Ok guys, got a tough one to decide here. I am currently working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I make about $8/hour and get about 52 hours a week. I have been with them for 2 years, but I have not really gotten much of any promotions since then. My commute is about 60 miles roundtrip, which I do in my pickup truck which gets about 25 miles/gallon. I leave about 7:30 and get home on average around 6 pm. I don't particularly love my job, but it pays the bills, and the family medical coverage is only 140/week for all three of us.

So my neighbor does tech support work for a company in another town. He's been there about 6 months and loves it. I went to school for it and enjoy working on computers a lot. They have a job opening that he thinks I would be perfect for doing tech work on computers. The pay starts at $14.50/hour and you'll get a least 40 hours a week. Plus you get $3/hour commission for every billable hour. The problem is, its a smaller company that is doing pretty well, but I don't know what sort of other chances I would have for promotion in this field, plus the health insurance costs about $100 more a week than what I have now. The drive is gonna be about an additional 30 miles, but I would be carpooling with my neighbor, so we'd swap cars each week. He leaves about 7:15 each day and often gets home a bit earlier than me, so time wise I would be home at least as early.

So basically, do you think a PC tech job that I would likely enjoy (working with computers, have down time, not interacting with customers nearly as much) but will I be limiting my career chances from a job that is fairly lucrative at the higher levels, but is not something I really enjoy right now. Moneywise the PC tech job could make about 5 grand more, but it will cost at least 2400 more for the insurance alone. So any suggestions from current techies or anybody else would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

10/10/2005 9:54:55 PM

you commute an hour a day for $8/hr? and you have a family? i'm not trying to be a dick, but yeh, you need to start looking for a new job.

10/10/2005 9:58:37 PM

to be honest neither job sounds like career material. if you have a degree (any sort of degree) and you're settling for $8 or even $14.50/hr, there's a problem. I would do more thorough job searching, maybe even register with a job finding agency or on monster.com and look at getting my insurance through something subsidized like blue cross/blue shield.

10/10/2005 10:00:51 PM

The other jobs insurance is with Blue Cross of VA.

And I don't have a degree either. But I also live in the boondocks of Eastern NC. We are buying a house and the damn mortgage probably won't run $450/month total. And thats a nice 3 bedroom house. I'm somehow in the middle class with the job I have now, for the area. So yea, its not that hot a job, but on the other side, its cheap as shit to live here. Its a country drive either way, so its not like an hour drive in the morning and in the evening. I do it all at 65 mph, so I get there pretty quickly, no traffic.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:05 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 10:02:38 PM

^^ what he said. If you need a tech job, there are head hunters that can find you jobs. Hell, google has a shitload of openings right now in the tech area apparently... a google rep emailed me about some positions but I'm not in a situation where I move out of state for something like that.

If you don't have a degree, then take what little upwards movement you can get.



[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:07 PM. Reason : .]

10/10/2005 10:04:22 PM

i think you have an obligation to your family to bust your ass till you find a better job. hell i made $8.75 at Staples 4 years ago. if my boss is still around i can hook you up there if you want. all those best buy type stores pay at least that much, maybe you can work in teh computer section or Geek Squad or something. better jobs are surely out there, degree or not.

10/10/2005 10:06:27 PM

One other thing, I probably don't want to consider moving. Especially if we are about to buy a house. We really do like where we live, and my wife has a job here too, but her job is in an insurance office.

10/10/2005 10:06:45 PM

make sure you or your wife have a solid job before you buy a house. Homes in my area are being foreclosed like a motherfucka.

10/10/2005 10:08:04 PM

See the reason I haven't jumped ship before was that I have another job lined up at Progressive Insurance as an adjustor, but they are on a hiring freeze. Plus the next level up at my current job makes like 40k+. But shit just hasn't been working out there, so far.

10/10/2005 10:08:30 PM

Quote :

"you need to start looking for a new job"

so you net ~$2600 more per year + commission, thats almost worth it right there isnt it?

is the health coverage better at either place?

sounds like you'll save some money on transportation costs too, gotta factor that in.
eg i know it costs me .20/mile in gas alone to drive, so if i were to save 75 miles/week in driving (which it sounds like you would be doing), that would equate to $780/yr savings in gas alone, not to mention reduced maintenance costs and less depreciation on your car.

10/10/2005 10:09:09 PM

We can definitely afford the house. We have like zero debt and damn near perfect credit. We owe about 4k on the Camaro, and thats it. My parents have taken care of my previous student loans. I am trying to do a thing at ECU or one of the other schools around here to finish up my degree online. Got 3 years under my belt now.

Health coverage at Enterprise is like $135/week for my current insurance, which has everything covered. Its gonna be like $250/week for insurance at the other job, and thats probably about the same coverage I have now. I have not gone and gotten the exact figures yet.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:12 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 10:10:18 PM

you are about to buy a house with an $8/hour job?

i dont mean to be a dick but i cant see how that is possible

10/10/2005 10:11:29 PM

Quote :

"If you don't have a degree, then take what little upwards movement you can get."

Quote :

"next level up at my current job makes like 40k+ "

so it goes from ~21K to 40k+? If you've been there 2 yrs and you don't see immediate signs of advancement I would give up hope on that



[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:15 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 10:13:04 PM

Did you not read that I do 53-55 hours a week? I pull in about 27k and then my wife makes another 17k a year working as a secretary at her job. So between us, we make around 44 to 45k a year, and the house is only 55k.

10/10/2005 10:13:50 PM

I read 52 hrs per week, 52*52*8 = $21632

10/10/2005 10:14:51 PM

where are you commuting from/to?

^ wouldn't it be 26624 (40hrs + overtime).

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

10/10/2005 10:16:17 PM

Right now, Scotland Neck to Ahoskie. Would be commuting with the new job to Emporia, VA.

And I'm sorry, my stubs don't have my hourly rate thing on them, but I make right under 9/hour. Its like 8.98 or some shit.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:39 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 10:37:23 PM

yea overtime is a biggie.

First off, you are getting KILLED on the insurance. If your wife is only making 17k, she should really move into another job with full health coverage. Even if she makes less (which she really cant be if shes pulling 17 a year), full health coverage will more than make up for that.

Second, take the tech job. I completely agree, if you have been working that kind of time for 2 years and haven't seen ANY movement upward, they are yanking your chain. I'd tell your management that you really are deserving of a promotion, see what they say, get them to put something in writing if they say you are due. If they can't or try to yank you, pull out two week notice on them, tell them you have an offer for nearly double your current pay.

Third, splitting gas on that commute will definitely be money in the bank.

Fourth, dear god man finish that degree.

10/10/2005 10:39:28 PM

See, her problem is her job is SEVERALLY limited in what she can/wants to do. She doesn't have much more than just her high school stuff. A couple of semesters of gen ed college classes is all she ever got past HS. We have a son to consider in this too. This little town we live in hasn't got much going for it and her mom is here and watches our son for free. So we save a ton on babysitting and he's with somebody that we trust with him.

The other part is the agent wants her to get her agents license. So hopefully she'll become an agent for him, which should be a much more lucrative position. She pretty much runs the office in town solo, because the guy that owns it lives in another town and thats his main office.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 10:46 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 10:44:48 PM

She should look into state government jobs. There are plenty of office jobs at state departments that require little to no educational background (just good character and job reference) and would get you guys into a fully subsidized state healthcare plan. Plus it would get her retirement benefits.

It's something she or you should definitely look into. Having been a state contractor for a few years, I can tell you it is THE BEST job a person can get with basically a GED and no intention of college/tech school. If she can get hired in as anything, she can easily get free training to move up in positions, move around to different areas (internal job openings are rediculously large in state and federal gov't)

10/10/2005 10:50:17 PM

Yea she has looked into some of those before and applied at some of the local county positions and never hears anything back from them. I know she has done it 2 to 3 times already. Not that she should quit looking or anything, I agree. Just not that many state jobs that are too close to where we live.

So Tyler, you think its worth it to take the other job? I thought careers were hard as hell to find in tech jobs anymore, and if so, I wouldn't have thought that building/fixing PC's was a great path to making bank.

The main reason I have stuck with my current job (besides waiting on the other job that is apparently on permanent hold) is that it is a great money maker, down the road. I have gotten some pay raises, I started off around low 8. Hence why the confusion earlier. I forgot we got like a .50/hour bump up to just under 9 like a month or two ago. But I am still a damn management trainee. I started my own office a year ago last week and built it up pretty quick. But they have very stringent rules on what you need to qualify to get a promotion in the company. Mainly its on sales stuff, which our office has never been very strong on. Hence even though I'm more qualified than some of these other fuckups who are getting promoted, because I don't have that one piece, they will not let me take the managment qualification test and advance to the next level.

10/10/2005 11:03:05 PM

^ Okay, then here's a question. Is there any chance things are likely to change where they'll let you take the test?

If not, then I'd bail to the $14 an hour *and* keep looking.

Even though it's 30 more miles, the carpool is a big advantage and it likely will do you for a while.
That and if it is the country, maybe there's a shortcut.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 11:17 PM. Reason : .]

10/10/2005 11:16:32 PM

It comes down to what you want to do for a living. If it's IT area... then it's obvious which would look better on resume. Enterprise Rent a car... or IT support. That's easy. Plus Enterprise rent a car has 0 future. You're closing yourself off to a life as a car rental guy. Going IT you have a plethora of career choices and you can get a job just about anywhere as long as you know what you're doing.

Also if you're paying $150 or $250 per WEEK on health insurance time to find a new carier until you can afford more. I had $50/month health insurance and that was worst case. If i wanted to bump it up it was $200 per month for everything. Dental, health etc. If you'd like I'd happily give you my old insurance agents # if you want to see what his rates are. For working at a company where you have to pay for partial benefits that's outrageous.

Now on to your career. I do NOT have a degree in Comp Sci or Tech support etc. I graduated with a degree in Textiles for fuck sake. But I sat down and learned bit by bit and after 3 years of working shit jobs building my skill set I scored my current job which is going to be absolutely bad ass on my resume should I ever look again.

Noen's got a point. Your wife needs to go for the state jobs. Don't stop applying. Everyday check what's open, and apply. Reread your resume and make sure it says what you're good at. If shes not sure post it on here I'm sure people might help (not in tech talk though plz ). She could make $5/hour but those benefits would be worth it.

10/10/2005 11:20:08 PM

Yea I'm kinda considering it. I'm not terribly happy at my current job. Not that its THAT bad, but I wouldn't say I jump up in the morning all excited about it. It is with cars, which is fun, but when I have to dress up in a tie and nice clothes everyday to basically go out and wash cars and deal with assholes, it gets old quick.

OH SHIT, I fucked up on the insurance too. To recap, I get paid basically 9/hour, not 8. And the insurance is every paycheck, not every week. So its biweekly. With Enterprise its 67.5/week, with Telpage it would be about 110/week. Damn no wonder everything has seemed so fucked up in here when I was figuring shit!

And yea I just put this in Tech Talk to ask mainly about the job market in IT. I had previously done it freelance, but I don't have much in the way of refrences from that, as I was the boss. It was mainly part-time then too. I really do enjoy working on PC's, and renting cars for the rest of my life is not my dream to be sure, but I was a little hesitant on the future market for IT jobs.

[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 11:25 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 11:21:20 PM

Quote :

"but I was a little hesitant on the future market for IT jobs."

Quote :

"Enterprise Rent a car... or IT support. That's easy."

i would think the future market for IT jobs is much greater then the future market for car rental agencies. Not to mention if you're any good at IT work, there are all kinds of opportunities out there, a much wider array of positions than with car rental.

Quote :

"I wouldn't have thought that building/fixing PC's was a great path to making bank."

building/fixing pcs would be at the low end of the IT world (as is basic tech support). But those kind of jobs give you a solid foundation to build on. you do this 14.50 /hr thing, get some experience, learn a technology (maybe work/research in your spare time too) and move on to a bigger and better job after a year or two.

Quote :

"Going IT you have a plethora of career choices and you can get a job just about anywhere as long as you know what you're doing. "

washing cars and dealing with assholes VS building skills you can use in other jobs, plus a considerable pay increase. seems like a no-brainer to me.


the only real argument anyone can make against you switching is the lack of job security in IT. And while it is a concern, worst case scenario, I would think you would much rather work the higher paying job for a year or 2, build some skills, and if you get laid off I'm sure you can find another $8hr job IF nothing else is out there. And that’s worst case scenario.

Quote :

" I had previously done it freelance, but I don't have much in the way of references from that, as I was the boss."

I did PC support freelance for a few years and my customers were actually my strongest references when I applied for my current job. Once my boss heard the feedback from my customers I was in there. Especially in something like tech support which it sounds like you'll be doing, consulting customers can be your best references (better than bosses from rent-a-car etc)



[Edited on October 10, 2005 at 11:53 PM. Reason : ]

10/10/2005 11:51:30 PM

^Yep.

Starting out doing grunt work in IT is one of the BEST character references and connection builders you can get. After having done that for nearly 9 years now (geesh), even though I don't do it anymore, I know I can call any one of about 15 CEO's of companies directly and they would help me out anyway possible at the drop of a hat.

Companies remember the PEOPLE that helped them, not so much the company, especially in IT. You do good work, and the next time they need something I garauntee they will be asking for you by name.

If you've landed less than a 10% pay raise on an entry level position in 2 years of work, FUCK HERTZ. It's one thing to have started out making a decent amount and get a 5-7% raise, but dude being a manager at McDonalds pays more than 9 dollars an hour. And you get healthcare.

As for the healthcare deal, 3-400 for having a small child really aint bad. Made me breathe a sigh of relief when you said you were off on your numbers!

Yea just make sure your wife keeps plugging in at those state jobs. If she is competent and can present herself well, all she is going to need is one interview. Check out federal openings down there as well. You do have to constantly plug at them though.

10/11/2005 1:59:01 AM

I just got hired by a state government agency in Virginia ... its roughly $150 for full coverage for a family, they pay the other $800 or so. Also, depending on what you get hired in, the Virginia Retirement System automatically contributues 5% of your gross salary (not of your paycheck, THEY pay for it) into a state IRA. (I know not as good as some places ... but not bad for a starting position).

Although management positions have some prospect ... the stress level and hours probably won't be good for raising a family. Also, beyond being a manager, what's the next level? Will the job continue to be fun/challenging? What do you have to look forward to X number of years down the road? IT will offer all sorts of crazy opportunities in the future, and, its a neverending learning process. You get in with the right company, they'll pay for you to get a bachelor's degree over a period of time.

In short: I would definitely shift towards IT. Plan ahead before quitting your job though

[Edited on October 11, 2005 at 5:36 AM. Reason : .]

10/11/2005 5:35:06 AM

Quote :

"You do good work, and the next time they need something I garauntee they will be asking for you by name. "

DEAD ON

10/12/2005 1:46:05 AM

this is not a tech job opportunity - keep looking

10/12/2005 11:06:16 AM

Actually I think I might take it for now. I am gonna go talk with one of the guys in the next few days about what they have to offer. I was told on the d/l that it was 14/hour starting. The main thing I like is that they will also pay for me to enroll in college to pay for classes. My current job will not whatsoever. I think I might take advantage of this to do the job, get some IT experience working at an ISP and maybe collect a CIS degree in the process on their dime, then maybe get the hell out if they don't want to pay more.

10/12/2005 9:05:09 PM

this job is made for people that never graduated college

10/12/2005 9:21:44 PM

damn i'm glad i stayed in school

10/12/2005 9:42:14 PM

man, you should definetly take that job. hell i was making $10/hour in college working for a professor. $8 dead end job will get you nowhere. good luck.

10/12/2005 9:44:07 PM

Quote :

"this job is made for people that never graduated college"

It's made for people with no experience, the degree is irrelevent.

10/13/2005 1:06:56 PM

8 vs 14/hour... ummm...Duh.

16.6K vs. 29K before taxes on the year.


Whats the damn hold up?

10/13/2005 2:55:58 PM

what about that horizons thing on the radio, ITand what not

10/13/2005 4:32:57 PM

Quote :

"It's made for people with no experience, the degree is irrelevent."

if they have a degree and are considering this job, they must have a shitty GPA

10/13/2005 7:10:58 PM

Its 9/hour vs 14/hour. And with the # of hours you do, it equals 24,336 for my current job or 30k for my new job opportunity. Plus the health insurance for my family is 3536 for the current job or over 5k for the new job.

I sent the application in today to the job. The guy called me because he wasn't sure if I was not interested or something since I didn't fax it. Fax machine didn't pick up though. Haha. I'm getting pretty excited about this job. Sure it might be a basic level computer job, but thats cool with me. I'm tired of being "Enterprise Guy".

10/13/2005 8:08:31 PM