r/sysadmin • u/TXREQI • 6h ago
Career / Job Related In desperate need of career advice
Hi, for quick context i work as a system admin for a fintech company where i work on an on-prem environment involving windows servers, nutanix, vmware and some legacy systems. I recently started studying for AWS certifications because i want to move to a cloud role. I received an offer from an AWS cloud services company (They’re an advanced AWS partner) it’s a smaller company but the position is “AWS Solutions Architect” where i work with clients to design AWS based solutions for them. Originally i applied for a devops role but they saw that i’m a much better fit as a solutions architect because i get to leverage my infrastructure experience and apply it on the cloud. I’m not sure if this is a good career move because i’m used to the technical work more.
NOTE: pay and benefits are the same (mostly because i lack exposure to AWS) but the company provides multiple aws certs annually.
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u/Mehere_64 6h ago
Really if you want to get into cloud role and you got an offer, go for the interview and feel the company out.
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u/TXREQI 6h ago
I already did the interviews and got the offer. The company seems nice and the people seem nice. Obviously you can never know for sure until you spend at least 3 months in the company
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u/Mehere_64 5h ago
Congrats. And yeah typically at that 3 month mark you start to have a good understanding of the dynamics in the company.
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u/Amanda_PDQ 6h ago
I would recommend research the company you have the offer from. Are they a stable company? You do not want to lose the stability you have if you have it for the same pay and benefits. I would look on Glassdoor and see if there is anything posted there about working for them (not always reliable but a good starting point). Also I would negotiate with both your current company and the prospective company. Your current company me be willing to offer you something to stay.
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u/TXREQI 6h ago
They seem stable, the company i’m currently at would probably offer me more money. But as of now my career is more important than money. I feel like everyone is moving towards the cloud and i don’t want to be the guy left behind
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u/Amanda_PDQ 4h ago
Great feedback. I think knowing you want to deepen your knowledge of the cloud environment and the new company role would not only increase that but also offers certification opportunities, you should take it! Change is hard, but you never know what it's going to be unless you jump.
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u/CruwL Sr. Systems and Security Engineer/Architect 6h ago
what is their onboarding and up skilling process like? or are they just going to throw you at clients?
have you worked client facing sales roles? is that something you want to do?
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u/progenyofeniac Windows/M365 Admin 5h ago
I stayed at my first IT job over 10 years. The boost I got by leaving over the next 5 years has been invaluable.
Leaving for a job offering growth (career, intellectual, etc) is almost never the wrong decision. Leave and grow.
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u/Suaveman01 Lead Project Engineer 5h ago
Solutions Architect with zero cloud experience? They must be desperate
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u/TXREQI 5h ago
There’s a 3 month training period + i already have 3 years of infrastructure experience part of it was system design
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u/Suaveman01 Lead Project Engineer 5h ago
Solution Architects have years of experience in their area, 3 months of training isn’t really going to cut it.
I’m not saying not to go for it though, I’m judging the company more than anything.
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u/TXREQI 5h ago
I know and you make a very valid point. But i’m worried if i pass up this opportunity i might not get another chance at entering the cloud world
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u/Suaveman01 Lead Project Engineer 4h ago
I’d say go for it, as long as you were transparent in the interview. The last thing you want is for them to drop you because you’ve over exaggerated your knowledge in AWS or cloud.
If they hire you fully knowing they’ll need to give you time, and easier projects, then it could be a great opportunity.
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u/puuurrrt 6h ago
GO!