Starting new job at VMWare

I will be starting a new job at VMWare within the next week and I'm so excited about the new opportunity with lots of advancement, learning, and overall growth which my last position was lacking. I couldn't advance any further to a higher role at my previous company so I decided to start looking as I wasn't being challenged so I get bored very quickly. I also got denied a raise or any type of promotion. I did get free Microsoft Unitek IT training classes from time to time to improve my skills/knowledge however I got no additional duties/responsibilities. It was a small company and I enjoyed working with my co-workers, great boss, and it was a great experience overall. I'm excited for the new adventures and horizons as a Data Center Operations- Systems Engineer. I was there about 1 1/2 years and I picked up a few Cisco certs along the way. I can get my VMWare Certified Professional (VCP) finally I was always looking to pick up a server virtualization cert.

A nice salary jump around 15-20k higher, stock, benefits, free paid training, and bonuses which is so cool never had that before!!

Time to start looking at new cars (Mustangs, Corvettes) hehe...

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Comments

earonw49

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

I think the most important question though is did you ever get the vette yet?

This post ^^^

Dakinggamer87

I'm still saving for it got distracted building my gaming room and collection lately lol..

N2IT

Nice work good times!

Dakinggamer87

I was recently in Japan setting up our datacenter but I had some downtime to chill in Tokyo and bought tons of retro games in Akihabara.

anoeljr

Dakinggamer87 wrote: »

I was recently in Japan setting up our datacenter but I had some downtime to chill in Tokyo and bought tons of retro games in Akihabara.

That sounds awesome!

Dakinggamer87

It was amazing especially since I'm a huge collector so I stocked up.

WiseWun

Congrats! I once had an interview with VMware a few years ago but the hiring process took too long so I had to make a choose, no regrets though. Take advantage of all the free training and learn as much as you can.

thenjduke wrote: »

@instant000 exactly my point. Cars are the worse investment. I have a 2006 trailblazer and a 2001 cougar and these things run great.. The wife is trying to talk me into a new SUV though

Same here. Stay strong and don't give in!

Dakinggamer87

I found the interview process not too overwhelming. It was intense as far as the scope of questions but luckily I have lots of interviewing experience.

Dakinggamer87

WiseWun wrote: »

Congrats! I once had an interview with VMware a few years ago but the hiring process took too long so I had to make a choose, no regrets though. Take advantage of all the free training and learn as much as you can.

Same here. Stay strong and don't give in!

I love sports cars so I doubt I'll be able to resist lol..

Dakinggamer87

Passed my VCP-Cloud certification woot!!

Also finished 3/4 of my Bachelor's degree I started in February this year along with my Project+, Linux+, and misc. CIW certs I had a pretty good year overall career wise!!

darkerosxx

Congrats. Good to see people doing well. Keep us updated on cool projects you work on. I just got accepted into VIO beta.

Deathmage

Congrats man!

Dakinggamer87

Thanks @deathmage

snadam

Congrats, man! You have definitely been progressing. Cool to see.

Essendon

Good work! Also you've now corrected your employer's name from VMWare to VMware

Dakinggamer87

Hoping for a raise next year so I can expand my gaming room!!

Dakinggamer87

Got my second raise at VMware and I'm truckin' along at the end of my WGU B.S. IT - Security degree with only a few classes left to complete!! 2015 has been a good year for the career.

Only a few more months and I will have my Bachelor's degree!!

Dakinggamer87

Thanks for all the support my TE colleagues!!

xocity

Congrats...its stories like these that keeps me going! Great job man!

markulous

I got contacted by them for a "Technical Support Engineer". I looked on their site and there are a handful of different types of positions with this title. The HR recruiter for them is replying back to schedule a phone interview. I want to get out of help desk, so if it's for that not sure if it's worth it. Do you know anything about that position?

Dakinggamer87

markulous wrote: »

I got contacted by them for a "Technical Support Engineer". I looked on their site and there are a handful of different types of positions with this title. The HR recruiter for them is replying back to schedule a phone interview. I want to get out of help desk, so if it's for that not sure if it's worth it. Do you know anything about that position?

My knowledge is that this job role is not a typical help desk position. It is more geared on the administration and engineering side with more involvement in development operations. I would definitely recommend applying as they are a great company with great benefits and would boost your resume immensely down the road if hired.

markulous

Dakinggamer87 wrote: »

My knowledge is that this job role is not a typical help desk position. It is more geared on the administration and engineering side with more involvement in development operations. I would definitely recommend applying as they are a great company with great benefits and would boost your resume immensely down the road if hired.

Thanks! I had my phone interview today and then took an online test that they wanted me to take (not sure if you had to take it). It was 30 questions but I had zero clue about some of the SCSI questions since I don't deal with that. Hopefully they still like me. I'm pursuing that and a Security Analyst position at a hospital so hopefully one of the two works out.

Dakinggamer87

markulous wrote: »

Thanks! I had my phone interview today and then took an online test that they wanted me to take (not sure if you had to take it). It was 30 questions but I had zero clue about some of the SCSI questions since I don't deal with that. Hopefully they still like me. I'm pursuing that and a Security Analyst position at a hospital so hopefully one of the two works out.

Awesome wishing you the best of luck!! I actually didn't have any online test or assessment. However, I did have a phone interview and a panel interview with an extensive amount of technical questions.

ccnpninja

Man your Vmware journey is as exciting as a Corvette Stingray!
I guess 99% of TE readers here are waiting for picture of you and the beast..

markulous

Dakinggamer87 wrote: »

Awesome wishing you the best of luck!! I actually didn't have any online test or assessment. However, I did have a phone interview and a panel interview with an extensive amount of technical questions.

Guessing they didn't like my test results since I heard nothing back. Oh well.

Sunshine_54

I was a Technical Support Engineer with VMware for around 6 years. I'm a Consultant with VMware now.

The TSE role is definitely better than a help desk role. You won't be helping end users fix their printer issues. Instead you'll be troubleshooting crashed vCenter Servers, performance issues, VDI deployments, cloud issues etc etc. While the technology is mainly proprietary, you'll learn alot of concepts that will help with any future IT roles. You'll be working with administrators/architects instead of end users.

When I first started there was a heavy emphasis on linux knowledge. Today I think the recruiters are looking for general IT knowledge and troubleshooting skills. Hope that helps.

markulous

Sunshine_54 wrote: »

I was a Technical Support Engineer with VMware for around 6 years. I'm a Consultant with VMware now.

The TSE role is definitely better than a help desk role. You won't be helping end users fix their printer issues. Instead you'll be troubleshooting crashed vCenter Servers, performance issues, VDI deployments, cloud issues etc etc. While the technology is mainly proprietary, you'll learn alot of concepts that will help with any future IT roles. You'll be working with administrators/architects instead of end users.

When I first started there was a heavy emphasis on linux knowledge. Today I think the recruiters are looking for general IT knowledge and troubleshooting skills. Hope that helps.

Well I thought I was qualified with my experience and certs, but apparently they want more. The HR recruiter lady seemed pushy to get an interview but probably just didn't like I couldn't answer some questions on fiber channels and SCSI.

EDIT: NVM just heard back for an interview. LOL\

But yes that does help a lot, thank you. Looks like this is similar to a help desk where you are doing troubleshooting on client's equipment/software, but not any desktop troubleshooting which is exactly what I want. Thanks!

markulous

I do want to move back to California at some point soon. I'm guessing you work at the Palo Alto or SF office dakinggamer? Is there anywhere with in a commutable distance that isn't ridiculously priced for housing? I don't mind living in Stockton/Tracy, but that commute would suck unless I leave at 3am.

Dakinggamer87

markulous wrote: »

I do want to move back to California at some point soon. I'm guessing you work at the Palo Alto or SF office dakinggamer? Is there anywhere with in a commutable distance that isn't ridiculously priced for housing? I don't mind living in Stockton/Tracy, but that commute would suck unless I leave at 3am.

I work between two offices: Palo Alto and a remote office in Santa Clara at a data center. Outside of the Silicon Valley the cheapest areas I know are in Concord/Tracy/Stockton but all these cities require a commute of course. Concord would be the cheapest of the list I mentioned. Dublin/Pleasanton/Walnut Creek are much more expensive so they likely wouldn't be the best choices unless you have a high and solid income.

markulous

Yeah, definitely not doing that commute. But I did see on glassdoor that a TSE can make ~90k in that area. I found some houses in Morgan Hill and San Jose (4br, 2ba, garage) that aren't too bad. If I can move up to a level 2 or jump over to another department within a year and make 90-100k, I could afford a 650k house with my wife working also.