Leveled up! Acquired a new Cert

[Floyd Eye]

I was making less than that before I left. Not the worst pay at a school district tbh but definitely a bit of a struggle with 2 littles and a house that needs work done. This current job has been a rollercoaster but a blessing financially, as it is helping me get a lot in order. Hoping I can get some things settled and then just go after the job I want over finances. Maybe in the end, I'll have both. Who knows, maybe I'll just ditch IT and do guitar repairs and give lessons lol

There’s two ways you can go. You can do something you love or enjoy or you can do something that pays very well. Jackpot is both. That’s rare in my own experience. I had to settle for something that pays very well. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. And I’m very good at it. And I won’t get too personal but the pay is better than double that 58 we were talking about.

 

[rsm]

Thanks for this! I really enjoy working with people, as I grew up working in my family's restaurant. May be something I look into. My brother is a Project Manager and joked that we should combine forces. He may have something going there. I am definitely looking for somewhere to go and 'make my home'. Any leads are always greatly appreciated!

I started my transition from tech/lead architect to pre-sales technical role for consulting, then moved into technical sales role (sales engineer) for database software and hardware, and did that for many years getting better territories and customers over time, until moving into my current position.

If you haven't been in a technology commissioned sales position and want to get into sales, look for roles with words such as pre-sales, solution architect, sales engineer, etc, that are technical roles in the sales organizations. Depending on you location, technology areas of expertise, demand for your technology area of expertise, willingness to travel, etc. you could be making six figures to start. The downside is if you aren't making or exceeding your numbers you won't survive long. Sales execs from my level on up make more money when their teams make more money...so non performers are short-timers.

Cheers!

 

[Music&Chaos]

There’s two ways you can go. You can do something you love or enjoy or you can do something that pays very well. Jackpot is both. That’s rare in my own experience. I had to settle for something that pays very well. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. And I’m very good at it. And I won’t get too personal but the pay is better than double that 58 we were talking about.

Nice! I don't hate this job and I am good at it but I literally dream about my other job weekly. I currently work fully remote and make around 90k not including a few benefits. It has helped me to catch up around here a lot. I built my home by hand so it's been a chore every step of the way. Especially because when I started I had zero experience.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I started my transition from tech/lead architect to pre-sales technical role for consulting, then moved into technical sales role (sales engineer) for database software and hardware, and did that for many years getting better territories and customers over time, until moving into my current position.

If you haven't been in a technology commissioned sales position and want to get into sales, look for roles with words such as pre-sales, solution architect, sales engineer, etc, that are technical roles in the sales organizations. Depending on you location, technology areas of expertise, demand for your technology area of expertise, willingness to travel, etc. you could be making six figures to start. The downside is if you aren't making or exceeding your numbers you won't survive long. Sales execs from my level on up make more money when their teams make more money...so non performers are short-timers.

Cheers!

Thanks!! I have always performed at the top of my peers no matter where I have been out, so I wouldn't be worried on that front. Put the work in, it gives back out! (Or it should). I was exactly thinking about checking out some Solutions Architect roles. Seems like it could be a good fit for me. I have a lot of hands on upgrade and migration experience with LAN, WLAN, SD WAN, etc.

I appreciate your time and words greatly!

 

[rsm]

Thanks!! I have always performed at the top of my peers no matter where I have been out, so I wouldn't be worried on that front. Put the work in, it gives back out! (Or it should). I was exactly thinking about checking out some Solutions Architect roles. Seems like it could be a good fit for me. I have a lot of hands on upgrade and migration experience with LAN, WLAN, SD WAN, etc.

I appreciate your time and words greatly!

Anytime! Good luck!

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Thanks for this! I really enjoy working with people, as I grew up working in my family's restaurant. May be something I look into. My brother is a Project Manager and joked that we should combine forces. He may have something going there. I am definitely looking for somewhere to go and 'make my home'. Any leads are always greatly appreciated

Good on you boss that you've got a few plans. Always have a plan, is what I say, even if it's a lie, LOL. I can't find a job where there's anything to do now. I was in desktop support again at my last job, making about 80k and closed all their 45 tickets in 3 days. They told me to slow down, which is impossible for me.

Implemented Endpoint Central, Got all their 100 servers down to VM's in a few physical hosts. Wrote like 100 policies, Setup backup machines for all the desktops out in the plant. Did basically like 10 years of work in 1.5 years then got laid off. The Sharepoint developer is now doing the desktop support as well. Cheap ass mother fuckers.

Now I have a state job, which is the best. I found out I had Juneteenth day off and was like "WTF is that?" Don't ask no questions...... Just take it. Started off with 3 weeks vacation. Now I make a lot more than my last job as well, pension, not that a pension matters because the world is not gonna be here when I get to utilize it. I get to spec out all the projects and plans. Just converted the whole place over to Sonicwall HA firewalls and network switches for the 2 buildings. One part of my place is we have a secure facility that is completely closed off to the internet and had to implement a smaller firewall down there and setup rules to allow their alert system through the firewall with various rules. Runs on cellular when the regular network is down. Outbound only for that.

I'm speccing out outdoor wifi access point upgrades as well as outdoor managed switches. Retiring our copper phone system for VOIP and implementing fiber instead of Coax. Implementing an emergency notification system for active shooters and tornados and whatever else. Tons of shit to do. Only problem? It's the state. 15 meetings just to purchase a switch, LOL. But I make the decisions and the director is behind me in regards to brining the place to the 21st century. Place was a mess from the Prior lazy IT guy. Have a ton of physical servers who's warranty expired in 2018 which I'll be converting over to VM's

But the best damn part of this gig is 7-3PM ZERO weekends and we have a vendor that does afterhours support and monitoring. Best job ever, but gets slow as shit when projects aren't happening.

 

[Music&Chaos]

Good on you boss that you've got a few plans. Always have a plan, is what I say, even if it's a lie, LOL. I can't find a job where there's anything to do now. I was in desktop support again at my last job, making about 80k and closed all their 45 tickets in 3 days. They told me to slow down, which is impossible for me.

Implemented Endpoint Central, Got all their 100 servers down to VM's in a few physical hosts. Wrote like 100 policies, Setup backup machines for all the desktops out in the plant. Did basically like 10 years of work in 1.5 years then got laid off. The Sharepoint developer is now doing the desktop support as well. Cheap ass mother fuckers.

Now I have a state job, which is the best. I found out I had Juneteenth day off and was like "WTF is that?" Don't ask no questions...... Just take it. Started off with 3 weeks vacation. Now I make a lot more than my last job as well, pension, not that a pension matters because the world is not gonna be here when I get to utilize it. I get to spec out all the projects and plans. Just converted the whole place over to Sonicwall HA firewalls and network switches for the 2 buildings. One part of my place is we have a secure facility that is completely closed off to the internet and had to implement a smaller firewall down there and setup rules to allow their alert system through the firewall with various rules. Runs on cellular when the regular network is down. Outbound only for that.

I'm speccing out outdoor wifi access point upgrades as well as outdoor managed switches. Retiring our copper phone system for VOIP and implementing fiber instead of Coax. Implementing an emergency notification system for active shooters and tornados and whatever else. Tons of shit to do. Only problem? It's the state. 15 meetings just to purchase a switch, LOL. But I make the decisions and the director is behind me in regards to brining the place to the 21st century. Place was a mess from the Prior lazy IT guy. Have a ton of physical servers who's warranty expired in 2018 which I'll be converting over to VM's

But the best damn part of this gig is 7-3PM ZERO weekends and we have a vendor that does afterhours support and monitoring. Best job ever, but gets slow as shit when projects aren't happening.

Yep, sounds like my job with the school (minus the pay!). I always poke around at jobs like schools and State - once you get in, it's hard to be pushed out, especially if you get something done at a reasonable pace.

 

[rsm]

Yep, sounds like my job with the school (minus the pay!). I always poke around at jobs like schools and State - once you get in, it's hard to be pushed out, especially if you get something done at a reasonable pace.

yes, but that job security also limits current compensation. however, if you get a good pension like many government workers, it could be worth it in the long run, so long as the pension fund doesn't run out of funds.

always a trade-off.

 

[311boogieman]

Congrats @GuitarGuy08 !

I'm sure that is very satisfying. I was reading the other day that the Google containers are better than AWS but AWS support is better. Any truth to that?

about 20 years ago I moved out of software engineering / architecture to sales, and have moved up in sales ever since; I stayed on the technical side, and found a great position in late 2022, took some time off (2 months), and started in the new role January, 2023.

That's what I came to say.

I was never really an engineer per say but I did head down the whole CCDA, CCNA, CCWTF path and quickly decided that I was getting too far away from what I really loved which was sales and consulting and helping people. That and everyone and their brother was going after Cisco certs. So having an AWS Architecture Cert should make you very valuable, especially if you want to get into consulting. Straight programming in this area looks extremely boring to me - not saying that's what you'll end up doing. I don't have as much Cloud experience as I would like although I have taken a few online classes. A bit over my head but I'm in my mid 50's and don't really want to compete with all the young folks chasing these careers. Let 'em have at it. I do have experience with LAN/WAN/SDWAN/WWAN, 802.11, IOT, 5G, MEC, Security, etc.

Either way, if you didn't know this then my post will add value.

*Get your LinkedIn profile maximized. PM me if you don't know what I'm talking about.
*Get your Resume optimized for the current AI Resume readers everyone is using. A great place to start is www.resumeworded.com Follow their recommendations and you will be vastly better positioned.

Good luck mang!

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Congrats @GuitarGuy08 !

I'm sure that is very satisfying. I was reading the other day that the Google containers are better than AWS but AWS support is better. Any truth to that?


That's what I came to say.

I was never really an engineer per say but I did head down the whole CCDA, CCNA, CCWTF path and quickly decided that I was getting too far away from what I really loved which was sales and consulting and helping people. That and everyone and their brother was going after Cisco certs. So having an AWS Architecture Cert should make you very valuable, especially if you want to get into consulting. Straight programming in this area looks extremely boring to me - not saying that's what you'll end up doing. I don't have as much Cloud experience as I would like although I have taken a few online classes. A bit over my head but I'm in my mid 50's and don't really want to compete with all the young folks chasing these careers. Let 'em have at it. I do have experience with LAN/WAN/SDWAN/WWAN, 802.11, IOT, 5G, MEC, Security, etc.

Either way, if you didn't know this then my post will add value.

*Get your LinkedIn profile maximized. PM me if you don't know what I'm talking about.
*Get your Resume optimized for the current AI Resume readers everyone is using. A great place to start is www.resumeworded.com Follow their recommendations and you will be vastly better positioned.

Good luck mang!

Hehe, speaking of 802, just as I read your post.