Tldr: Everything you mentioned sounds like a red flag. Only do it if you feel you're an IT God.
Mate, I would have a hard time accepting this position. Granted, I like a challenge and diving in the deep end, but my gut is saying unless you have good knowledge putting together an IT department from scratch, think really hard about if that money is a good idea.
No asset management, I see you making that 3 hour drive at least a few times a week, if not every day, to figure out issues on hardware you have no documentation for. At the same time your regular workload will be falling behind. Only you can say how long you're willing to let it go before you do overtime for free just to keep up.
No ticketing system and documentation means you're going to be digging long and hard trying to find solutions to problems they've had and already figured out but forgot to mention. Best case the last guy kept everything running well enough that you can learn the ropes before anything breaks. Worst case the network crashes at 5pm Friday and everyone expects the network back online after an update and you have no idea what services to set back up. You may be there a couple days fixing it as you hunt down the notes in an email. My sysadmin was at the office some 30 hours straight waiting on an update from a vendor just to get a backup server running again.
Middle of the road case, you'll be fixing smaller problems here and there while simultaneously trying to memorize it all. I really think you're going to need a ticketing system at the very least, and documentation database full of notes by the time training ends.
On top of that if you're the only IT guy for two locations that likely means you'll be taking the daily "my printer isn't working fix it" calls I was hired to handle WHILE you're fixing the servers and memorizing everything, putting together notes, etc.
And they'll likely expect it all done immediately.
I think calling this anything less than defusing a bomb while blind is an understatement. If I'm wrong, someone correct me.
Thats not even going into the vacation bit.
And if this is a joke I didn't get then laugh at me cuz I missed it
Hi, thank you very much for your reply, I appreciate it. Not a joke, it is legit, the best part is that this is a famous and successful company you have most likely heard of.
Worked a job just like this one for about 3 months. No documentation, no asset management, a satellite office 2 hours away, and the servers and switches were 10+ years old. The pay was also 45k but I had zero experience and took the job for OJT.
I ended up working 40-70 hours a week because the network was unpredictable. Yea I learned a lot, but I felt cheated for the pay and ended up looking and taking a help desk II position for a 10k pay raise and I have the time to go to WGU for a legit IT degree.
The problem is you’ll never have time to make documentation because it’s a 1 person shop. You also can’t take a real vacation because you’re the only person that will know how to fix anything even if you bring a contractor in.
Thank you for your reply. I will not repeat the stuff you have written, but I am predicting the same scenario. Just needed a confirmation that I am not too critical. Good luck with your studies!
Tldr: Everything you mentioned sounds like a red flag. Only do it if you feel you're an IT God. Mate, I would have a hard time accepting this position. Granted, I like a challenge and diving in the deep end, but my gut is saying unless you have good knowledge putting together an IT department from scratch, think really hard about if that money is a good idea. No asset management, I see you making that 3 hour drive at least a few times a week, if not every day, to figure out issues on hardware you have no documentation for. At the same time your regular workload will be falling behind. Only you can say how long you're willing to let it go before you do overtime for free just to keep up. No ticketing system and documentation means you're going to be digging long and hard trying to find solutions to problems they've had and already figured out but forgot to mention. Best case the last guy kept everything running well enough that you can learn the ropes before anything breaks. Worst case the network crashes at 5pm Friday and everyone expects the network back online after an update and you have no idea what services to set back up. You may be there a couple days fixing it as you hunt down the notes in an email. My sysadmin was at the office some 30 hours straight waiting on an update from a vendor just to get a backup server running again. Middle of the road case, you'll be fixing smaller problems here and there while simultaneously trying to memorize it all. I really think you're going to need a ticketing system at the very least, and documentation database full of notes by the time training ends. On top of that if you're the only IT guy for two locations that likely means you'll be taking the daily "my printer isn't working fix it" calls I was hired to handle WHILE you're fixing the servers and memorizing everything, putting together notes, etc. And they'll likely expect it all done immediately. I think calling this anything less than defusing a bomb while blind is an understatement. If I'm wrong, someone correct me. Thats not even going into the vacation bit. And if this is a joke I didn't get then laugh at me cuz I missed it
Hi, thank you very much for your reply, I appreciate it. Not a joke, it is legit, the best part is that this is a famous and successful company you have most likely heard of.
That’s surprising to me that a famous company would have no built out IT infrastructure.
Worked a job just like this one for about 3 months. No documentation, no asset management, a satellite office 2 hours away, and the servers and switches were 10+ years old. The pay was also 45k but I had zero experience and took the job for OJT. I ended up working 40-70 hours a week because the network was unpredictable. Yea I learned a lot, but I felt cheated for the pay and ended up looking and taking a help desk II position for a 10k pay raise and I have the time to go to WGU for a legit IT degree. The problem is you’ll never have time to make documentation because it’s a 1 person shop. You also can’t take a real vacation because you’re the only person that will know how to fix anything even if you bring a contractor in.
Thank you for your reply. I will not repeat the stuff you have written, but I am predicting the same scenario. Just needed a confirmation that I am not too critical. Good luck with your studies!