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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   1545 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 5, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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@pigeonburger @YoungAchamian @The_Nybbler @bolido_sentimental

So i made post a while back about the job search. I've got some good news! I got callbacks recently, And Im coming up on 5 opportunities.

2 - Sys Admin positions: One that pays about 65k, for an engineering firm, another that pays 75k, but its a financial institution.

Internship (Network Engineer) - Traveling internship that pays 17 an hour, Im kinda hoping that I can work my way up and score a full time job there.

IT Support full time at a school institution - 45k a year, not too much different from what Im doing right now.

IT Support Assistant - Another support job for a building maintance/blue collar company, about 25 an hour.

Im not 100% done with the interview process for all of them. But im done with the engineering firm, the Internship, and i have a 3rd final round interview with the school institution. Im doing a phone screening for the building maintnce company and a 2nd round interview with the financial.

Im excited, but I dont know:

How to keep each opportunity in arms reach... (Obviously i wan the best paying one, but I kinda dont want to be in a situation where i get a call back from one of these places 1st, say yes, and then bail once another opportunity comes in, id like to be sure i can fall back on something if i dont get an offer for whatever reason)

And Im honestly kind scared, a little bit. I dont know how much good ill be at these jobs, imposter syndrome is real. Ive never maintained real live enterprise equipment before, so this will be a first.

Ideally I get call backs for all 5 and can choose, but honestly, Im grateful if i get at least one (regardless of the pay, its better than where Im at now!)

Good luck to your search, truly; but right now the market for this stuff is getting ‘hammered’ and is over saturated as of late. The word among the people I know is if you have a good job already, keep it. Don’t make the jump. If what you’ve got looks promising, make the jump, but be careful.

I actually ended up getting laid off of previous job, luckily i was already looking before hand anyway, and there is a good chance i nab one of these. But yeah, its definitely tough. Im really grateful that i've made it this far out.

I think I responded to your original post, great to hear you're getting calls back in this market.

If it helps your decision-making at all, I'm making $50k in a small-med business tech support call center for a major ISP in a mid-large city after working there ~1.5 years, and I started at $41k. My qualifications were a tech-adjacent business bachelor's and a minor in IT heavy on network classes (which I should have majored in from the beginning). To be honest I don't think they looked at my academic creds much, they mostly asked about my phone experience taking pizza orders during the interviews and saw my network knowledge as a bonus.

I will caveat this by saying I am generally an unserious retard and I do not recommend following this path (I like my job now but I got extremely lucky with my current chain of command, which consists of a person that has worked in other coaxial cable industry tech support positions for 8 years immediately above me and another guy that was originally a cable TV field technician that's been with the company over 30 years immediately above them; he may have fixed your parents' cable in the 1990s or 00s if you lived in the carolinas)

Why'd you choose the ISP? Or was it just not your first choice, you just got a job? Honestly, I am actually thinking about taking bluecollar company job (Sadly, the financial firm fell through, and i suspect the engineering firm job has as well, leaving me with the 3 others remaining.) Its a combination of IT Support and some minor office administration work. I'm highly curious about it.

I need the same type of help but for retail management - should make a post next week.

Good job !

Congratulations on the progress. Keep up the grind. I put out something like 260 application in a month, back in 2024 when I was laid off. It's work, it feels hopeless, but just preserve. You got this.

a situation where i get a call back from one of these places 1st, say yes, and then bail once another opportunity comes in

I would recommend not doing this. The boomer response is that companies talk, and sure maybe if its a niche area like the Bay, but realistically it never happens. However doing it essentially is a torching of the commons of the job market. The commons are already pretty torched but I sleep better at night knowing I am not contributing to it. I have friends who do it/have done it, they got some temporary boost, but the company(specifically your boss) knows, they know you are mercenary af, and they treat you like it. Now some companies are shit holes and it doesn't matter but some companies aren't and they care about that sort of thing.

Yeah, I know it would be a shitty move, id just hate to accept an offer from one of these places, only to be given a better offer else ware.

What is it that sysadmins actually do on a daily basis? From my point of view it seems like these systems are mostly stable and run themselves. Outside of actual incidents that require response, what do you do all day?

Ill Copy & Paste the responsibilities for one of the roles here, so you can get a general idea, but titles in the IT world are notorious for not meaning shit.

Shift Coverage & Support

Manage the US shift starting at 12:30 PM EST while providing coverage for early Japan shift operations, delivering L2 support across Windows and Linux environments. Serve as an on-call resource during weekends and off-hours to oversee production changes and respond to critical incidents, ensuring 24/7 availability for Windows and Red Hat Linux infrastructure.

Technical Operations

Coordinate hardware break-fix activities with vendors including Microsoft, Red Hat, Cisco, and HPE. Plan and execute scheduled system changes during maintenance windows, including patching, updates, and routine maintenance across hybrid Windows and Linux environments. Fulfill user requests and ensure operational continuity across both platforms.

Incident & Change Management

Lead response efforts for production incidents by participating in bridge calls alongside application and infrastructure teams. Escalate complex issues to engineering teams and serve as a liaison throughout the resolution process. Partner with regional peers to plan and implement changes across global infrastructure, adhering to ITIL best practices for incident, problem, and change management.

Cross-Platform Integration

Drive seamless interoperability between Windows and Linux environments in support of hybrid cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Maintain accurate, up-to-date documentation covering system configurations, operational procedures, and cross-platform dependencies to support team continuity and knowledge sharing.

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