I NEED ADVICE & I NEED IT NOW!!

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Hi all,

Got a dilemma, great position to be in, but i need some advice urgently!!

I'm a recent CCNA who was doing some basic IT at a financial institution and am now concentrating on the CISCO route. I have had an job offer from a reseller who want me to monitor their daily sales and assist the sales guys sell cisco equipment but they don't have any cisco training (just sell what comes through the door) and i'd have no training - i'd have to teach myself!! They're offering 22.5K and are based in London, 1 hr from my house.

OR

I've also had an offer from an ISP working on their live network and helpdesk. They will offer me training but are only offering 16K.

Which one? I need an answer TODAY if possible as they are both waiting for replies. Please give your reasons - thanks.



I can go to an

 

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no-one can make the choice for you, you have to weigh up what you value more, training or money.

 

Is the one paying £16K closer to you?

Which one do you think would be the more challenging and interesting?

 

what's the promotional prospects like ?

grim

 

Naah, the one paying 16K is just as far...

I was just thinking that in terms of experience that would be great, but passing up an extra 6.5K is a big ask (to me anyway). Also the amount of exposure to real equipment in both jobs should be excellent - but it's always nice to have someone on hand to help.

 

The promotional prospects in the reseller look excellent, but am i likely to get to CCNP level just playing around with the equipment everyday? I don't know...

 

Pick the one you like the sound of best, if it turns out you don't like it, its experience!

 

I LIKE THAT ANSWER!!!!

 

With the reseller would it be just the Cisco kit that you get to deal with, or would there be exposure to other technologies aswell.

Same question goes to the other place.

 

someone to learn off is always good, it helps your learning in a big way and gives you something to full back on when things go wrong. i wish there were people here who i could learn off but everyone deals with telecoms

grim

 

Not really, if all you're doing is helping monitor their daily sales and assist the sales guys sell cisco equipment.

The question is... do you want to be a salesman, or do you want to be a tech?

If you want to be a tech, you'll likely get MUCH better experience working on a live network and fielding helpdesk inquiries. And the pay will increase as your experience increases... if not at that employer, then at another.

Sure, you can make excellent money as a salesman. Personally, though, I wouldn't enjoy just selling it and not being able to help "make it work".

 

I was waiting for your much valued response BOSON MICHAEL

No, i'm not going to be doing any sales - eventually i'm going to be the techie rep. Can it do...? why won't it work...? How do i.. with..?

What i really want to know is can i learn this on my own or am i jumping in the deep end before i know how to swim? My troubleshooting is basic (PING, EIGRP etc) and all i've got is ambition and forum help, so if i get in trouble then maybe i really am in trouble. But sometimes the best way to learn is jump in at the deep end... who knows.

 

You flatter me. I simply provide information on the things I've seen (and read/heard) while in IT. It is my pleasure to be of service to you.

You say "eventually". That'd be a red flag to me... if you're good at sales, for example, they'll likely keep you doing it.

If you've never done network administration, you *could* be jumping into the deep end. On the other hand, it just might work.

All that said, the "sure thing" is to actually WORK with the technology... meaning, the tech job at the ISP... particularly if they allow you to help configure their network. That's an outstanding opportunity to learn and gain that much-needed real-world experience.

Ultimately, the decision is up to you. The one thing I would advise is to look at the long-term aspects and not just the short-term money focus. The lesser-paying job can sometimes to be much more beneficial to your career, long term.

 

Nice dilema to be in and my tuppence worth if its not too late
I went from working in a glass factory, hadnt even turnnd a PC on at that point to getting myself familiar with Win98 MCP and landing 2 jobs on the same day within 3 months too. I chose a 2 week contract job [over a permanent role] to cover the sole IT chap in the company and 9 years later I am now the sys/network manager albeit we are a small company, only 75 staff.

The only way I leant how to get by was to jump in at the deep end and fix any issues, I had to. I found that while the other IT chap was there I relied on him to resolve everything and really never learnt that much. When he left I was in the sh!t so many times but allways sorted it eventually, Google & this forum could be your right hand man!!

Saying that, you should go with what you feel is your best option and if you can afford it dont look at the money alone if its not gonna get you where you want to go.

Hope you make the right choice..

G

 

I'm not sure it's as simple a distinction as that BM. If it's going to be a pre-sales IT role then that can be a highly skilled job depending of course on what it is you are selling. Knowing the kit that you sell inside and out and whether or not it will fit into to a customers infrastructure, will it actually solve the issue or need that they have etc.. That kind of job can be quite interesting and rewarding. Ultimately it will end up with the sale of the item(s) but I think it would be wrong to think of someone doing that as just as salesperson as lets face it generally speaking they are ten a penny.

 

There's nothing wrong with selling Cisco kit... certainly you must know what models to recommend and in what situations they'd be good for. And being a good salesperson of technical products is quite different from being a "plain old salesperson". It can be quite lucrative and fulfilling to sell Cisco kit for a living. But ultimately, it's a far different job than being a tech who implements and administers Cisco routers. Simply put, one does not have to be a tech to sell the kit... knowing the distinctions between the models simply does not make you qualified to be a network tech. But you definitely need to be a tech to implement it.

Yes, stating "salesman" is somewhat of a simplification... but sometimes, someone needs to throw out things in an overly simplified manner to clarify perspectives a bit. If you want to work with the gear in real-world environments, you probably don't want to be stuck selling the gear.

 

I wonder what happened?

 

He probably couldn't take the pressure of the desicion and sublimed into the atmosphere.

 

Hi all,

Sorry to the late reply. I've been kind of busy. I decided to accept the job at the reseller and am there at the moment. I got the salaries mixed up - this one is paying the lesser money but i've got access to ALL the cisco equipment right up to 12000 series!!!

I haven't got a clue what to do with it

I do know that in the next 3 weeks i'm going to be left on my own. The guy i'm taking over from is not a CCNA - so they're looking for me to assist him before he leaves (but to be honest i think he probably knows more than me - with show commands anyway). There's a bit of an upside and a down side:

THE UPSIDE
I want to be a CCNP within the next 8 months (it's possible) and i now have the advantage of having all the cisco kit that i could possibly ask for at an entry level - any advice on what i should be practising (in my spare time of course)?

THE DOWNSIDE
I have to travel 120 miles (each way!!) to work every day (that's dedication) and it isn't a live network so i'm going to be working in purely a lab environment. I've been told that if i can prove my worth that this role could actually expand into a consultancy whereby i'd be going onto a customer site and implementing, installing and configuring Cisco equipment (which won't be for a while yet i would have thought) so anything to get me the right skill set.

Last but not least - how do i get any points? I wouldn't mind getting just one - make me feel part of the team

 

Another item you did not mention..your Age...?

Whilst the opportunity to get rich quick...ie extra 6k...but has flaws in that your experience does not match the criteria for job...of course you could learn quick...probably need too.

whereas other position offers training..long term .

so like Bosun says what is it you want do...Tech or Sales.

If young then the prospect of some serious in house training would compliment your already earnt skills..if in need of finance to support family etc...then go for the big bucks.

But ultimately the Decision...is Yours.... Good luck.


Decision was made.....post slightly late Oh Well thats life.