What do you do?

Noodleface · Mar 28, 2016

I would take it as a solid internship to put on your resume, but I would still look for permanent work as you work there. Internship -> Hire would be a red flag for me personally - not saying it won't happen, but if I don't have anything in writing I am looking for something new.

Palum · Mar 28, 2016

Yea I guess especially if it's discussed before. I've seen people hired in because they turned out to be really good fits and companies wanted to retain them. Not sure about that being stated before they even know who/what you are.

Flipmode · Mar 28, 2016

The current system admin started as an intern too. It looks viable. I never bank anything on one place and always have my eyes open for opportunity. I'll learn what I can and increase my skill set. Get a nice resume boost and if a better opportunity comes along, I'll jump at it. Max I will intern is a year. If it hasn't panned out by then, I'll move on. Good advice though , guys.

Vinen · Mar 28, 2016

Flipmode_sl said:
The current system admin started as an intern too. It looks viable. I never bank anything on one place and always have my eyes open for opportunity. I'll learn what I can and increase my skill set. Get a nice resume boost and if a better opportunity comes along, I'll jump at it. Max I will intern is a year. If it hasn't panned out by then, I'll move on. Good advice though , guys.

I've found that at least in the software industry you need to be willing to bounce around a few times until you find the right place.
As it stands my salary has quadrupled (bonus and stock included) since I joined 6 years ago. I was a low-mid level software engineer and now I'm in a senior technical leadership position.

Internships should not be a year long. Thats just entry level abuse.

Flipmode · Mar 28, 2016

Is frequent job hopping no longer frowned upon? I've never worked in IT so I am unsure of the norm. And I got my last job 10 years ago so it's been awhile.

Borzak · Mar 28, 2016

I think it depends on the industry. I read it a lot that you should job hop quite often to up your pay. I've talked to quite a few people in my industry who do the hiring and those types of resumes go right in the trash. This is for engineering (non IT) type jobs.

chaos · Mar 28, 2016

Flipmode_sl said:
Is frequent job hopping no longer frowned upon? I've never worked in IT so I am unsure of the norm. And I got my last job 10 years ago so it's been awhile.

It is, but you do what you have to do. Some movement is necessary, otherwise you won't advance technically. If you're happy you want to try and limit it, but if you're not then you shouldn't sit in a shit job. Too much opportunity to grow out there.

CnCGOD_sl · Mar 29, 2016

I am dealing with career wunderlust, it is really frustrating. Whenever I get to where I aimed the first thought is "whats next?". For me, I want to break out of Architecture individual contributor work and be a decision markertype who is still technical but am struggling to find anywhere to make that move that isn't a huge compensation hit. The issue for me is I get so damn bored if I am not learning new skills both personal and technical. Anyone else have this issue? If so, tricks to not be constantly looking for the next best thing?

Picasso3 · Mar 29, 2016

moonlight doing what you want

CnCGOD_sl · Mar 29, 2016

Picasso_sl said:
moonlight doing what you want

Hard to moonlight being a Director level (getting people leadership experience is a focus for me right now). Would be a good way to keep technical skills sharp, going to be kind of hard with the wife expecting in 3 months however

Frenzied Wombat · Mar 29, 2016

Flipmode_sl said:
Is frequent job hopping no longer frowned upon? I've never worked in IT so I am unsure of the norm. And I got my last job 10 years ago so it's been awhile.

If I see tons of job hopping on a resume that isn't contract work I consider that a big negative. The only two thoughts that go through my head is either he a) sucks and gets fired a lot or b) is never satisfied where he is. Everybody changes jobs eventually to try and get a pay hike, but if I see that someone has been at 5 companies over the course of the last 10 years, I put their resume on the reject pile.

Heylel · Mar 29, 2016

Fuckin taxes man. The marriage penalty is real. I had no idea it was going to bang me this hard when it came time to file.

ronne · Mar 30, 2016

Flipmode_sl said:
Is frequent job hopping no longer frowned upon? I've never worked in IT so I am unsure of the norm. And I got my last job 10 years ago so it's been awhile.

It's far more the norm/acceptable in IT than most other places. Even still, more than like once a year/18 months gets a little silly as you've barely had time to even learn anything or build new skills in a lot of positions by then.

CnCGOD_sl · Mar 30, 2016

Ronne_sl said:
It's far more the norm/acceptable in IT than most other places. Even still, more than like once a year/18 months gets a little silly as you've barely had time to even learn anything or build new skills in a lot of positions by then.

Agreed, longevity can also be a big negative particularly at traditional enterprises. I see a lot of LinkedINs in St.Louis that are Current Role , been there since they graduated school. Not usually the brightest bulbs even if in senior roles.

Palum · Mar 30, 2016

18 months min, 2-2.5 yrs is probably a sweet spot. I would consider advancement (vertical not horizontal) to be OK or a rapidly changing position. The problem isn't the people usually but the companies don't adapt so you get people who do tech on the same thing for 15 years because they want to keep using legacy stuff. There are exceptions but almost universally people working 5-10+ years as a doer in tech in the same position, they got 'trained' into a position, they don't have the right hunger for learning and new stuff if they are OK getting that comfortable. A little different for niche roles and high level positions, but for the 'grunt' work you lose your edge quickly once it becomes only repetitive tasks.

Jimmycarterwuwu · Mar 30, 2016

I've felt if pay is good and your good with people. 2 things will happen, you will get head hunted or promoted. Myself, I'm a certification/license junky. Self employed to bs corporate. I made a personal rule never to be an intern. I've seen interns that know 10x more than a regular newly hired full benefit employee. Unless you want to pad resume or really need/ want money. Negotiate......No harm at all asking. No harm in asking is one of the few golden rules everyone should exercise.

Flipmode · Mar 31, 2016

jimmy carter wuwu_sl said:
I've felt if pay is good and your good with people. 2 things will happen, you will get head hunted or promoted. Myself, I'm a certification/license junky. Self employed to bs corporate. I made a personal rule never to be an intern. I've seen interns that know 10x more than a regular newly hired full benefit employee. Unless you want to pad resume or really need/ want money. Negotiate......No harm at all asking. No harm in asking is one of the few golden rules everyone should exercise.

I'm only interning because I'm so new to this and not really in a position to be picky. I plan on learning all I can. And if after I feel I'm in a position to expect more and they won't give it, I'll move on. A lot of the stuff I'll be doing in school is going to be directly beneficial to me at this position. Scripting, MS Server 2012, Linux, SQL, etc. I'm in total learning mode and have no ego at this point. And I do appreciate everyone's advice.

Jimmycarterwuwu · Mar 31, 2016

Nothing wrong with that, best advice is networking as an intern. Who you know is greater than what you know. If your given a project by a higher up friendly manager .... Do it, and even if you believe it's perfect, word it in a way similar to this " I know your a busy person, I would appreciate feedback from you if you have time.... I could ask xxxxxx but I've seen some of your work in the past and I'm highly impressed. People love compliments and their work praised.

chaos · Apr 4, 2016

So, that other job didn't work out. I told the guy I didn't want to be an HBSS admin, he said there would be plenty of engineering, get in the interview and it was very clear that it was an HBSS admin position. So it goes.

Got another lead on a blue team lead, and this one I want. They want me to have my CEH by Monday in order to be considered, dumb requirement but it is a customer requirement. Pay is even more, it is leading a team again and doing straight up assessment work which is pretty fucking cool.

And my current manager put in her notice today. My PM told me he wants me to fill in for her and will give me a bump in pay to compensate. I told him I am concerned about the contract ending in August, he said "i will make sure you are very comfortable until then" and then proceeded to name off 50 ways he would take care of me in the event of us not getting the contract, which it is seeming more and more like we will be if nothing else because the govt has nothing else in place and is not even working towards transitioning. Also if I leave I am basically leaving 5k in tuition reimbursement on the table in May.

idk, I really want this other position, I interview with them on Wednesday but it sounds like a formality at this point, they want me. The money is more than I thought I would be making, maybe ever, but I think I can get my current employer to match. And my PM says I will still be able to maintain technical work. Good problem to have, I guess.

Cad · Apr 4, 2016

chaos_sl said:
So, that other job didn't work out. I told the guy I didn't want to be an HBSS admin, he said there would be plenty of engineering, get in the interview and it was very clear that it was an HBSS admin position. So it goes.

Got another lead on a blue team lead, and this one I want. They want me to have my CEH by Monday in order to be considered, dumb requirement but it is a customer requirement. Pay is even more, it is leading a team again and doing straight up assessment work which is pretty fucking cool.

And my current manager put in her notice today. My PM told me he wants me to fill in for her and will give me a bump in pay to compensate. I told him I am concerned about the contract ending in August, he said "i will make sure you are very comfortable until then" and then proceeded to name off 50 ways he would take care of me in the event of us not getting the contract, which it is seeming more and more like we will be if nothing else because the govt has nothing else in place and is not even working towards transitioning. Also if I leave I am basically leaving 5k in tuition reimbursement on the table in May.

idk, I really want this other position, I interview with them on Wednesday but it sounds like a formality at this point, they want me. The money is more than I thought I would be making, maybe ever, but I think I can get my current employer to match. And my PM says I will still be able to maintain technical work. Good problem to have, I guess.

I really thought I would miss technical work too but now that I only really use the computers for Word/Excel and my phone for texting/emailing things are much simpler and I'm a "mainstream" tech user. I haven't had to upgrade my home desktops in I don't know how long because I'm not doing anything strenuous on them. It's actually pretty great. I can sit in client meetings or in my office and just use technology at a developer level without having to solve developer problems. It's pretty glorious.

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