Career choices
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You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
I'm at a crossroads where I am trying to figure out my career path. I am trying to decide between Sysadmin and Network Admin. I would like to hear some input from people in the field.
>Which is a more high stressed position? aka longer hours
>Which of these pays more on average?
>Which certs are recommended for each field?
>Which is more booming?
>>47837724
they're both basically the same thing, unless you're working at a large organization, in which case the network admin usually makes less than the sysadmin, because his role tends to be more narrow. i'm a sysadmin and teacher at a relatively large school. even if i didn't teach, i'd still be there between 3 and 5 days a week. the network admin gets called in (or called on to work remotely) no more than 2 days a week, for a couple of hours tops. it's usually to deal with some cisco rubbish, or the terrible firewall the school has in place. i handle pretty much everything else tech-related in both buildings.
>>47837956
i am more hardware oriented so I was thinking sysadmin work was for me. Thank you for sharing your experiences anon. I heard nightmare stories of sysadmins getting called in at all hours of the night and shit. But i guess if pay is good than its alright
>>47838030
as long as you have the credentials and knowledge, pay tends to be great, and only increases with your experience level.
>>47838064
outside of a degree, what credentials would you recommend to get started in the field?
>>47837724
I'd suggest doing what you would enjoy more. In larger companies either job can be 6 figures.
In the particular organization I'm at now the people who are putting in the long hours seem to be the people who manage the applications. But that will vary depending where you go and how their procedures are set up. As a general rule when it comes to managing NEW equipment being installed -- in something like a data center environment, crunch time on deadlines always ultimately falls to the person bringing the application online, because they're the last step. 2nd to last step is the server guys actually working with the OS build. Up to that it can be any order for racking the stuff, providing network connectivity, cabling, power, cooling, etc.
So, just pick whichever you want more.
>>47838030
>. I heard nightmare stories of sysadmins getting called in at all hours of the night and shit.
That happens with network admin too. Also database admin. Basically any IT administration work will get your ass out of bed at 2AM at least once in your career.
>>47838232
I'll add that network engineering and network operations are two completely different jobs. Something to keep in mind there too.
>>47838221
experience is really the key. in this line of work, you pretty have to work at-least one shitty (i.e. lower paying) position before things really open up for you. some kind of comp sci degree definitely doesn't hurt, and should speed things up, but whether the organization is large or small, they want to see that you can attack issues quickly, efficiently, and that you'll be reliable.
>>47838267
>comp sci degree
>IT
Dude what. A fucking biology degree has as much to do with sysadmin work as CompSci.
>>47838242
and this is true. i lucked out with my current position, because it's at a school, and i'll probably never get called in after 9pm. worst i've had is to do unexpected server maintenance on a sunday night (was there from around 8 to 11pm). if it's a serious corporation, or large business we're talking about, you will definitely run into some graveyard hours from time to time.
>>47838242
>my week on pager duty
>monday night
>woken up at 1:19am
>daily customer cron job triggers known bug
>disable that alert for six days
I think we had six people on rotation, one week each, and I had that happen twice before we fixed it.
>>47838297
True story: I hauled my ass into work at around 4am on a Friday night (technically saturday morning) while still sort of drunk because some dipshits had been using the machine we were running SQL Server on as their personal file storage/streaming server and had managed to fuck something up.
I never found out what exactly they did because I stumbled in with absolutely no attempt to look like anything other than a man who had fallen asleep drunk three hours ago, listened to a solid 1/5th of what everyone was saying, blew out the server, restored the drive from image, and ran SQL Server's automatic restoration from backups.
Was there a more elegant solution that didn't result in 45 minutes of extra downtime? Probably. But I could not possibly have given any less of a fuck.
>>47838284
i'm speaking broadly. even a general information technologies degree (like network security) is considered a comp sci degree at most universities (at-least in america). and even people i know who went to shitholes like devry, were able to secure higher paying positions far more easily than people who didn't.
>>47838361
>a general information technologies degree (like network security) is considered a comp sci degree at most universities
Not ones with a shred of respect behind their name. There, those degrees are called Information Technology.
>>47837724
So I'm at a crossroads between getting into video production because it's a passion and getting potentially shit pay, or getting into network administration and having good pay but not knowing if I'll like the job or be good at it and have no idea how oversaturated the industry is.
Difficult decision. Any input on network administration would be appreciated.
>>47838354
>blew out the server, restored the drive from image, and ran SQL Server's automatic restoration from backups
ahahahah yes
>>47838030
on the plus side, the more competent you are the less likely it is that you will need to do anything in the middle of the night.
>>47838030
>get woken up at some early time in the morning
OH GOD, WHAT A NIGHTMARE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I GET PAID FOR THIS!!!
are you serious, kid?
>>47838366
>>47838430
Some people don't function well with interrupted sleep. Some people don't want to disturb their home life with their families. If you don't want a job with potential on-call work, don't get one, that's okay. Nothing to shit on someone for. I worked a 24/7 on-call position for eight months and quit because it just didn't work with myself or my family.
>>47838448
some people don't want to be burglarized while sleeping, some people don't want their home to turn into a cemetery and their family into zombies.
those sound more like nightmares.
or maybe not living in a civilized country and having to bury your shit in the backyard hole.
>>47838430
It sounds way better at 10:30pm than at 2:30am.
>>47838485
i can understand what it is like to be on call, 24-7. and most companies i have worked for give you comp time when you happen to get called in during your time with the pager.
>>47838398
I was muttering "I don't give a shit" over and over like a mantra under my breath. This is what that night looked like to everyone else in the room
> Anon literally stumbles into the building with a coffee mug the size of God
> He shuffles slowly into the server room, logs into the actual, physical machine
> "We no longer have a server"
> "We have a server from 2009" (in 2013)
> "We have a server from two weeks ago"
> "Everything that's happened in the last two weeks is happening again really fast"
> "There, I fixed it."
>>47838502
Welcome to the wonderful world of salary, where that shit doesn't exist.
Most of the old fucks I know in IT don't have cell phones. I always thought they were just afraid of change, but then I realized: by only having a home phone, you have an automatic way to get out of any call: the wife answers all calls after 8pm and if work calls, you're "not at home".
>>47838466
Yeah that's great. I'm not going to feel guilty for having a choice in my profession/schedule. I'm not going to sell my care just because someone can't afford a car to commute with in Iran.
>>47838597
where i have worked your time gets comp'd.
>>47838397
Anyone?
>>47837724
>>47838624
In my experience, literally everyone except for your immediate coworkers and maybe your supervisor if and only if he was promoted from your position rather than hired from business school sees literally everyone who works any job even tangentially related to computers as your lower pic's.
Sysadmin = worthless nerd
Network admin = worthless nerd
Tech support = worthless nerd
Programmer = worthless nerd
If you interact with computers in any way at work, you are instantly absolute scum in the eyes of 99% of society.
>>47838655
well meme'd
>>47838655
i don't give a fuck what some suit thinks about me. i'm making bushels of cash for something that's essentially second nature to me. it's like being paid to eat breakfast and take a shit.
>>47838692
> Meet grill
> She asks what you do
> Tell her anything in IT
> Instant vaginal sahara, she leaves in under 30 seconds
> Work IT for non-tech company
> Critical to company's success
> Entire business rides systems operating as expected
> Get zero budget, ancient equipment, and treated like a dog by upper management
> Celebrating Thankschristmeaster with family
> Relative asks what you're doing in your new job
> Tell them anything in IT
> "Oh... that's definitely a good job for you."
> Silence the rest of the night
> Same question to cousin who manages a gas station
> "Good for you taking charge of your company like that! You'll go far AnonCousin!"
Working in tech is modern leprosy.
>>47838745
stop
>>47838745
are you wondering what makes you an autist?
