments. You sound really determined so I'm sure you'll be very successful no matter where you go next; about time someone recognizes you're an IT ninja (every good intention of that word), and pay you accordingly.

Good luck.

Yeah I'm sick of the low pay for doing way to much work. I know that if I told you the names of the companies I'm applying for almost everyone would know who they are. None of them are "small" but one is multinational vs national for the others. The position would be great experience but compared one other job in particular the experience I would gain and the technologies I would get to work with are far more diverse. So we will see what comes out of everything.

I speak to the employer's H.R. person tomorrow morning. More than likely to setup an interview. I will let you know what happens tomorrow morning. I'm super excited about the prospect of a job where I can grab some great experience further my career. Plus I'm not going to complain about getting extra Microsoft experience before I start taking exams in 7 months!

I also can't say it enough how much I appreciate how helpful everyone has been on these forums. I've learned so much just by reading all the posts. Plus I'm positive that I would not have been able to complete the Certifications that I have done without the help and suggestions provided here. I have two more to complete by Jan 20th. I'm not even worried about it. So once again...I want to thank everyone so much for all of their suggestions and assistance.

Krusty_47

Ok so I had my "HR Screening" today. I am one of 4 people they are calling back. This job sounds very promising. I should hear from the HR person early next week if I move on to the next level. This would be a dream job for me if I can get it. I'm really excited about this.

etbjr182

Krusty_47 wrote: »

So I've been working at a dead end IT Service desk where I handle about 6 companies for all of there first level troubleshooting, and AD administration. I only make about $20,000 a year which to me seem about 5-10K lower than what it should be. But it has given me a lot of experience with a lot of different systems.

So on to the good part. A position just opened in at a company in town for a Jack of all trades position. I have experience in 90% of their prefered skills and all of their requirements. So I saw the position was opened and applied for it yesterday right after it posted. Less than 24 hours later I get a call from them wanting to talk to me about the position. Unfortunately I was at work and couldn't take the call. I called the person back about 20 minutes later when I could get away from my desk. She was not there but I left a message to have her call me back. I will be calling in the morning also as I don't get off till 7 tonight.

I'm really hoping this job will pan out. It's everything I really want right now. It's 25% travel, and I'll be working with MS 2000, 2003, XP, 7, Citrix and Cisco. This could really jumpstart my career and give me tons of experience. I'll keep you all posted once I talk to her tomorrow.

Wow I'm in a VERY similar situation as you. I currently work for a small IT company that supports small to medium businesses. I was under contract for a measly $10/hr and after 6 months (last week was official date) they signed me on for $25k a year. Its salaried which kinda stinks and also we support about 16 companies. Now my boss just lost a few of his biggest clients and it has slowed down considerably but we get our hands on everything. We mostly remote service things but still had no limit access and could do anything. Now the pay is low for the responsibilities (24/7 support) but the experience was awesome. I tried applying to other jobs right before my contract was up due to the fact that A) wanted a bit more money

I thought it wasn't in his budget to fully sign on my and my other coworker. But we were wrong. So I'm going to stick it out and maybe squeeze out a few more certs (paid for) and see what has to be offered.

Now for the which is better big company or small company, I believe that with a large company they have more specific positions. They tend to have more resources and toys to play with but you are limited to your position/role. As for a smaller company, you might be the jack of all trade kinda guy. You might be help desk but also do server maintenance etc. This is just my opinion

Good luck and keep us updated!

Krusty_47

etbjr182 wrote: »

Wow I'm in a VERY similar situation as you. I currently work for a small IT company that supports small to medium businesses. I was under contract for a measly $10/hr and after 6 months (last week was official date) they signed me on for $25k a year. Its salaried which kinda stinks and also we support about 16 companies. Now my boss just lost a few of his biggest clients and it has slowed down considerably but we get our hands on everything. We mostly remote service things but still had no limit access and could do anything. Now the pay is low for the responsibilities (24/7 support) but the experience was awesome. I tried applying to other jobs right before my contract was up due to the fact that A) wanted a bit more money I thought it wasn't in his budget to fully sign on my and my other coworker. But we were wrong. So I'm going to stick it out and maybe squeeze out a few more certs (paid for) and see what has to be offered.

Now for the which is better big company or small company, I believe that with a large company they have more specific positions. They tend to have more resources and toys to play with but you are limited to your position/role. As for a smaller company, you might be the jack of all trade kinda guy. You might be help desk but also do server maintenance etc. This is just my opinion

Good luck and keep us updated!

I can say that the experience is great. I've worked with everything from AD to citrix management and terminals. I really can say the experience for a place like this is unique and vast. I can say I wish I had more hands on experience, server configuration and networking. Although I think that is easy enough to learn on the job.

I think I really want to be at a smaller company because I want to get as much experience in everything but Application development and SQL as I can. Long term I want to do networking but that will come in time.

I haven't received a call back yet but I'm sure I'll hear something tomorrow. This job would be great for me so I can get to where I want to go. Plus its a huge pay increase. Which would help out so much.

So wish me luck everyone and I'll keep you posted.

pham0329

holy cow...$10/hr for a help desk/manage service position? Unless your company's clients are all extremely small/workgroup type environment, I would think that the owner is making a huge profit.

I worked for a manage service provider before and by average, our clients (between 20-25 employees) pay 1000-1500 a month just for basic remote service. You add in onsite and 24/7 support and it adds up to quite a bit.

Krusty_47

pham0329 wrote: »

holy cow...$10/hr for a help desk/manage service position? Unless your company's clients are all extremely small/workgroup type environment, I would think that the owner is making a huge profit.

I worked for a manage service provider before and by average, our clients (between 20-25 employees) pay 1000-1500 a month just for basic remote service. You add in onsite and 24/7 support and it adds up to quite a bit.

Yeah tell me about it. Lets just say its some very large multinational companies with hundreds of employees. We provide managed services, 24 hr helpdesk, Programming, our own ticketing system, lots of stuff. We have huge contracts.

All that being said the experience is almost worth it's weight in gold though just because of all they systems I get to work with every day. So I'm not complaining too much. They also paid for my Comptia certs and they will pay for any certs I want to take. So I kind of wish I would have started working on them sooner I would have been so much further along. But lots of stuff happened last year in my personal life that where every distracting from studying anything.

So this year it's get a new job and get through almost 80 CU's at WGU so I can graduate at the end of December and Maybe even fit in a ccna.

Krusty_47

So no response from them yet. I did give them a call today but had to leave a message. Hopefully I will get a call back later tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted.

jtoast

Krusty_47 wrote: »

Would it be better to take a Job at a multi billion dollar company at a lesser position or take the more technical position with more responsibility at a less prestigious company?

I was in that position a couple of years ago and took the job with the multi-billion dollar multinational corporation.

It has worked out good for me. Finding solutions to problems that affect thousands of users scattered across the globe really makes you think outside the box. Another good point is that if you get bored with what you are doing, you can always try to do a lateral transfer to a different area. The downside is that, because IT departments for large corporations are often broken down into functional teams, you can end up being overly specialized if you don't take it upon yourself to stay current in the areas you don't deal with on a daily basis. Oh, and the politics sucks also but you get used to that.

Krusty_47

OK so I called again this morning..squeaky wheel and all that. I had to leave a message. No biggie but I was getting worried that I wasn't in the running anymore. This afternoon much to my relief I got a call back stating that they were still reviewing resumes. So I'm assuming I'm still in the running which is good. It definitely stakes an annoyances off my plate over the weekend so I can study for project+.

I hope to get it out of the way so I can bone up on some stuff before I get a possible interview.

Krusty_47

Ok so I finally got an email from the multi billion dollar company and setup a phone interview for Wednesday. I also have an in person interview on Tuesday morning at a smaller Construction equipment supplier. Both a pretty much desktop positions. I'm pretty excited about it for sure. Still waiting on the golden goose of another position that's a jack of all trades position.

We'll see what happens.

rogue2shadow

Krusty_47 wrote: »

Ok so I finally got an email from the multi billion dollar company and setup a phone interview for Wednesday. I also have an in person interview on Tuesday morning at a smaller Construction equipment supplier. Both a pretty much desktop positions. I'm pretty excited about it for sure. Still waiting on the golden goose of another position that's a jack of all trades position.

We'll see what happens.

Good luck homie. Let us know how it turns out!!! You got this.

Dakinggamer87

Krusty_47 wrote: »

Ok so I finally got an email from the multi billion dollar company and setup a phone interview for Wednesday. I also have an in person interview on Tuesday morning at a smaller Construction equipment supplier. Both a pretty much desktop positions. I'm pretty excited about it for sure. Still waiting on the golden goose of another position that's a jack of all trades position.

We'll see what happens.

Good luck hope you get it!!

Psoasman

I hope you get the job!

cyberguypr

Best of luck. 13 years ago I was exactly where you are right now and also making $20,000. Seems like you have the right mindset to make the most ouf of any place you go.

Bokeh

Well I can add some insight, at least my experience, working at a smaller company. I work for a regional office supporting that office and 15 other offices and 30 remote locations. I do everything with the exception of server work. That is done by corp only, and by the regional presidents. Seems they got burned a few years back in one of the regions, so only corp IT touch the servers.

So with my users, its desktop/laptop support, wireless access, printers, software, custom Bluetooth devices and applications. I get involved in purchasing (they have an idea, I source it, they buy it), maintaining our CRM package and some SQL 2008 work. Since I am the only one for our regional, it is a jack of all trades position, but I enjoy it.

My boss is a techie-geek, PhD in his profession, but likes "toys." After spending some time on the road with him this week, we both agreed I was underpaid, lol. So a nice bump in salary, certs now paid for, ok to study at work, and he wants to pay for some sql and server 2008 classes. Not a bad deal.

RouteThisWay

Good luck with this! I just wanted to chime in quickly...

Big Corporation vs Small Business

I have worked for both and ultimately sought for the Small Business again, which I did get. I start my new sys admin job on the 31st

Here is my breakdown for both..

Big Corporation

When someone asks you where you work, it is pretty much inversally recognized. Atleast in your area. You walk in and there is no question about what your job is that day. HR is rooted into everything you do, and your job description is precise. You will more often than not, be doing one aspect in the IT world and that is it. But you don't need to worry about the things you are not doing, there is another team that handles it. You are one of many. Most of the time, people at the work location aren't going to really know who you are. Which can be a good thing if you mess up a lot. You are referred to as an employee number. Everything is scheduled on calendars. If there is no set date and time, it isn't happening. On the flip side, as stated earlier, a lateral transfer is possible. You really like Exchange? There is probably a dedicated Exchange team that handles all messaging solutions. Like Cisco gear? Join the Networking team. The key is getting a foot in the foor and then playing nice with corporate managers to get where you want. But just remember, it is very easy to get pigeon holed into one technology.

Small Business

Most small business are run by a 2-4 man IT team. Usually a manager and 1+ guys beneath him. Pretty much everyone knows your name, and you are usually one of "the" computer guys. Regardless of what you are hired to do, your job will consist of things never listed on your job description. This gives you exposure to many different technologies. Unfortunately, since you work on such a small team, you will be pressed for time which is your most valuable resource. You are also responsible for EVERYTHING computer related. If email is down, your fault. If "the internet" is down, your fault. If phones are down, your fault. You get the idea. You are also under a microscope fiscally. Most small businesses are not technology companies, unless you work for an IT contractor, consultant, etc. Many times they will find it hard to justify spending money on upgrades, etc when what they have "is perfectly fine". And in the small business world, if it is working.. even if limping a long.. it is perfectly fine.

Thats just a brief synopsis in my opinion, I ended up liking the latter better. But that is just me

Keep us updated with your job search!!

Hypntick

RouteThisWay wrote: »

Thats just a brief synopsis in my opinion, I ended up liking the latter better. But that is just me

Keep us updated with your job search!!

Totally agree with you there. I actually currently do help desk (in training still) at a company with over 60k employees around the world. Huge multinational corporation, been in business about 120 years. Now, when I took this job I figured okay it's going to be similar to my last help desk, bit of customer service, bit of hands on tech and maybe dip into some roles not listed on my job description. Not a chance.

This place is so compartmentalized it's not even funny, it's all password resets and forwarding to other departments, not a single bit of hands on and the bare minimum of troubleshooting. Not exactly what I had in mind. Talk to the guys on the floor, some 10 year vets out there if that tells you anything.

So i've got another interview this Monday during my lunch hour. The pay is less, the responsibilities are more. Yet it is considerably smaller, 5k employees at the most and a very small IT staff since everything is managed centrally. Sure the job listing says level 2 support, but the description says a lot more is involved. Rack n stack, AD admin, desk-side support, some on-call work, manage some Cisco gear, etc. etc. etc.

Some people will think i'm crazy taking less money for more responsibility. However, how else am I going to get work experience unless I take this chance to get the heck out of a help desk environment. Also there are a ton of other good things, it's direct hire instead of contract, benefits paid in full by the company and if nothing else, it is super close to where I live (I could bike there if I wanted to) instead of a 45 minute commute through heavy city traffic at both rush hour times.

I really do think i'm going to enjoy the small shop environment more, provided I do get the spot. Even f the pay is less, I can work there for a few years, absorb everything I can, get additional certs, finish WGU and either move up internally (if possible) or put myself into a much better spot to move up in the world.

RouteThisWay

If you can afford it, do it.

It may be less, but if the responsibility is up and you get to work on different technology.. I think it will be better in the long run. You will learn a ton more 2 years there rather than 2 years resetting AD passwords all day long.

Always look past the job you have/want/etc and think of the next one after that, kind of like Chess. What would you want your job to be after this phase of your career? Which one will help you get there: Resetting passwords in a corp environment, or doing all of that work in a small environment (and 5k employees is still not very small ha.. so I would say the IT budget isnt peanuts)?

But, don't dismiss your current job. You say it is more money which is good, but what about advancement/transfer? How often are people moved from that position? It sounds like an entry level help desk job which is a good way to get a start. Don't let someone else's lack of advancement control yours. I know plenty of help desk lifers who lack the will/desire/ability to advance themselves. Have you spoken with your manager or maybe someone from HR about a track/path to something you want to do? Maybe ask them what you need to do to get there. That is one thing about a large environment.. there are always more opportunities.

Hypntick

RouteThisWay wrote: »

But, don't dismiss your current job. You say it is more money which is good, but what about advancement/transfer? How often are people moved from that position? It sounds like an entry level help desk job which is a good way to get a start. Don't let someone else's lack of advancement control yours. I know plenty of help desk lifers who lack the will/desire/ability to advance themselves. Have you spoken with your manager or maybe someone from HR about a track/path to something you want to do? Maybe ask them what you need to do to get there. That is one thing about a large environment.. there are always more opportunities.

Well i've done 3 years in a previous help desk doing network stuff. Resetting ports, switches, waps, clearing MAC filters, ensuring enough IPs in the pool etc. As for advancement, it's highly possible, heck the 5 spots they hired for were for 5 people that moved up. However, it's also at minimum a 6 month contract, speaking with others some of their contracts were extended to over a year. After that, the pay does jump up considerably, but while a contractor i'm pulling in no more than the last help desk. Either job will be a considerable raise over what i'm pulling in on contract.

After the contract though, there are explicit company policies in place to ensure at least 18 months in each position. At bare minimum it would be 2 years as a password reset ninja. Once I factor in all the other positives of the job i'm interviewing for Monday, there really is no question to my mind. Provided I land the spot of course, if not, I do have a stable job for the time being that will allow me to be picky in my search.

Krusty_47

Man when it rains it pours. At the worst possible time. I'm trying to run my team running short a senior, a supervisor, and a rep gone. 3 people focusing on 6 clients that's fun and 3 interviews. One that they called me 2 hours before and I did it on my lunch.

It was the best interview so far as I only spent 5 min of the interview saying anything. He basically just talked about the position and the company. He said he was going to call me tomorrow evening when I get off from work. BTW this was the golden goose job. Basically I would be in charge of 35 sites in kansas and oklahoma. I'm pretty excite and it should be a great position if I get land it. I still have a phone interview on Friday.

What a crazy week. But soon things wll calm down and hopefully I'll mave a new job making almost double what I do no.

Krusty_47

Alright so I am one of tow candidates for the job I really want. I just talked with the lead technician today and everything went great. I hope that I get this job. The experience wuld be great.

Krusty_47

Ok so a quick update. I have had 3 interviews so far with one company. Two interviews with another and a 3rd one on Tuesday moring. I'm looking forward to that 3 and a half hour gantlet. They both seem very interest just not sure yet.

mikedisd2

Krusty_47 wrote: »

It was the best interview so far as I only spent 5 min of the interview saying anything. He basically just talked about the position and the company.

Really? I reckon these are the worst type; there's no chance to sell yourself or make them remember you. Still, it sounds like you're going well. Good luck and let us know.

Krusty_47

Alright so I finally got an offer from the big company I had applied to. It's going to be great. I start on the 7th of March. Its a 50+% boost in salary and I can get overtime whenever I want. I plan on taking advantage of that. It's going to be great! Wish me luck guys.

ITdude

Congrats and enjoy! It really is an endurance test with some of these companies, especially in a buyer's market.

Good Luck!