What to do?! - A job dilemma.

Go to the college. I'm not being rude but being "network manager" at a school probably won't hold any real weight in the private sector so if that was one of the reasons for staying at the school I would ignore it.
 
Haggisman said:
Really needs more info to answer properly:

  • What exactly does the "more responsibility" part entail? E.g. will you actually be a manager (managing other technicians? working on projects rather than day to day stuff etc.?), or is it simply a more glamorous title for your current job?
  • Will the school match the pay from the college?
  • Where do you feature on the pay scales for each? (e.g. if you are at the top band of your pay scale for the school then you aren't going to be earning more in a year's time, whereas if you start at the bottom in the college then it will most likely go up every year).
  • If you stay at the school, what are your advancement prospects in 1, 2, 5, 10 years?
  • If you move to the college, what are your advancement prospects in 1, 2, 5, 10 years?
  • What experience are you going to gain from each position, and how does this fit in with your plans for the future? (yes the title IT Network manager does sound a little more impressive, but if you haven't been doing the work/gaining the experience to match the title, it's not worth anything.)
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More responsibility in terms of a potential IT technician will be under me. I will also be looking after the office network. I will have a say in IT budget and where money should be spent.

The school can't match the pay of the college.

In the school I would feature at the top point of the pay scale, I've been told I'm basically maxed out on what the school can give me. I'm not sure about the pay scale of the college.

I don't think the school has potential for me to move much further up the ladder, the school will place me on training.

I think the college does have more potential, but it's a lot to risk. Is it worth risking what I have here for £140 a month? This is what I'm not sure about. Risking the relative freedom of how I plan and structure my day, losing the influence and voice that I have. Plus.. the holidays...

I wish it was more clear cut, I really do.
 
I'd choose the school job. £25k Vs £22.5k + school holidays? a quick google shows that as 13 weeks.

Console youself with the fact that it's probably one of those decisions where there is no wrong answer.
 
My Dad always told me never to accept a counter-offer, and he was so right. If they valued you enough in the first place, then you wouldn't have been looking around.

Google the term "salary compression". After working for 8 years in the same place, the only way to truly make more money and become better at your job is to move.
 
The title can be an important step too.

A few years ago I made the same decision. Our company went through a bout of salary cuts due to recession and I felt I could no longer continue to work there at what they offered. I looked around and got offered a new job.

My old job I was an IT Analyst. New job was as an IT Support Manager with 4 staff. Old job was paying 21k + company car (after cut) and new job was at 26k with no car. New job was also closer to home.

My old company tried to counter the offer of the new job by increasing my salary to above my pre-cut position but I turned it down and decided it was time to move on. The appeal of staff responsibility and a better title was enough to sway me even though the total money would be less.

2 years on and I am still in my Managers role and have just taken on more responsibility here. Salary has increased year on year and I am have now my total pay package has increased by around another 50% including a company car and fuel card covering private miles. This is well above what I could have expected at the old place. By moving jobs and taking the risk on the new title my CV is looking considerably stronger and I am the happiest in work I have ever been. Stale work environments do not stop being stale just because they increase your salary. The new job could offer even better opportunities in another year or two and you even get a short term benefit of a pay increase at the new place!
 
How does the college compare to the school you work in terms of technology, infrastructure etc? Is it a nice environment?
 
Kaka said:
How does the college compare to the school you work in terms of technology, infrastructure etc? Is it a nice environment?
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The college is a lot more advanced. 600 workstations, laptops, ebook readers, tablets.

The environment at the college felt quite relaxed, however they do have security guards at the doors. I will be working with a totally different age range of students this has pro's and con's.
 
2StepSteve said:
More responsibility in terms of a potential IT technician will be under me. I will also be looking after the office network. I will have a say in IT budget and where money should be spent. School +1

The school can't match the pay of the college. College +1

In the school I would feature at the top point of the pay scale, I've been told I'm basically maxed out on what the school can give me. I'm not sure about the pay scale of the college. College +1

I don't think the school has potential for me to move much further up the ladder, the school will place me on training. College +1

I think the college does have more potential, but it's a lot to risk. Is it worth risking what I have here for £140 a month? This is what I'm not sure about. Risking the relative freedom of how I plan and structure my day, losing the influence and voice that I have. Plus.. the holidays... School +1

I wish it was more clear cut, I really do.
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It's not just £140 a month you'd be missing out on though.

In all honesty, from that reply, I think it is pretty clear cut that the college is the best way forward.

If you stay in the school you'll most likely still be in the exact same position and on the same pay in 2-3 years time, by getting this "new position" as the IT manager, you've basically hit the peak of what you can do there.

Move to the college, and yes, you'll be back at the bottom, but with a lot more potential, you'll be able to work on far more interesting/specialised projects, you'll be working on a much bigger/more complex network, giving you a lot of valuable and varied experience. You'll also have the ability to move up the ladder again rather than being stuck in a rut.

I'd hazard a guess that most of your leaning towards staying at the school is less about practicality, and more fear of leaving your comfort zone? That's perfectly normal; it IS a big move to make (especially having been there for 8 years!!) but the move does seem like the logical choice.

Whichever you choose, good luck :)
 
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Do you have kids? those school holidays would become very valuable if you wanted to take them to theme parks etc etc in the summer.
 
I am a very ambitious person so I always look to for progression when I look at a role.

Peronsally I would recommend going for the college role, more exposure to systems and would look better on your CV.

By the sounds of it there is not much room for movement within the school.
 
mame said:
I'd choose the school job. £25k Vs £22.5k + school holidays? a quick google shows that as 13 weeks.

Console youself with the fact that it's probably one of those decisions where there is no wrong answer.
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I would have to work 2 weeks of the summer holiday. But the rest would be mine.

The school is actually offering a slightly higher salary than the college. 25.6K, but due to the holidays (pro-rata) it works out less money.
 
I suppose it would also depend on your age as well OP. At my age I would want the better pay and bigger network etc to look after with more opportunity to grow and further my career down the line.

I'm 24 and starting my career, so any chance for growth and change is normally a good thing, whereas you might be happy to not be moving about etc.

IMO go for the college job though! Good luck either way :)
 
Take the collage job and look towards bigger and better things.

I know how you feel (been working at my place for 4 yrs and i am now on my 3rd or 4th job role) cause i feel the same, but i dont have another job to turn to atm

Collage all the way - 110%

Good Luck!
 
Haggisman said:
It's not just £140 a month you'd be missing out on though.

In all honesty, from that reply, I think it is pretty clear cut that the college is the best way forward.

If you stay in the school you'll most likely still be in the exact same position and on the same pay in 2-3 years time, by getting this "new position" as the IT manager, you've basically hit the peak of what you can do there.

Move to the college, and yes, you'll be back at the bottom, but with a lot more potential, you'll be able to work on far more interesting/specialised projects, you'll be working on a much bigger/more complex network, giving you a lot of valuable and varied experience. You'll also have the ability to move up the ladder again rather than being stuck in a rut.

I'd hazard a guess that most of your leaning towards staying at the school is less about practicality, and more fear of leaving your comfort zone? That's perfectly normal; it IS a big move to make (especially having been there for 8 years!!) but the move does seem like the logical choice.

Whichever you choose, good luck :)
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I definitely see what you mean. Thanks for the advice.
 
mame said:
Do you have kids? those school holidays would become very valuable if you wanted to take them to theme parks etc etc in the summer.
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I don't have any kids. But the holiday time is quite a nice thing to have, I believe I would miss it if it was taken away. But it's not the be all and end all.

FNGsam said:
I suppose it would also depend on your age as well OP. At my age I would want the better pay and bigger network etc to look after with more opportunity to grow and further my career down the line.

I'm 24 and starting my career, so any chance for growth and change is normally a good thing, whereas you might be happy to not be moving about etc.

IMO go for the college job though! Good luck either way :)
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I'm 29. So not exactly young anymore but not too old for change by far. I need to be looking at career building and to have something in place for myself.
 
2StepSteve said:
I've never posted a thread like this before.

I have been working as an IT technician for 8 years in a school. Pay is poor and I was starting to feel a little stale.

I went for an interview last December for a IT technician job in a college, and was offered the job. Since now and then paper work has been slowly dealt with with, but now it's about to be finalised.

Last week out of the blue the school offered me a new position in order to try and keep me. The new position would be as IT network manager, with more responsibility and pretty much all the school holidays. Pay comes in at around £140 less (per month) than the college.

The college probably has better prospects and a change of scenery would be a good thing. But the title of IT network manager will carry some weight in the future.

I've been making myself ill worrying about what the best choice is. If anything I am swinging to staying at the school.

What would you do?
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This is silly. Its a no-brainer Steve..

Take a lower role at a college or stay and have total control over your existing place?

I know what I would do... STAY!!

Then when you have worked a little longer, it would look even better on your CV than a technican at a college...

Think of staying as a path to a better job in the future.

I know how u feel though, my role feels stale as hell, and I want to get out. Public sector is a beaurocratic farce and its utterly demoralising after a few years.
 
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