Posts made by RandyBlevins

@Carnival-Boy said in Preparing to land that dream job:

@RandyBlevins said in Preparing to land that dream job:

Same as your current job but with a 40% higher salary. Is that realistic?

I've had it offered at least once and I'm told this other position will be opening up, in addition to this third opportunity. Now I'm not talking about these locations being across country or even across state. The location just isn't ideal for me.

IT security is wiling to pay alot of money right now. No degree and a few years experience with the right certs and you can easily do $100k in most markets. I'm not talking huge markets either.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/08/09/the-cybersecurity-talent-gap-is-an-industry-crisis/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwiCjOGnmrTgAhULnq0KHUGJDmIQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw3qsLTvax__LarrvB54K5Dd&ampcf=1

That being said, I think it's a horrible time to start a security career as everyone is going doing that now. For those of us who already have experience, we are in a sweet spot.

I'm getting very close to 15 years in IT. I've steadily worked my way up and have job hopped every 3-4 years. I am in the IT security side which has really ramped up in the past 3-4 years.

Opportunities for major increases have presented themselves a couple times without me looking and have promised considerable increases like 35-45%. In two cases, location has kept me from pursuing these positions. I was able to decline one position after going through all the hoops, and the other position never got the go ahead from HR. The second company has asked me to wait till March as they intend to open it.

Neither of these jobs have the location I want, and a third opportunity has presented itself again not in the location I want. I do feel like I am gaining valuable insights by doing these interviews.

I guess I just want some discussion here, but my question is something like this... How do you prep for that dream job? How many interviews do you do for practice, how hard do you look? Do you let it come to you?

@scottalanmiller i sent you a message with the company website to see what your thoughts are

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@jaredbusch said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

Epicorp makes a product called Profit 21. It has a good size market deployment both on site and hosted by Epicorp.

But it is a legacy design LoB app. It is clunky to use and expensive to license simply because it requires all Microsoft licensing. Server, RDS CALs, User CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs.

And makes even them, at a decent size, a huge risk if that was their only product. Because a competitor could come along, recreate something for their market using modern tools and methods, charge more and still be chaper by not making half of the cost go to a third party!

Yeah, that is my concern is that the company is a one trick pony. It seems like it's probably not a good idea to jump ship for something like this?

I guess these companies come and go pretty often. I'm not sure on exact company size. I'm looking at their LinkedIn and basing it off that.

I guess I should probably still interview for practice and see what the company looks like.

It can be, you just have to be really careful and make sure that it fits your life goals. SMBs come and go every day. They have no longevity.

What questions would you ask in the interview about the company?

That's tough because companies lie continuously in these things. They'll say anything to make themselves sound good. But ask about the processes used, technologies used, ask them to explain some of their decision processes, ask about what makes them competitive both in tech and in operations, really grill them on their business model, funding, history, ownership, future goals, etc.

So generally speaking 20% increase in salary actually isn't much considering the risk? A company that size would likely have to offer 50% higher than industry standard to get good people based on risk of the company size?

Exactly. We don't know much about them so can't speak to this one. But Cali startups, for example, often pay $300K for skills you could get for $200K in NYC if you were a bank. Stability, long term viability, low stress, big teams, big benefits... they are worth a lot.

So approximately 50% in this case.

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@jaredbusch said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

Epicorp makes a product called Profit 21. It has a good size market deployment both on site and hosted by Epicorp.

But it is a legacy design LoB app. It is clunky to use and expensive to license simply because it requires all Microsoft licensing. Server, RDS CALs, User CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs.

And makes even them, at a decent size, a huge risk if that was their only product. Because a competitor could come along, recreate something for their market using modern tools and methods, charge more and still be chaper by not making half of the cost go to a third party!

Yeah, that is my concern is that the company is a one trick pony. It seems like it's probably not a good idea to jump ship for something like this?

I guess these companies come and go pretty often. I'm not sure on exact company size. I'm looking at their LinkedIn and basing it off that.

I guess I should probably still interview for practice and see what the company looks like.

It can be, you just have to be really careful and make sure that it fits your life goals. SMBs come and go every day. They have no longevity.

What questions would you ask in the interview about the company?

That's tough because companies lie continuously in these things. They'll say anything to make themselves sound good. But ask about the processes used, technologies used, ask them to explain some of their decision processes, ask about what makes them competitive both in tech and in operations, really grill them on their business model, funding, history, ownership, future goals, etc.

So generally speaking 20% increase in salary actually isn't much considering the risk? A company that size would likely have to offer 50% higher than industry standard to get good people based on risk of the company size?

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@randyblevins said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@jaredbusch said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

Epicorp makes a product called Profit 21. It has a good size market deployment both on site and hosted by Epicorp.

But it is a legacy design LoB app. It is clunky to use and expensive to license simply because it requires all Microsoft licensing. Server, RDS CALs, User CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs.

And makes even them, at a decent size, a huge risk if that was their only product. Because a competitor could come along, recreate something for their market using modern tools and methods, charge more and still be chaper by not making half of the cost go to a third party!

Yeah, that is my concern is that the company is a one trick pony. It seems like it's probably not a good idea to jump ship for something like this?

I guess these companies come and go pretty often. I'm not sure on exact company size. I'm looking at their LinkedIn and basing it off that.

I guess I should probably still interview for practice and see what the company looks like.

It can be, you just have to be really careful and make sure that it fits your life goals. SMBs come and go every day. They have no longevity.

What questions would you ask in the interview about the company?

If anyone is interested in seeing their website, send me a PM and I will show you.

@jaredbusch said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

As the others have stated, 50 to 250 is a huge swing in the SMB.

There are a ton of risk factors involved.

It is nice that the company has a specific vertical that they are able to service, but how long have they been doing it.

How is the software actually written? How is it served? How is it kept up to date visually? How is it kept up to date technically?

You might not be a developer, but you need to know these types of things when you go work for a software company. These are the things that will keep the company in business or drive them to their competition (or spawn new competition).

I've never heard of this company before they reached out to me. The provide a product that has competitors out there, but it's still relatively new and the competition is small right now.

I am afraid that I'll be asked to do sales in a company that size as well. Something I would never like to do.

@scottalanmiller said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

@jaredbusch said in Enterprise to IT Service\Software Company:

Epicorp makes a product called Profit 21. It has a good size market deployment both on site and hosted by Epicorp.

But it is a legacy design LoB app. It is clunky to use and expensive to license simply because it requires all Microsoft licensing. Server, RDS CALs, User CALs, SQL Server, SQL CALs.

And makes even them, at a decent size, a huge risk if that was their only product. Because a competitor could come along, recreate something for their market using modern tools and methods, charge more and still be chaper by not making half of the cost go to a third party!

Yeah, that is my concern is that the company is a one trick pony. It seems like it's probably not a good idea to jump ship for something like this?

I guess these companies come and go pretty often. I'm not sure on exact company size. I'm looking at their LinkedIn and basing it off that.

I guess I should probably still interview for practice and see what the company looks like.

I'd also like to add that I don't have an offer as of yet. I did a phone interview on Friday and it went really well. I told them my expected range and it's a 20-30% increase, and they were fine with it.

If I get an in-person interview, what type of questions should I ask to gauge company health and size?

I am considering leaving an enterprise company for approximately a 20% increase in pay. The company inviting me is smaller 51-250 employee company. They offer a unique platform that customers can buy and use on their own or the company can manage the platform and track data for the customer.

I am interested in hearing pros and cons from going to a smaller company like this vs being in the enterprise space. Is there anything I need to watch out for?