New Job opportunity

Hey all,
Been a while since i've posted. Wanted to get everyones opinion on a new job offer I have.
I currently work as a IT consultant in town making "alright" wages and one of the companys my company does some work for has a new job opening. They are in need of their first actual IT guy because they have really passed what a consulting firm can help them with.

About their network: They have about 4 Cisco Catalyst switches (Which I set up). A full VOIP system. 30 or so employees. They have recently deployed SAP, which I wouldn't need to deal with a lot, but I know it would become part of my responsibilities. Fortigate routers. ~ 8 servers -- 1 internal and 7 cloud. For as few employees as they have --- they are actually pretty large. They have a very large web presence.

My 2 dillema's are:
I don't even know what position I would be considered. Network Engineer. System Administrator. Network Administrator. Which?
What should I request for Salary? I believe knowing what role to call myself would help with that.

A little about me:

Bachelor's will be complete by this October in Network Design and Management.
MCITP: EA, A+, Network+, Security+, Project+
7 Years experience as a consultant from networks with 2 computers --- all the way up to 200 employee networks, multi sites, etc.
My next goals will be VMWare certs, and Cisco certs.

Any help in this realm would be appreciated!

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Comments

lsud00d

If only JOAT was an actual title...:D

If you were to be the only IT guy on staff, good luck to you...it might not be as fun as you think it would be.

Can you post the job requirements and duties from the job listing? You don't have to post the link but more information will help...also your city/state/geographical area will largely play into the estimated salary range, among many other highly arbitrary factors.

ltj8765

I would tell them that your job title / position is a CNIO which is Chief Network Information Officer. It sounds like if they hire you, that you will be running the entire show, so it fits. It also covers all three of the above positions and takes on a management perspective to it. Not sure if this is a standard in the industry yet, but I see it periodically on the USA Jobs website

saffyre

Thanks for the quick reply!!!
I think i'll be ok. I love challenges. Worst case I can ask for a assistant in a year or so. Their office needs a LOT of work, but as a consultant, we can't always do EVERYTHING in their office. It also comes down to cost at that point. I am in Bakersfield, CA. They have about 30 total users.

They did not have a job posting, as I am really the guy they want to bring on. I just don't know what to tell him the position should be or what is fair to them and me for Salary. He is really asking if i'd like to join and if i'm happy in my current job, etc. I already know their network, too. My current position I feel I am a bit underpaid for what I do at my current job.

Job Requirements are rather tough as it really is a JOAT situation. I'd be responsible for all Desktop support, upgrades, projects, networking, and really getting their systems up to par. This customer has not been my customer for a long time and the last IT company that took care of them really left a mess! I've helped them out for about 2 months... I'm really getting the job opportunity because one of my good friends, is one of his best friends as well. I'd also need to basically document *EVERYTHING* as the last company did not document a single thing.

lsud00d wrote: »

If only JOAT was an actual title...:D

If you were to be the only IT guy on staff, good luck to you...it might not be as fun as you think it would be.

Can you post the job requirements and duties from the job listing? You don't have to post the link but more information will help...also your city/state/geographical area will largely play into the estimated salary range, among many other highly arbitrary factors.

saffyre

Similar to CTO? I felt a bit weird asking for that title, as I think it scares me a bit... Feel like I don't have enough experience to claim that title.

ltj8765 wrote: »

I would tell them that your job title / position is a CNIO which is Chief Network Information Officer. It sounds like if they hire you, that you will be running the entire show, so it fits. It also covers all three of the above positions and takes on a management perspective to it. Not sure if this is a standard in the industry yet, but I see it periodically on the USA Jobs website

ajs1976

What type of work do you want to do after this job? If you want to do networks, tell them you want the network engineer title. If you want to do systems, tell them you want to be a systems engineer. If you want to be in management, tell them you want to be IT Manager.

saffyre

That's my biggest problem. Deciding which direction I want to go... I really want to be a well rounded tech... Mixture of Manager, Microsoft, Cisco, and VMWare... But sometimes doing EVERYTHING is not possible. I need to start learning that now! I think I need to start specializing my roles now.

ajs1976 wrote: »

What type of work do you want to do after this job? If you want to do networks, tell them you want the network engineer title. If you want to do systems, tell them you want to be a systems engineer. If you want to be in management, tell them you want to be IT Manager.

ltj8765

I would never sell your self short on your abilities. The job description / requirements you mention above for the job are more complex then just a typical technical position as it appears you will also be dealing with requirements definition, project management, implementation, etc.

Honestly, when I look at people for employment, I try to look at something other then the typical tech / engineer (even though it has been a while since I hired anyone!!). Someone that can come in and handle the tech issues as well as take on some of the planning / operations / management responsibilities is a big asset! A person that can do this is much more then just a network engineer and system administrator ..at least in my view

Thus, I think it would be perfectly reasonable for you to call your self a CTO or CNIO. The pay may not be super high like a big company, but building the experience doing these tasks and the responsibility that it entails can for sure later lead to better and better positions.

Really, when it comes down to it, it is mostly just titles. It is the experience and tasks that your positions requires where it really comes in later.

saffyre

Thanks for the ego boost.

I guess CTO would be the title, but maybe I should just take a lower pay... I'm showing CTO's median is 150k in my area, Network Engineers are 95k, and Network Administrators are 75k...

I currently make 50k for the current job I do, with some Cisco experience, MCITP:EA, etc... So I do feel underpaid now...
The other issue I see is that jumping to a high salary is going to be harder for them to say yes to. (They don't know what I make now, only that we Bill $110 a hour.)

ltj8765 wrote: »

I would never sell your self short on your abilities. The job description / requirements you mention above for the job are more complex then just a typical technical position as it appears you will also be dealing with requirements definition, project management, implementation, etc.

Honestly, when I look at people for employment, I try to look at something other then the typical tech / engineer (even though it has been a while since I hired anyone!!). Someone that can come in and handle the tech issues as well as take on some of the planning / operations / management responsibilities is a big asset! A person that can do this is much more then just a network engineer and system administrator ..at least in my view Thus, I think it would be perfectly reasonable for you to call your self a CTO or CNIO. The pay may not be super high like a big company, but building the experience doing these tasks and the responsibility that it entails can for sure later lead to better and better positions.

Really, when it comes down to it, it is mostly just titles. It is the experience and tasks that your positions requires where it really comes in later.