Dilemma

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(Short version: 2 jobs, equal pay, one feels below me, other feels a bit beyond my skills)

longer version:
I have put my CV on a few sites and am getting a good few calls today and yesterday about jobs.
I have made it clear that I am interested in 2nd and 3rd line roles paying £30k and above.

The types of jobs generally fall into 2 categories:

1) They pay £32k but the job requirements are more like the requirements for a network admin with 10 years experience (yet they are somehow interested in me with my 2 years experience)

20 They pay £32k but it's mainly desktop support on a trading floor with potential to grow into a systems administrator. (Potential, I've heard that before been promised the world by recruiters before but it rarely delivers)

I am applying for them all but am torn between doing "easy" desktop support where I would be perceived as highly experienced, or doing the more challenging net admin type job where I might be exposed as a relative novice.

What do you think?

 

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Hmm, it's a toss up
I assume your interviewing for both, or have been offered by both?
take the harder one
a) its a challenge
b) its a step up, not a step down
c) we often feel roles are above our pay grade, and employers often ask for skills they will never need, you may find it fits 'just right'

 

Yes go for the harder one if you're lucky enough to get a choice! If you get the position you should be able to bring yourself up to speed on anything you've never come across before by on the job experience, training with the other IT staff or by self study.

Trade floor desktop support tends to be ensuring that the traders have access to market data feeds like Reuters and Bloomberg. If this goes down, all hell breaks loose. They also tend to have multiple monitors and a common problem is that the right app doesn't show up in the right monitor. It can be quite stressful at times that's why the pay rates for trade floor support are usually higher.

Good luck in any case!

 

I agree, go for the harder one. I recently acquired a Systems Admin role which from the recruitment firm's description was ridiculously over my current qualifications and experience. When I actually got to the place (after being accosted by the receptionist who believed I was there for an 'apprenticeship role', pah!) it seemed much less daunting and within my grasp.

Plus, think of it this way, it will look far more impressive with the experience gained from the more difficult job than the easier one when on your CV Gotta think about progression!

The best of luck, please do let us know.

Qs

 

Yep go for the harder one.

I'm presuming you have been asked to an interview for these positions? As long as you are honest in your interview regarding your skills, you can let them decide whether you are qualified enough for the position

 

desktop support on a trading floor... and you think thats easy... I take it you havent ever dealt with traders before. Personally go with the trading floor, this will allow you to work in the square mile for the large finance companies as well as docklands, with good pay and bonuses.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I have had my first round interview at the trading house. It's not just desktop support after all, they want Active Directory, Exchange 2007, Sysprep, Red hat Linux, basic Cisco SDM and IOS, BES Server and a whole lot more besides.
They put me through my paces with about 20 questions, ranging from easy hardware troubleshooting to group policy inheritance problems.
Their infrastructure is out of this world. 200 traders each with 6 or 8 monitors. All desktops have Intel phenom processors and Nvidia Quadro graphics cards.
I saw at least 50 Cisco routers in the data centre. Their windows domain is completely virtualised. They run Linux and Solaris as well. There must have been 100 feet of 42U racks not including patch panels.

I have a second round interview next week. REALLY want this job!!! Haven't heard back from the other job yet they probably got someone more experienced than me.

 

Sounds like a good place to learn then with all that stuff. Remember the job will be desktop support to start with so I hope there are chances to move up the ladder. Hope you get it!

 

Each company has different roles... your's seems to be like a fun role plus you never know the opportunity for growth in the company.

 

The thing to remember is that it is very rare to find a System Admin/Network Admin, 3rd Line job which is only Server work.

There will always be some amount of desktop support. If the MD states his PC won't boot, do you think he will speak to you or 1st Line?

Many IT Managers get involed in desktop support, as well, it just becomes less of your day to day activities the further you progress.

 

I always enjoyed "taking a break" by helping out the desktop techs with whatever they were working on.