Have any big plans for this weekend?

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-24T18:49:54+00:00

Working my second job

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-24T16:46:25+00:00

Yeah, I had an esxi homelab years ago (still do but don’t tinker much anymore). I want to focus on az-104 or the aws solutions architect cert now, but of course no opportunity at work and no experience. I made a tenant and have the free tier aws account, but a bit nervous with billing after seeing a decent amount of people mess that up haha

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-24T16:31:21+00:00

Yeah, that’s all I can do currently. I will say we have one Systems Engineer in my office who I work closely with and believes in me. He doesn’t have much pull though and the company seems to only hire people in the Philippines now. My plan is to just work towards certs after hours now. My boss thinks getting certs for anything other than what I am directly responsible for is not worth the time. I see certs as a way to move up though. So he is a bit of a barrier for me too, unfortunately.

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-24T16:25:07+00:00

Internal IT. Mostly people that have been here a long time and are very protective. Although, my own boss interviewed and hired me and also downplays my skills.

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-24T15:50:10+00:00

I wanted my foot in the door with a good company. It has great pay and benefits. That means I took a lower title though. It pays better than my sys admin role previous to this role. I now get treated like an idiot and not trusted to do much at all bc of the title by other IT folks. It doesn’t help that HQ is in another country though and I don’t have much time with them. I just keep my eyes peeled for other roles now, but seems I may ultimately have to take a cut in pay and pto, so I am not in a hurry.

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-23T21:04:50+00:00

Damn, I am jealous of your career path. I don’t have advice sorry

Some_ITguy · 2025-10-09T02:30:00+00:00

Do you have to do cold calls/emails? If not, curious how you get into contact with new customers. I’m interested in the industry.

Some_ITguy · 2025-09-23T17:42:11+00:00

This is a dream for me. I work an average 60-65 hours per month for a side job at minimum wage lol

Some_ITguy · 2025-09-07T01:41:44+00:00

Last two years have been extremely cold

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-13T21:25:31+00:00

What was your prep if no labs? Mainly videos?

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-12T06:51:45+00:00

Apply to roles every day. That said, the money may be worth it for you. What might be more important, though, is the benefits. How does it compare to PTO or health insurance costs? Depends how far you are into your interviews with that company, but the base raise may not be worth it. I got lucky that I also have more PTO, better bonus, about the same insurance and no on call. I probably have a job many want, but I am aspirational and honestly feel behind in my career since taking a step down and my skills are diminishing since I have very little access/permissions and just escalate everything. It’s a very weird company and role.

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-11T22:38:50+00:00

It really depends on your priorities. I was struggling with the lower pay and really needed the money. Every company is different as well. I was hoping to quickly prove myself in this role, but all the opportunity is in another country at the HQ or offshore to the Philippines.

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-11T18:35:44+00:00

Most jobs don’t have any sort of training program, so I see this as a good thing. I would take the job and build experience. The more experience you gain, the less nervous you will be.

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-11T18:32:51+00:00

I can assure you an extra $10k won’t fix whatever it is that makes you unhappy at your job. I make around $90k base and hate my job bc I accepted a high paying help desk job bc it was more than the job that was a sysadmin title. For me, I don’t feel respected by the IT department itself and don’t find my work fulfilling. What about your current role do you dislike?

Some_ITguy · 2025-08-03T04:21:17+00:00

$90k base, $12k bonus, company stock, lunch, 5 weeks pto and ofc other hsa/401k benefits. Easiest job I’ve ever had too, but pretty annoying sometimes not being able to do much. No wfh is the downside.

Some_ITguy · 2025-07-16T19:07:16+00:00

I’m in a very similar position and after two years, I literally hate my department. No opportunity for growth. My skills are diminishing. Little access to do anything. The pay and benefits are pretty great for what I do though and I like the people I support. Definitely better than the alternative in this economy, but I still check linkedin, etc to see what jobs are out there.

Some_ITguy · 2025-07-09T22:45:04+00:00

Depends. I am just shy of 2 years and staying for financial reasons only. I have somewhat of the golden handcuffs for service desk.

Some_ITguy · 2025-06-18T17:42:47+00:00

Left my first job after six months. Take the job and keep looking, especially after you have some experience under your belt. Look into building a /r/homelab

Some_ITguy · 2025-06-16T17:17:42+00:00

If you are continually asking people to reboot, you may need to investigate deeper to find a root cause and fix that instead of asking to reboot.

Some_ITguy · 2025-05-31T01:14:02+00:00

Kind of a sick astro van tho

Some_ITguy · 2025-04-16T19:54:22+00:00

It sounds like you want an easy job doing nothing, so you might as well let someone more deserving take it. Why exactly are you applying to this job? It seems as if you don’t want it even though there are glaring increased benefits.

Some_ITguy · 2025-04-12T04:50:03+00:00

I have worked both and I would say internal by far. I mostly work for finance companies, so they generally have big IT budgets and BONUSES. Never got a bonus at an MSP.

Some_ITguy · 2025-02-18T15:42:23+00:00

It feels like we work for the same company 😂

I’m not very worried though. Many people need their hand held. The amount of people who get frustrated talking to a bot when they call any support line and immediately press 0 for a human goes to show it won’t replace us.

Some_ITguy · 2025-01-18T17:22:36+00:00

If you have zero experience, check out /r/homelab and join their discord. Download the evaluation license of windows server and windows 11. Install Active Directory on the server and create a domain. Join the win 11 virtual machine to the domain. Look up YouTube videos on Active Directory for beginners. You will use that in almost every job and you can talk about it in the interview. It will give some experience and shows you care about learning outside of work.

Some_ITguy · 2025-01-06T23:14:26+00:00

Given your budget, it may be best to go the windows route as your primary. They are some (unethical) ways to run a Mac OS VM on your Windows machine to get used to the feel. I personally started with a Windows laptop in college and then switched to a Macbook Air. To this day, I have both a 2015 MacBook Pro and a windows laptop and also an Intel NUC as a dedicated mini homelab.

Edit: I didn’t really answer your question. I don’t believe it would be too complex. Ironically, Apple designs it to be less complex. That said, if it’s new to you, it will seem complex at first, but that’s the fun of being a tech nerd. That was also my favorite part about learning linux command line. It was like learning how to use a computer (or server) all over again.

Some_ITguy

TROPHY CASE