Sam3773 Posted April 27, 2014 Posted April 27, 2014 Hi all, I've just accepted a job offer at a local college to become a 2nd line support technician. I'm coming from a 1st line role in an MSP and haven't worked in education before so.. What am I letting myself in for?! From what I've seen/heard so far I'm in for a bit of a challenge but I'm excited anyway! Thanks in advance and I look forward to lurking the Edugeek forums more. Sam. PS. Not sure if this is in the right area but it seems more 'general' than anything.
Simcfc73 Posted April 27, 2014 Posted April 27, 2014 Lots of resetting passwords, changing toners/inks, rude kids, ungrateful staff, un paid overtime. You will love it. 2
elsiegee40 Posted April 27, 2014 Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) Congratulations on your new job. You say you are in a college, so presumably your student users are aged 16+... Many of us are in schools and our "little darlings", particularly the teenage ones, are probably slightly more challenging than yours due their age! Be prepared for anything and everything... and if you have a talent for keeping networks together with string and chewing gum in today's budget-stretched education world then it will come in handy! The more you put into the role, the more you will get out of it. Enjoy! Edited April 27, 2014 by elsiegee40
witch Posted April 27, 2014 Posted April 27, 2014 It is certainly a challenge - but it is great when you get something sorted that has been affecting their learning, or manage to make something work better! If you are lucky you will get the chance to do all sorts of things that you don't see outside education. I enjoy the fact that I am helping young people with their education and not just helping to improve some company's profits.
FN-GM Posted April 27, 2014 Posted April 27, 2014 Lots of resetting passwords, changing toners/inks, rude kids, ungrateful staff, un paid overtime. You will love it. Dont get much of any of those here. All depends on the school.
Sam3773 Posted April 28, 2014 Author Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks everyone! I'm most excited about the reward aspect. I've always worked for companies who about profitability and nothing else, particularly in an MSP. My day isn't about IT anymore, it's about how many hours I'm billing etc. I can't begin to describe the feeling of moving away from that.
elsiegee40 Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks everyone! I'm most excited about the reward aspect. I've always worked for companies who about profitability and nothing else, particularly in an MSP. My day isn't about IT anymore, it's about how many hours I'm billing etc. I can't begin to describe the feeling of moving away from that. There is definitely a mindset change moving away for business. I used to have to work out a time sheeypt in 15 minute slots for cross-charging ... those days are long gone thank goodness! The bottom line is that what matters most is teaching and learning. If the teachers can't teach and the students can't learn then that is your highest priority, no matter how loud the leadership team are shouting about their printer's paper jam! (Though it can take a huge amount of diplomacy to ignore leadership and fix things in the right order )
Miscbrah Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Lots of resetting passwords, changing toners/inks, rude kids, ungrateful staff, un paid overtime. You will love it. HAhahaha this gave me a chuckle. It's some of the story, but not all. Bit more 'relaxed' sorta than business from my experienced. Also in general you learn lots of everything rather than specialist areas.
Novalee Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Well done! How exciting for you! I love working in education, the kids are fab, most of the staff are too and the day is so varied that the time flies by. I have found myself working late quite often without realising the time because I've been enjoying my work so much, whereas in my previous job I would be clock watching. Welcome to the forum and good luck!
Norphy Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Like any job, it has its frustrations and annoyances. You'll probably find that the thing that annoyed you the most in your last job won't exist any more but it will be replaced by something else to annoy you instead! I've been working in educational IT for the last twelve years, I like it a lot and I wouldn't change. I've had opportunities here which I wouldn't have had in industry and I think it's safe to say that my skillset wouldn't be anywhere near as broad as it is if I was still in the private sector.
sonofsanta Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Prepare to be flexible and accomodating beyond all reason, prepate to repeat yourself a lot, and practice saying "it's ok, you're not the only one to get caught out by that" with a completely straight face. Still, plenty of variety, and there's a great deal of satisfaction when a plan comes together with the minimum of financial investment and actually gets noticed, appreciated and - most incredibly of all - used by staff. I'll not lie, teachers tend towards Luddism, but that makes it all the more pleasing to hear "I don't really like these computer things, but they're just so useful now, you've tricked me into using them". Lead them with the carrot, not the stick
cpjitservices Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 I worked in a college, loved it! I wasn't really front line support, I did it but that wasn't my job. I was Network Engineer. Would I go back to it ? A resounding yes (Secondary school or College or higher.!!) Not that I don't like my job now, I do, but I came from working on school networks, it's what I know and I enjoy it. I learnt alot from working in a college, mainly how to design and deploy large scale solutions across campus networks, one of the biggest and best challenges was migrating the entire college network from Novell to Vanilla. Loved the experience. Good Luck.
hardtailstar Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Congratulations and good luck Be prepared to fix anything with a plug.
spacebar Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Your get kids wasting your time by saying something is wrong with their account, your watch as a brand new ict suite you have just installed over the past day gets damaged, and your get annoying students which keep coming into the office because they are bored. good luck.
Sam3773 Posted April 28, 2014 Author Posted April 28, 2014 I have already been told by my new boss to expect keys being changed around on keyboards and other 'pranks' students play. I'm excited to get stuck in! I also love that there's a community for this. I imagine a lot of applications and tech are similar between educational institutions? Either way, I'm looking forward to lurking the Edugeek forum a bit more. I'm in that 'honeymoon' period at the moment where I'm just reading everything!
elsiegee40 Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 I had a honeymoon period on edugeek... 7 years ago. I'm still here. It's an addiction!
Sam3773 Posted April 29, 2014 Author Posted April 29, 2014 Well today I had the dreaded 'counter offer' from my employer. While I'm fine with this and know that my excitement for my new path is too great to pass up on, he did suggest that there was a 'stigma' attached to public sector IT staff and I'd struggle getting a job later down the line. I'm pretty sure this is just a ploy to convince me to stay, but has anyone here ever faced any kind of stigma coming from the public sector? I can't see why there would be. Any way, anxious times ahead waiting for my DBS to come back and then hopefully starting the 2nd of June. Exciting stuff!
cpjitservices Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 I'd like to let you all know that I too, have got a new job!! moving out of telecomms and going into the IT Services side of things. Ive been made an offer I cannot refuse!!!!!
X-13 Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 I'm pretty sure this is just a ploy to convince me to stay, but has anyone here ever faced any kind of stigma coming from the public sector? I can't see why there would be. The only crap I've gotten for working in EduIT was from someone working in GAME... and that was because they have no idea what the job involves. But for the most part, it looks like your old boss is making stuff up to get you to stay. You're best off getting out of there.
CAM Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Counter-offers are there to persuade you to stay so they have breathing room to find your replacement. Remember schools IT is a varied job, be ready to go from being an expert in one field to spreading your skills over a much wider area (including non-IT stuff!). You are first, second and third lines rolled together into one with a bit of book-keeper, a bit of supervisor, a bit of front line and a bit of cleaner added on top.
Norphy Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Absolutely. Sounds like sour grapes on the part of your old employer to me. Frankly, I'd be tempted to tell him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine but I don't suppose you can go burning bridges
witch Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Well today I had the dreaded 'counter offer' from my employer. Speaking as an ex-head hunter/recruitment consultant - it is rarely good to stay on because they offer more money. I know you weren't going to in this case, but many do. You are a marked man for ever and will not progress very well after this. Anyway, if they knew you were unhappy and I am sure they did, why didn't they offer more money before. Occasionally people will stay and it all works out fine but it is not a course of action I would recommend. As for public sector stigma - no, I don't think so. I have had far more experience of IT in a school than I would have done if I were a lowly member of a large team in business. It all comes down to your CV. Put down those skills and they will employ
Roberto Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Well today I had the dreaded 'counter offer' from my employer. While I'm fine with this and know that my excitement for my new path is too great to pass up on, he did suggest that there was a 'stigma' attached to public sector IT staff and I'd struggle getting a job later down the line. I'm pretty sure this is just a ploy to convince me to stay, but has anyone here ever faced any kind of stigma coming from the public sector? I can't see why there would be. Any way, anxious times ahead waiting for my DBS to come back and then hopefully starting the 2nd of June. Exciting stuff! Well, in 1998 when I came to the college I work for now, my then manager made all kinds of comments about fixing BBC model Bs. Instead I now find myself fending off calls from recruiters while sitting here managing a fairly sophisticated network (40-odd switches, 10Gb backbone & links to servers, heavy investment in virtualisation, about 70 to 80 servers).
Roberto Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 Ive been made an offer I cannot refuse!!!!! Can't say no to that! 1
visioN Posted April 30, 2014 Posted April 30, 2014 @Sam3773 how big is your current company? users / computer,device ratio ?
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