Education or Private Industry?

B Man asks: "I have been working in IT related jobs since 1994, and in that time, I have held the following positions: Security Administrator, Systems (Linux) Administrator, Network Engineer, Computer Consultant, and Project Manager. Almost all of my experience has been in medium sized businesses, but mow I have come to be in the situation of having two job offers that would be in totally different environments, and I am at a crossroads. My choices are: a position which allows me to work with cutting edge technologies, being the main technical contact to a Fortune 10 company; or a position in a higher education facility, in the Unix Administrator role. Both jobs have their good and bad points, but I would like to hear which one Slashdot readers recommend, and why."

Comments

Family life

[B Man]

I am married, but no kids yet.

I guess I just didn't fill in near enough info.

Re:Lifestyle choice

[elmegil]

They'll guarantee your income for the forseeable future

If you call $30k a year an income. I worked University Admin for the first 7 years of my career, and I'll never go back.

• I got paid 50% of my market value. If not less. I lived in student type apartments just above slum levels to keep from going broke. And I moved on with about $16k in debt.
• I had to do the work of 3 people myself, with no money for training, no money for conferences (except one time in 7 years).
• I only learned the equipment we had the budget to buy. Suffice to say it was not cutting edge equipment, and left me a bit behind when I did decide to go into the private sector.
• 24x7x365 on call. Oh yeah, I did get to go out of town a couple weeks each year, but otherwise, since I was The Guy for what I managed, if it broke, I fixed it.

It's just not worth it. MAYBE if you're going to a huge state school or an incredibly wealthy/prestigious school, they'll have budget to make up for these shortcomings. But otherwise, you're condemning yourself to a backwater. I learned hella lot, but it was all school of hard knocks, and after 7 years I was seriously burnt out.

I'd say take the Fortune 10 job, make some significant money for a few years, put a lot of it away, and then you can look for a private sector job that's a bit more laid back. They exist you know, even if they don't in the Fortune 10.