Which job should I take?

[redfox1160]

Job 1:
Tech support and some various tech related projects at an urban incubator.

Job 2:
Programmer/analyst at a real estate listing firm.

Job 1 pays $0.38/hr less than Job 2, and the commute to Job 2 is about 15min longer than Job 1.

Which job would you take and why?

[betrunkenaffe]

2 because leads to better paying jobs (imo).

Does also depend on where you live since tech support jobs are aplenty here but are almost all deadends.

[redfox1160]

2 because leads to better paying jobs (imo).

Does also depend on where you live since tech support jobs are aplenty here but are almost all deadends.

I'm in the philly area, and I am an IT major

[Sporkman]

Well would you rather go into the tech support field, or the programmer/analyst field? They are different...

[redfox1160]

Well would you rather go into the tech support field, or the programmer/analyst field? They are different...

I want to deal more with hardware, but I do have some interest in programming. I also want a job that looks better on my resume. The two companies are listed here:
Job 1: http://www.sciencecenter.org/
Job 2: http://www.trendmls.com/Guest/ShowAboutLinkDoc.aspx?linkid=12

Also, I don't have much experience programming. I only have taken one class in Python.

[beercz]

I had a similar dilemma with two concurrent job offers once.

What I did, I listed all the factors that would affect my decision for each job.

For each positive factor, I scored a 1, for each negative factor I scored a -1 and for undecided I scored a 0. Then I added each score up and chose the job that scored the most.

For me, such factors included working environment, hours, commuting time, commuting costs, whether I would have to move, salary, holidays, pension, healthcare cover, the work place location, car parking, skills required, my skills, career development, training ... and the went on.

[Sporkman]

I want to deal more with hardware, but I do have some interest in programming. I also want a job that looks better on my resume. The two companies are listed here:
Job 1: http://www.sciencecenter.org/
Job 2: http://www.trendmls.com/Guest/ShowAboutLinkDoc.aspx?linkid=12

Also, I don't have much experience programming. I only have taken one class in Python.

Programmer/analyst deals more in the "analysis" part if I'm not mistaken - the "programmer" part is writing programs to gather & analyze data. Your main "product" is data analysis.

[redfox1160]

Programmer/analyst deals more in the "analysis" part if I'm not mistaken - the "programmer" part is writing programs to gather & analyze data. Your main "product" is data analysis.

The job description says I would be developing the UI with .NET 3.5, and do stress tests. Also, in the interview, they said I would do a lot of programming in C#. So would these programs be used to analyze data? Have you ever done this before? Is it interesting? Thanks for all the help.

[Grenage]

Take the job you think you'll enjoy more; you want to avoid doing something you hate for 8 hours a day.

[redfox1160]

Take the job you think you'll enjoy more; you want to avoid doing something you hate for 8 hours a day.
I really like both jobs, I just don't know which one would be better


I had a similar dilemma with two concurrent job offers once.

What I did, I listed all the factors that would affect my decision for each job.

For each positive factor, I scored a 1, for each negative factor I scored a -1 and for undecided I scored a 0. Then I added each score up and chose the job that scored the most.

For me, such factors included working environment, hours, commuting time, commuting costs, whether I would have to move, salary, holidays, pension, healthcare cover, the work place location, car parking, skills required, my skills, career development, training ... and the went on.

This is how I have them rated so far:

Job1
Job 2

1
Salary
1

1
Environment
1

1
Training
1

1
Skills Needed
1

1
Skills Had
1

-1
Parking
1

1
Transportation Cost
-1

1
Career Development
0

1
Location
-1

0
Skill Level
1

1
Amount of Experience
0

0
Stability
0

0
Professionalism
1

[Grenage]

If salary differences are trivial, and there is nothing that much to swing it - go with whatever will advance your career more. New skills that you can prove are very valuable.

[endotherm]

well, i think it depends on your experience. if you have a degree or some meaty experience programming, then go that route. otherwise, almost everyone should start out as tech/desktop support (all the best programmers were sysadmins in a prior lifetime) to get some experience with IT in the workplace and to get a better understanding of users
(programmers especially often fail to understand users, and that is critical). you'd be suprised how much non-tech stuff is essential to survival in the IT Workforce. The real danger of desktop, is that you have to make the decision and put forth the effort to get out of it once you are ready to move on. most go on to network/infrastructure support (servers, networks, policies, etc) or into programming.

either way, suck up all the experience you can.

[redfox1160]

I think I am going to take job 1. I do like programming (job2), but I don't know if it would help me with my career as much as job 1 would. I really like hardware, and I think that's what I'm going to try to focus on.

[redfox1160]

well, i think it depends on your experience. if you have a degree or some meaty experience programming, then go that route. otherwise, almost everyone should start out as tech/desktop support (all the best programmers were sysadmins in a prior lifetime) to get some experience with IT in the workplace and to get a better understanding of users
(programmers especially often fail to understand users, and that is critical). you'd be suprised how much non-tech stuff is essential to survival in the IT Workforce. The real danger of desktop, is that you have to make the decision and put forth the effort to get out of it once you are ready to move on. most go on to network/infrastructure support (servers, networks, policies, etc) or into programming.

either way, suck up all the experience you can.

I don't have any degree yet, but I am going for an IT one. I don't have any professional experience with programming either. I did some general help-desk in my high school, and I did like it. I really want to learn a lot, and I think that Job 1 will let me learn a broader variety of topics, rather than just programming (heck, I might even get to do some programming there!).

[betrunkenaffe]

Based on your numbers, job 1.

In the end, it is all down to personal preference. You have to enjoy what you do.

[endotherm]

I don't have any degree yet, but I am going for an IT one. I don't have any professional experience with programming either. I did some general help-desk in my high school, and I did like it. I really want to learn a lot, and I think that Job 1 will let me learn a broader variety of topics, rather than just programming (heck, I might even get to do some programming there!).
sounds like the general support is the best bet then. it's the best way to try out a wide variety of stuff and get a feel for what you like as well as what you are good at, while gaining exp on paper. just keep your eye on the sky, and try to develop a plan to be up and out inside 3 years. help desk is a great experience as long as you don't get stuck there.

GL and HF!

[Sporkman]

(all the best programmers were sysadmins in a prior lifetime)

Not necessarily.

[McRat]

In the real estate job, you will be dealing with a lot of overinflated egos, sucker punches, and finger pointing. Sales draws this personality type. So if you are the kind who can ignore weasels with no problem, it's a very desirable field to work in. If you enjoy co-mingling with fellow workers, it's not a good choice.

My friend graduated and went into that field about 5 years ago, and I hear him constantly complaining how much he hates the sales staff. He's a very level-headed guy who is pretty tolerant of others. He loves the pay, but hates the back-stabbing.

EDIT - He is in the IT dept.

[endotherm]

Not necessarily.
you have a point, especially in the more abstract areas, or in very large shops, but when it comes to business programming (where most entry level positions are), you need to be able to deploy and troubleshoot your code. that means familiarity with servers, networks, and clients. just authentication and authorization frameworks require a good amount of general knowledge on the server end. not to mention configuring the testbed infrastructure. this is the difference between an application developer and a systems architect.

[redfox1160]

sounds like the general support is the best bet then. it's the best way to try out a wide variety of stuff and get a feel for what you like as well as what you are good at, while gaining exp on paper. just keep your eye on the sky, and try to develop a plan to be up and out inside 3 years. help desk is a great experience as long as you don't get stuck there.

GL and HF!

I want to eventually work for an IT outsourcing or consulting firm. I heard that you get loads of experience from that.

[KegHead]

retire early