Job decisions!!

[acole1]

A little about me:
I am going to graduate Dec of this year with a BS in Information Systems. I work at a manufacturing plant doing general help desk and assistant network administrator duties, I make $11.25/hr with really no benefits, and I am coming up on my 3rd year in June.

The situation:
I went to a job fair a few weeks ago, and one of the companies that was very interested in me was myIT.com.

I went in for an interview last week, and yesterday they gave me an offer of $15.38/hr (or $32K/yr) + benefits + certifications (details are lacking on the last two... I am trying to get more) and the same flexible hours as I have now, to help me finish up my schooling. It would be doing mostly help desk, and might have some opportunities for growth/promotion.

When I got to work today I told my boss about it, and he said he really needs me right now and would talk to the uppers about some sort of incentive to stay. They came back with an offer of $15/hr, and my boss said he thinks I might be able to get a little more.

Right now I am having a good deal of trouble deciding between the two. I really enjoy working for the company I am at now because of the relaxed company atmosphere and the great people I work with. But I could also see how it could be a much greater long term benefit to work for the other company and get a broader range of experience (along with certs) that might end up getting me more money in the long run.

Do any of you have suggestions or tips on making decisions like this?

Thanks!

 

[torpid]

What about benefits at the current position? Ignore certifications. It's nice that they will help you get them, but they are a drop in the bucket, unless you're talking about serious ones like Oracle certifications or Cisco certifications.

Is there mobility in your current workplace?

 

[acole1]

Originally posted by: torpid
What about benefits at the current position? Ignore certifications. It's nice that they will help you get them, but they are a drop in the bucket, unless you're talking about serious ones like Oracle certifications or Cisco certifications.

Is there mobility in your current workplace?

Since I am currently part time I don't get any benefits with my current position, but if I move into full time I do get basic health benefits that are ok, but not great, because of the size of the company. The certifications he mentioned were more like MCSE and the like. Probably anything they could sell to a client to get that client to pay more.

Also, there really is no upward mobility to speak of. I am one level under my boss who is the main System Administrator. The company has recently been bought out by an investor group, and they are looking to expand it through buyouts of competitors, but who knows when that will happen or what kind of positions that will open up.

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

 

[aceO07]

Which do you think you'll learn more in? Skills that you could use in better future jobs.. Since you're young, learn all you can in areas that you want to go in.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: acole1

Originally posted by: torpid
What about benefits at the current position? Ignore certifications. It's nice that they will help you get them, but they are a drop in the bucket, unless you're talking about serious ones like Oracle certifications or Cisco certifications.

Is there mobility in your current workplace?

Since I am currently part time I don't get any benefits with my current position, but if I move into full time I do get basic health benefits that are ok, but not great, because of the size of the company. The certifications he mentioned were more like MCSE and the like. Probably anything they could sell to a client to get that client to pay more.

Also, there really is no upward mobility to speak of. I am one level under my boss who is the main System Administrator. The company has recently been bought out by an investor group, and they are looking to expand it through buyouts of competitors, but who knows when that will happen or what kind of positions that will open up.

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

after seeing my aunt retire at 49 and my mom retire at 54, im thinking get the extra cash at your current job and use it as a springboard to a career with a govt facility. the last 9 yrs of my moms job for the soc security assoc was babysitting their WAN system for their office only. made her a GS14, top benes and pay, but about 16hrs a week of real work unless the system crashed. she spent most of the time answering questions for the CSRs, since she was one of those for 20 yrs before that, and most of those peoples supervisor. if it did, it was usually out of her realm to fix and the experts came in to do the work anyway. if you can land a job like those now, work your way up and get yor 30 yrs in by the time youre 50, you can retire and still find a different job with a 60% pension being given to ya.

or do your plan... either way.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

it took them the chance of losing him to do that though. sounds like little , if any, room for advancement. sounds like where i work

 

[acole1]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

The only minuses that had me looking for other opportunities were:

1) The relatively low pay
(it would be nice to be closer to $20... but that might be a pipe dream)

2) Lack of broad experience or experience in what I would like
(network engineering or network security)

3) Lack of upward mobility
(this is a low concern though, because of my plan to only stay with the co. a short time)

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

it took them the chance of losing him to do that though. sounds like little , if any, room for advancement. sounds like where i work

I have a very positive relationship with my employer, but constantly evaluating everyone and handing out raises is time consuming. When I decide that I need, and can justify a raise, I go get it, and the response is always reasonable.

Unless the OP has been doing that and got nowhere until he had another offer in hand, I wouldn't fault the company.

 

[acole1]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

it took them the chance of losing him to do that though. sounds like little , if any, room for advancement. sounds like where i work

I have a very positive relationship with my employer, but constantly evaluating everyone and handing out raises is time consuming. When I decide that I need, and can justify a raise, I go get it, and the response is always reasonable.

Unless the OP has been doing that and got nowhere until he had another offer in hand, I wouldn't fault the company.

Yes, I had not been actively pushing/asking for a raise. I was considering waiting for my next review (which comes up in a couple months), and then reevaluate the situation.

As a company in general though, they do tend to under-pay their employees by 25-50%, but it tends to keep only the most satisfied around.

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: acole1
I went in for an interview last week, and yesterday they gave me an offer of $15.38/hr (or $32K/yr) + benefits + certifications (details are lacking on the last two... I am trying to get more) and the same flexible hours as I have now, to help me finish up my schooling. It would be doing mostly help desk, and might have some opportunities for growth/promotion.

When I got to work today I told my boss about it, and he said he really needs me right now and would talk to the uppers about some sort of incentive to stay. They came back with an offer of $15/hr, and my boss said he thinks I might be able to get a little more.

Well what I'd have said is, "Hmmmmm, I hear you saying you 'really' need me but $15 per hour says you only 'sort of' need me. I think $20 per hour would say you 'really' need me. Otherwise, this other guy 'really' needs me just a little bit more than you do."

 

[aceO07]

Originally posted by: acole1

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: acole1

Either company would likely not be a long term position (say, more than 3-5 years) and I would hope I could move on to something "bigger and better"... but that could be my young naiveté speaking.

Thanks!

Given this, and the fact that your current employer stepped up to the plate when you brought your concerns to them, I would not go anywhere, unless there's some other big minus you're not telling us about.

The only minuses that had me looking for other opportunities were:

1) The relatively low pay
(it would be nice to be closer to $20... but that might be a pipe dream)

2) Lack of broad experience or experience in what I would like
(network engineering or network security)

3) Lack of upward mobility
(this is a low concern though, because of my plan to only stay with the co. a short time)

Citing your 3 minuses, I would go somewhere else. You're not learning anything AND you're not getting compensated for lack of learning.

If you were gaining loads of experience with low pay, staying is still a good option since you get the experience. Or the reverse, if you got loads of pay for little experience gained. However you don't get any of it. Or the ability to move up..

3-5 years isn't that short of a stay considering that you'll have to explain to your next job why you think you're qualified and why you think you should earn X amount if you don't have much to show from your previous job.