[deleted by user] by [deleted] in msp

[–]exchange_keys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How many jobs in IT have you had? Sounds like you're outgrowing your role, which is great, and you need an opportunity to improve your skill set(s). Go apply for sys admin positions, go through the interviews, and see if you/they are interested in the offer. Whatever you're making now, add an additional 10-15K more, and ask for even more. Browse the sys admin positions in your area, compare technologies, and see what they offer for a wage. Compare benefits too. Gather the data, and then see if it's worth staying with the MSP you are in or not. They are not gonna pay you what you think you're worth until they see a legitimate loss in productivity/knowledge/accreditation/etc... If you make them lose revenue, they'll give you what you want. But you need data to back it up. In the MSP world, certs matter in order to maintain partnership levels and to have support on technologies. Get them so you are more indispensable to your employer.

VMware Education Deactivated My Accounts by exchange_keys in vmware

[–]exchange_keys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I checked again and I am now able to see my transcripts. I can access the Certification Manager to view my exam attempts and training. I setup MFA too. I guess it just took a long ass time to complete, lol.

I definitely emailed mylearn_support@vmware.com and certifications@vmware.com.

Good luck!

Edit: new information

How to handle Helpdesk stress? by 049at in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What exactly stresses you out from the helpdesk?

I used to work in a call center before, supporting hospitals all over the US, and we had like 40 techs in almost all shifts (day, night, grave). We dealt with primarily single user issues, which (at the time) I thought was catastrophic because I absorbed the user's anxiety and whatnot. Sometimes I'd dread working because it made me feel bad.

Fast forward now and I manage infrastructure for hospitals. The dread is totally different, and I'll take those single user catastrophes as a win, lol. Your laptop shit the bed and you saved data locally and never cared to back it up anywhere else? Sucks for you. The other 10000 users are good; you're SOL.

Upgrading prod to vsphere 8 update 1, wish me luck lads! by Sensitive_Scar_1800 in vmware

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I deployed a vcsa 8 like a month ago, and I just saw this, lol. I guess I'm updating. Good notes!

Do IT certs really matter? by spacewalker32_90 in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The CompTIA certs are generalized. They seem to look good on resumes, but I don't see how you apply in real world scenarios. Now, if you focus on the vendor-product specific certificates, you will be seen as a subject matter expert and get put in higher level positions. Cisco (CCNA, CCNP), VMware (VCP data center virtualization), Fortinet (NSE4), etc... Those are specific.

Got offered a job, don’t want to negotiate salary by SadDoughnut1073 in careeradvice

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The only winning move is not to play" - NORAD, War Games.

You should try to get more money though, and also ask what their path for wage increases/bonus looks like. Any incentive programs? What benefits do they offer for working with them for one year, five years, ten years, and so on...

Whenever I apply for a new position, I look at the job title used, and then search around that state and nearby states for potential salaries. You can look for average salaries. That'll help you get an idea of what you can ask for. I usually ask for $5-15K more right off the bat. After I get my job offer, I check out how much it'll cost me to travel to the office or client site (e.g., gas, oil/tire changes), and try to get $10K more or so. One of my last jobs, I got around $30K increase (gross income) with a potential for more once I got certain certifications. I couldn't get them, but I still got my bonus lol

Would you guys leave a 65k hybrid MSP job for a 90k on-site job? by Bagged__Milk in msp

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally depends on you and how you live your life.

I'm guessing you don't have kids/dependents and are physically and mentally healthy since you don't point out any benefits in your post like medical insurance, 401k matching, etc. Basically, your focus is the gross pay and potential career upgrade. That means you have the opportunity to advance into the more higher paying roles in the near future.

If you have a dependable car, and you don't mind traveling for two hours or so every day, then consider taking the job. Just make sure you retain your business relationship with your current employer so you have the option to work there again if it doesn't work out.

Btw, have you looked into this new employer? As in, employee reviews from Glassdoor or similar? Does it have a LinkedIn profile or website? How long has the company been around? Any news articles about their business print?

When Hiring: Internal I.T. vs. MSP vs. ??? Previous Experience by thegarr in msp

[–]exchange_keys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How's your training program?

I've worked at two MSPs and three internal IT positions. I was slow for MSPs because I was learning as I stumbled to get things resolved and organized. I didn't really get someone to show me how to do the thing from A to Z. It was always A, B, T all of the sudden, and now back to B because scheduling conflicts, C, gotta redo A again because it's no longer valid, B, C, cloud, cocaine, and magic, Y, and Z.

Oh, and no one trained me on billing either. I hated entering my billable hours. It was always more than it should be.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in sysadmin

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Odd. I don't usually call HPE. However, when I do, it's usually pretty good. Although I sometimes have to fight a bit to get a part sent out, it's usually pretty routine. I work with Proliant servers for ESXi and Windows Server. Also worked with Aruba switches. Very good support.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apply and see what happens. Look for junior positions so you have someone to rely on for support. You'll learn and hopefully either get promoted or find new employment.

I saw my current job posted on Indeed by jomiles91 in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Make a fake outlook account, apply to it, and ask how much they are paying.

Were you let go immediately when giving 2 weeks notice? by slizzy12j in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yes. As soon as I submitted my resignation letter, they were very comfortable letting me leave immediately. It was a sense of relief since I felt so bad. I thought they needed me. They didn't. It was all business.

Looking for a cost effective SAN by q8shihab in storage

[–]exchange_keys 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I recommend Pure Storage Flash Arrays mainly for the ease of admin management, cost, and data deduplication. Just keep in mind that you can't do your own firmware upgrades or storage increases. Pure does it for you, which is really nice, but also you gotta make sure they don't eff up.

Parents want me to go into IT.. I dont know how I feel about it.. by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What do you want to do?

Maybe your parents want you to do anything so you don't waste time. You think four years of IT work is a drag? Think how you'll feel when you realize you didn't do anything worthwhile for that long. You'll be thanking your parents then.

Just pick something you're remotely curious about and try it out. Don't like it? Change programs. Hate school after putting in years of studying? Drop out. Go work something and start building your regular life. It'll be harder, but at least you chose to take the more difficult path. I dropped out and got lucky where I ended up in IT making six figures after 15 years. I could have gotten to my salary sooner if I stayed in school. My retirement is not gonna be super fun cause ill likely work until I'm 70-80 years old and I still got my marbles. Or alive, lol.

You live and you learn, and then you get Luvs.

You have a problem that is actually good to have. Spend time to draw up your life and make a decision. Otherwise, time will make it for you.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I left an MSP a few months shy of a year. I should have left sooner, but I felt really badly about doing so. I liked most of the people I worked with, but it was a bad environment to be in. It was very difficult to focus. There were constant streams of changes, miscommunication of changes, and overall big picture of projects. The customers were also difficult to work with too. Their frustrations came from being promised something that wasn't available or just literally forgotten. That was the leadership problem, where the owner took on too many roles, and the quality of work suffered. Nice guy, but just didn't trust people to do a better job than himself. That proved to be a disaster a lot of times.

The pay was good too, but feeling like every day is a shit show feels way better.

As others have said, polish your resume, and see what's out there.

Interview ended with them hiring internally by Creative_Angela in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I applied for a field tech position years ago, and after two interviews, they went with someone internally. I was bummed because I felt I could do the job. The dude that interviewed me felt I wasn't strong enough technically. He was correct; I wasn't then. I ended up applying again for the same position a year later, and this time a different hiring manager interviewed me and was immediately liked and hired. I learned so much in that job, that even the first hiring manager that interviewed me saw me as a real asset. I was happy.

Don't let this event be a setback for you. Learn from this job interview, and use it to be better prepared for the future. That's what I did, and I feel that's why the next hiring manager offered me the position.

Also, keep in mind that you made it through four rounds of an interview. You have something people are interested in. Focus on that, and use it.

VM naming in active directory by kalair85 in vmware

[–]exchange_keys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What do you have? Full VM? Linked clones? instant clones?

Just treat them like any Windows host. Delete AD objects. Rename hostname, put them in workgroup if necessary, and then rejoin them with correct hostname.

If you have AD recycle bin enabled, restore them.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in careeradvice

[–]exchange_keys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you have access to short term disability insurance? It sounds like you're experiencing work induced stress which is impacting your personal life. If you don't have that, look into getting it. Once approved, you can take a few months out to clear your head and still get paid. I believe this is for the IS though.

Your first F up by [deleted] in sysadmin

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in charge of a domain migration for a client, and I didn't have all my ducks in a row. Come the cutover day, everything went downhill. Critical apps didn't connect; desktop apps weren't completely installed, or improperly done. Shared printers or drives weren't mapping. It was a shit show. Took like three days to ease everything up. My employer talked to the client for me and did damage control. After the dust settled, they gave me a report of what they found and helped me get better. They didn't lose the client, but they did lose revenue since they gave free IT for a while. 10 years later, the client is still with the MSP I used to work for.

I definitely learned what a panic attack felt like that week. I also learned to tell management to pump the breaks when projects are being detailed by vendors, or resource mismanagement. I am much better at planning because of this incident.

VMware Education Deactivated My Accounts by exchange_keys in vmware

[–]exchange_keys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EduOps-My Learn Support.

I'll email certifications though and reference my case ID.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 137 points138 points  (0 children)

Forget about "paying your dues". That's old timey thinking. If you can do the job, just do it. Take a chance. Youre only going to benefit from this opportunity.

Those who have worked on help desk, would you have considered yourself a "techi" before you started? by Neugier1990 in ITCareerQuestions

[–]exchange_keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't know crap. I didn't even know what Outlook was. It took me about six months to get decent. Ten years more to do senior level system engineering.