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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."
A bigger paycheck or more freedom?
corporate = more money, oddly less red tape and bureaucracy, but less freedom to do more fun things. education = more freedom but more red tape and hassles when you want/need something due to federal monies and grants being limited. I would probably go with corporate given that you'll get to play with the latest and greatest while making good money at it, even though you'll have to probably wear a suit and tie. But that's just my 0.02
I haven't lost my mind. It's backed up on disk somewhere.
You don't tell us if you have, or want, a family, but that's really what this keys on.
The Fortune 10 company will shower you with money as long as you make choices that save them money- and might very well be worth your while, not to mention the great networking oportunities with such a position will lead you to other riches. But they will drop you in an instant if you're not making money, thus this option is only useful if you have no family and can move at the drop of a hat; or reduce your standard of living to put up with long layoffs.
The university will not pay as much- but you really have to fsck up to get fired from a university. They'll guarantee your income for the forseeable future, and probably also grant you a nice pension. In addition to that, there's always the fun of being the BOFH to a bunch of undergraduates- or play nasty games when that dweeb with the master's thesis exceeds his disk quota. Plus, it gives you the ultimate in with the female co-eds by being "helpful", which leads to dates, and eventually to the family, and the house bought on a 30 year mortgage guaranteed by your small but never-decreasing paycheck.
I know which one I'd take- but that's because I already made the mistake of having the family and mortgage and house and trying to pay for it with private industry jobs that never lasted more than 3 years. Lucky dog you- hopefully I'll be equally lucky soon as I'm currently contracting with the state and a developer's position in my office is opening up soon.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
If the pay is similar, go to the university. Less pressure, more security. Do what you want with less emphasis on the business case. But if the pay is a lot more, well we need to follow the trail of $$$.
Then check with your wife and see how soon she wants kids. Kids change EVERYTHING in this equation- I could have gotten by with no health care and contracting and sporadic layoffs the rest of my life, with occasionaly borrowing money from inlaws. But my kid being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy changed all that- I can NEVER let him be without health insurance. That's why I need the stability. Well, that and the stupid mistake of taking out a mortgage and getting a house- but if it wasn't for the kid I could eventually just go bankrupt and walk away from that.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
I've been in two big companies and I did not enjoy. Like you I was coming from mid-sized places and I thought: how great it must be not to have to worry about budgets. But I was devastated by the slow-paced, nonchalant ambiance. I had a hard time adjusting myself to the never ending meetings and memos and pointless policies, and at some point I told myself: it is just incredible how money is wasted here, no surprise if the only customers are other big companies with huge budgets.
In big companies the decisions are made by people who do not have to live with the direct consequences ("The budget is busted because of Microsoft licenses are too high? Bah, let's cut in the network redundancy, it never failed anyway"). Also in those companies you will actually hear things like "nobody got fired for choosing IBM (or Microsoft)", or "maybe Microsoft will go down someday, but if it happens we won't be alone to sink". No matter how reliable or cheap is a technology, it won't get management approval as long as it is not mainstream.
Yeah, those places have big budgets, impressive server rooms and the latest gizmo from HP or IBM so you can update the hot-swappable BIOS of the over-priced servers from a web interface. But very quickly you will get bored with such toys, especially when you are forbidden to use Firefox instead of IE on your workstation, or when you find out that it takes two months to have a DNS record fixed (about which you have daily complaints from your customers).
In big companies you will find plenty of people with no skills because it's easy to hide somewhere in the corporate tree. And the odds that one of those people ends up being your boss are high, in which case not only you must tolerate his stupid decisions, but you must also stay low-profile, because if he starts to feel threatened by you he will play all his sleazy cards to get you out.
By contrast in universities you have more room for initiative, plus you get all the side benefits, like free education, cool environment, and very interesting resources from other institutions. You'll get less budget, you might have to kiss some old, hairy ass in wine & cheese events, but you'll also work in a place where the most bright people of the country are coming everyday to teach, learn or research. Some of them might get very annoying, but in the end you'll always find some geeks to have a good talk.
My advice: stay away from the big companies. Stick to mid-sized business, or go to this university. Expensive corporate toys are not gonna keep your mind from running, and at some point you'd have either to sell-out or to leave.
lucm, indeed.
I can appreciate that you are just making the comment for alternatives sake, but I think I need to point out that it is still a very mean thing to say.
When it comes to family, a decision like that is most certainly not an option anyone in their right mind considers.
My guess is that you do not have any dependants of your own.
-- If I were a fish, I'd be wet