Education or Private Industry? 85
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."
Which do you value more? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Which do you value more? (Score:2)
Re:Which do you value more? (Score:2)
conundrum? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:conundrum? (Score:2)
Re:Someone will what? (Score:1)
Money (Score:1)
Re:Money (Score:2)
Re:Money (Score:1)
Re:Money (Score:2)
Private industry:
Pluses:
*Incentives
*Raises more likely
*Possibly more modern technology
Minuses:
*Higher stress
*Less freedom
*Less stable
Education:
Pluses:
*Freedom
*Stability
*Possibly free classes?
*Atmosphere
Minuses:
*Less room for salary growth
*Fewer contacts for future career
*Fewer chances to play with new tech
For me, atmosphere would seal it. I loved college, I'd love to be back in that atmosphere again. Plenty of resources for learning, smart people to hang out
Re:Money (Score:2)
*Fewer chances to play with new tech
That depends. In my experience, hardware budgets are lumpy - sometimes you can get shiny, expensive new hardware easy as pie, sometimes you need to make do with the hand-me-down desktop machine. Individual software packages are generally pretty easy to get bought, but 'enterprise' software can be very difficult, unless there's a good discount available for educational users (e.g. Microsoft does well here, since it's in their interest to get the next generat
Re:Money (Score:1)
Lifestyle choice (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
For me, the only other choice due to having a kid with cerebal palsy is leaving the only skillset I'm good at and going on welfare. Private industry simply can't be depended upon for a regular paycheck OR health care in this day and age. And I'm not clean enough (in a normal-hygine sort of way) to
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
I gotta say, from my emperical experiences, this doesn't work for me. So, YMMV.
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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.
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
Someone who is good at budgeting can live on any given income assuming that the standard of living in the area is low enough to support it. You must have worked for a public university. B-Man has added a clarification message in this list that his choice is roughly equal salary and benefits package between the two. I don't know if this means his offer is with a private university that
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
No, but it was a very small University.
B-Man has added a clarification message in this list that his choice is roughly equal salary and benefits package between the two.
Fair enough. Given equal benefits and salary, the University job will always hae more slack.
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:2)
But that's exactly why I said it's a lifestyle choice- some people don't do very well with slack. They get bored, then start inventing political messes where there are none. Eventually they self-distruct. The incentives and rewards are almost sure to be better in the Fortune 10 company- but the trade off is that the job is significantly less secure. Some people thrive on that lack of security.
I used to count m
Re:Lifestyle choice (Score:1)
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.
And probably offer tuition waivers to yourself, your spouse, and your children.
I work for the IT department at a medium-sized college, and I'm working on a second Bachelor's in Computer Science, while my wife is working on her MBA. Total out-of-pocket? About 200 dollars a semester to cover our "fees" and the pr
Married? (Score:5, Funny)
If you're not, get the job at the university and enjoy a year or two of empty casual sex with easily impressed college chicks. Then leave and take a corporate gig.
Re:Married? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Married? (Score:2)
There are probably a few dozen university professors in the whole world who will make as much money as a "Main Technical Contact at a Fortune 10 Company." Probably a 100 or so administrators will make more, but absolutely no staff ever, ever will.
He'll probably make five to twenty times as much in the private sectors as "Main Technical Contact at a Fortune 10 Company" as he would as a Unix System Admini
Re:Married? (Score:2)
That's what I thought too- but length of job matters as much as the monthly salary when it comes from total money gained, and elsewhere B-Man stated that the offers he's been given are equal. I don't know if that means that it's a private university that pays it's people more- or if "Main technical contact" is yet another technical job that is suffering from H-1b wage deflation. My guess would be the
Re:Married? (Score:2)
I work for a Fortune 100 company. Been here for over 5 years. Nobody is being laid off. We're hiring all the time. We've outgrown the building we're in and are looking for more space. We've (my division, anyway) had double-digit (i.e. >= 10.0%) growth in revenue for every one of the past 11 quarters. Not all big companies are downsizing. Some of the
Re:Married? (Score:2)
The neat thing about working for the state is that you also get to vote. That means cutbacks by the powers that be are much less likely since they depend on your vote.
Every election becomes an opportunity to vote yourself more security or money.
there are only 2 answers: (Score:1)
2) Which one will your wife support you the most in?
If the answers between #1 and #2 differ..... well, you have a different question to post to AskSlashdot, don't you?
Family life (Score:3, Informative)
I guess I just didn't fill in near enough info.
Re:Family life (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Family life (Score:3, Interesting)
This is not at all intended with malice.
But technically, you could do the same with your kid. You just have to decide if walking away is worth being the worst dad in the world... I think most people would decide to stick around.
Plus, I think there might be criminal liability involved with that choice. So, it generally all around would suck
Re:Family life (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Family life (Score:2)
No, I don't have dependents. Also, I weighed heavily if this would be offensive. Because it is an offensive thing to say. I took it that MH42 is a pretty understanding guy, and understands the explanation of alternatives for the sake of alternatives.
I also attempted to explain that I don't suggest anyone actually do such a thing as just ditching a dependent. That's just fucking cruel.
But there are some assholes out there that go and do that. I
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Why do you think that getting a mortgage and buying a house was a stupid mistake? I guess it depends on the type of mortgage. If you have an interest-only ARM then that's a bad situation, but a fixed-rate mortgage is not a bad thing. The money is not disappearing, its turning into equity for your house, and since your house value will most likely increase over the next 10-20 years its actually sort of like a long-term saving
Re:Family life (Score:1)
I know some people who have bought houses in places where the crime rate was going up, or where a major local employer shut down, and now they're stuck: the house has basically no value, and they're still paying a high mortgage on it. I also know people who simply can't get the hang of paying bills on time (it took me a long time to learn
Re:Family life (Score:2)
When it comes to having an exciting career- a fixed rate mortgage is a b
Re:Family life (Score:2)
It sounds like another possibility you are suggestion is the assumption that you might lose your job and have no income for a substantial period. But I've never considered that as a realistic concern. I've always ensured I have 3-6 months living expenses saved up, and I assumed I could either find a ne
Re:Family life (Score:2)
If the major industry of your area is high tech, and high tech is in a recession, you can't count on that appreciation. Right now my house is worth about $10,000 less than I owe on it.
It sounds like another possibility you are suggestion is the assumption that you might lose your job and have no inco
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Re:Family life (Score:2)
Take the sure thing and use your experience to teach others. You will likely have a lot more free time and a bunch of eager computer people to help you with whatever pet projects you might have in the future.
If you're really good, 10 years from now ex-students will be offering you private sector work anyway. Then you can quit, consult or whatever you want.
I'm not a computer guy, but I see a good thing when it stares me in the face. Oh, wait, I was thinking of naked co-ed boobies because that's open in t
Take the second one. (Score:2)
Chris
University (Score:3, Insightful)
Public sector vs. Private sector (Score:1)
Your original query indicates that you'd be on contract with the fortune 10 company, which means every time you want to spend their money, you will have to justify it nine ways to sunday bef
Avoid the Fortune 10 (Score:2, Insightful)
In big companies the decisio
My choice? Education (Score:2)
IBM? (Score:2)
Ed (Score:2)
Black or White? (Score:3, Funny)
The new IPod nano comes in either black or white. Both colors have their good and bad points, but I would like to hear which one Slashdot readers recommend, and why.
Re:Black or White? (Score:1)
Re:Black or White? (Score:2)
There's a reason why they call it "cutting edge" (Score:2)
There you might actually contribute something to mankind, instead of just raping your fellow man for personal gratificatio
Did you just say meow? (Score:2)
Even more info (Score:1)
The university job is working in a university funded business development extension office, the tuition is highly reduced for classes, and the pay is close to the same as the other job without any incentives, and is more like a start-up than a college setting.
cutting-edge is defined as pre-production networking, wireless, rfid, and related technologies. And it would be dealing directly with upper management of said fortune 10 company. The incentives offered could equa
Re:Even more info (Score:2)
Something to bear in mind is that the university environment often has insane amounts of politics, and toxic office situations. I mean, IBM has politics, but nothing like my friends tell me about at universities. Sure, you have great job security--but so does the total asshole with tenure who decides to make every day of your life a living hell.
Another thing is mobility. So far in 7 years at IBM I've worked for 4 di
Re:Even more info (Score:2)
The corporate gig will allow for advancement. The academic position will not.
You'll have a LOT more flexibility at the academic position, but I'm not sure how much if you're doing sys admin stuff.
One thing to keep in mind in the academic position is that if you don't have a PHD, yo
University Position blech (Score:2)
Every year, your security will grow tighter and tighter, until your control and knowledge of your systems will surpass anything you could've im
Choices (Score:2)
Re:Choices (Score:1)
You can't do that if you bearly break even your whole working life.
DUH (Score:2)
one word: politics
YAO (Score:1)
I wonder which position you are already leaning toward? Your description of the private industry job is more thorough and interesting than the description of the education job.
It would seem that a good choice is something that provides more positive choices. The private industry job, as you describe it, would seem to
Re:YAO (Score:1)
While all the good things are there (benefits, work hours, stability and security), there were considerable downsides. Education pay is for shit! I just switched back to industry doing exactly the same thing at 25% pay increase. Second, there is no such thing as "cutting edge technology" in education. I brought Linux into a Novell only h
Bias. (Score:1)
Free Tuition! (Score:2)
So, twenty years from now, 2 kids, half a million worth of free tuition?
What's important? (Score:1)
You don't mention whether the Higher Ed. position is state or not. If it's not, you're basically still working for a corporation: a private university is a factory for making students. Some factories work better than others, but they're all still factories.
(Disclaimer: I started working at a state university about a year ago.)
A state job, though, is different. In general, the pay is a lot lower. I'm making somewhere between 50% and 75% of what
Weighing alternatives (Score:2)
I've worked for a number of start ups and worked with top-tier clients. It's stressful, but can be fun if you succeed. If you work for a large corporation engaging with a Fortune 10 company, you'll have resources, but probably a fair amount of bureaucracy. You'll also enco
Shape the future (Score:2)
Baltimore? (Score:2)
If so-- I'm an Undergrad here, and *I*, for one, think the people are nice. The undergrads won't give you too much trouble, as long as you're able to deal effectively with a series of special-case decisions. That's the important thing from our perspective; that the needs of our research are met, *over* the n