Pretty much gave my two weeks notice

[slodave]

Hi!

I have been very unhappy with my present job for some time now. It is a small IT consulting company that has been struggling to stay afloat for a while. I am very under paid, but have stuck with it due to some perks that are nice. There seems to be no chance that I can ever be paid a decent salary, especially since the company is not doing well. I take care of almost all of the Linux related projects (there are not many left) and have grown quite frustrated and angry towards Linux because of the money situation. I have put many years towards learning Linux and implementing Linux servers and feel I should be compensated accordingly. I really do not want to continue with my Linux duties at this company anymore, but if I don't, then there really is no need for me.

I have always wanted to be on my own and handle a few small/medium sized companies IT needs. This would keep me busy and quite happy. Looking for another job and working full time for someone else does not excite me. I do belong to a Chamber of Commerce, but at present, I do not have time to go to the events. I also am not the best at selling myself. Yikes, I do not know what to do! I guess I start by getting my resume back in order.

Any ideas, suggestions, etc? Anybody in the L.A. area need part time IT services?



Thanks for listening,

Dave

[Moneyguy1]

In the interim, would your current employer take you on as a consultant, say, 2 or 3 days a week leaving you free to do a thorough search for a new full-time position?

[charleskieffner]

time for a ROADTRIP!

[masraum]

CHeck out a book called "From Serf to Surfer". I believe it's out of print, but I think it still floats around sometimes. It's got lots of great ideas for people wanting to do their own thing in IT. I considered it once a long time ago. Lots of really great ideas in the book. Maybe you can check it out at a library or something.

[scottmandue]

Lots of opportunities in you area (geographic). Check monster.com and headhunters etc., might not be a bad idea to take a job while you figure out how to go out on your own. Inactivity in the IT biz is death and the more you work in the feild the more contacts you make. To start your own biz you HAVE to be a salesman, accountant, and an IT guy... don't give up on working for someone else just because your current employer is a arsh-hole many people do very well in IT.

Just my $.02

[slodave]

Moneyguy1 - I'm not sure my boss would go for that. My dad suggested the same thing. I am not at work today. so talks will have to wait until tomorrow.

charleskieffner - Good idea, but the p-car still is out of commission and took all of my money with it.

I was starting to become independent again while working at my present company, but they nixed my ability to continue a few months ago. I need the ability to make the service calls during regular business hours. Working full time prevents this.

Ack, what did I do!

Dave

[Don Plumley]

Two choices:

1) Start an aggressive job hunting effort. Now. It's typically much more prudent to do that and have another job offer before you give notice.

2) Head to the library and start reading up on becoming an independent consultant. Belonging to the Chamber of Commerce is like going to a singles bar with 100 other guys and one woman. You get work by networking. As a career marketing guy, I can tell you that there are no silver bullets to getting orders (work) - you beat the streets (electronically and otherwise) and get people talking about you. You will need something that differentiates you from the other gazillion Linux guys - industry knowledge, integration expertise, etc. And if you are not good, or are reluctant to become good at getting out and introducing yourself to strangers day after day and asking for work, reconsider option #1.

My $0.02

[charleskieffner]

slo dave..................time to decompress properly. take hold of thoughts. look at it as a new adventure. new people surroundings. its all positive w/exception of lower pay(and that could possibly maybe even more than likely change for the positive). its wed. polish the hell out of your resume. use me as a reference????? put down for me "carlos de magnifico el jefe grande numero uno" that in itself will at the least have them falling on their ass laughing. thats a start!

network network network. talk to anybody who has ears......and might listen. take some classes at night to be on top of things in the market. market YOURSELF just like you would get p-car ready to sell.

but while you have some time off............if your married take wife, if not take girlfriend, if neither of those take yourself somewhere cool. take a wall street journal with you and read want ads. plan ahead. then take one afternoon wherever you go and slam a 18pak of beer and decompress and let the crap roll off. wake up next day, take ice cold shower and realize its you against the world and only you that can change your destiny.

people hire their friends if they can first. the age old adage its not what you know its who you know applies here.

seek out head hunters they can be invaluable getting your rezume out there.

TWO THINGS I CANT STAND TO DO.............move somewhere(been in this house 24 yrs) and LOOK FOR A JOB! (been here going on 8 yrs) both repulse the crap outta me. but it is something we all have to do sooner or later. and noone can blame any man for wanting to better himself and his family!

good luck in your search.

[sammyg2]

I recently had a job i hated. I didn't quit right away, I carefully and discretely passed the word out to several key gossipers in the industry that I was ready to make a change.
Within a month i got a phone call from someone in a major corporation telling me that they had an opening they had trouble filling and they thought I would be perfect for it. No kidding, that's basically the conversation word for word.

Turns out it is nearly the perfect job for me, better conditions, better pay, less hours, better perks.

So..... try to hang on to what you have until you find better.
Don't wait for a better job to find you unless you at least drop a path of bread crumbs that leads to your door.

[mikester]

Linux Admin jobs aren't hard to come by these days, especially in the LA area. Check out monster and dice.com - plus there is a linux users group that you might consider joining for networking purposes.

[techweenie]

CraigsList sometimes has decent jobs now that they are charging for job postins.

Also try Dice.com it's a great resource for technical types.

And, a friend of mine is a tech recruiter with a very good rep. PM me for his contact info.

[slodave]

Thinks for the replies. I know that in the ideal world you find a new job before leaving the old one. In my case, there were only so many "last straws" and those expired a few months ago. I did what I did, and now I have to double time it to make things work.

I did a quick search on Monster and really did not come up with much, but will search in more detail soon.

Argggg..... I really shot myself in the foot on this one. My personal life is starting to unravel now because of this as well. This sucks. Things will get better, I know they will.

Dave

[84porsche]

Dave,

I know you live in Encino but how far are you willing to travel, the OC is always in need of a network guy and computer guy. Get a resume together and I'll ask around for you. My brother and couple of friends of mine work in a similiar field.

If you don't mind me asking or if you want PM a salary range you are looking for with your experience. Are you willing to work in customer/tech support IT related jobs?

[84porsche]

http://www.extron.com/company/jobdetail.aspx?id=277

Is this similiar to what you are looking for or qualify for??

[slodave]

Chris,

Thanks for the offer. As soon as I revamp my resume, I will pass it on to you. Things have changed since I last used a resume and mine will not do. As for travel, closer is better. I don't do well with early mornings The job listing is for Win2003 server. While I have been around Windows servers for many years, I do not have the experience they require. I would feel most at home at a web hosting company that uses Linux. This is what I did for 8 years when I actually owned a company. Today I mostly use Linux servers as file servers and domain controllers with email, DNS, firewall, DHCP..... I do poses an MCP and an recently expired CCNA. A lot of my day to day work is spent supporting small/medium businesses and their daily Windows environment problems.

Dave

[Kroggers]

Dave, you have a PM.

[rcecale]

Dave,

Once you have your resume squared away, take a cruise through ComputerJobs.com . There always seems to be plenty of openings available.

Good luck!!!

Randy

[slodave]

I actually decided to go part time for now. I will now have two days a week to either find a new full time job or get my own thing going again.

[azasadny]

Slodave,
I'm in a similar situation as I'm an IT guy at Ford. I may have to move out of MI because of the lack of opportunities here, but selling the house will be painful and costly.