Go to school for CS or get a job in sysadmin with an active TS Clearance
Posted by Compache204@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 15 comments
Title is self explanatory. But for context I family friend of mine referred to me a job as a sysadmin in a sp500 defense company. The pay is anywhere between 60k and 115k. I don't have real experience other than an internship, but I do have an active TS Clearance from my time serving military. Looking up the responsibilities of sysadmin it seems like something I might like.
I am also a student at a UC college pursuing a computer science degree and I have a current internship that allows me to explore the field more. And I believe that this will this degree will open up a window of opportunities. Yet computer science degree is hard enough to give me hella headaches and thoughts of fomo.
BLUFF: should I pursue my computer science degree in hopes in getting more opportunities. Or is sysadmin worth it enough to go for the experience with money route.
Jarnagua@reddit
That TS should be good for five years from date of issuance so keep that in mind. Though as others have said you can get a degree paid for by your employer, at the cost of staying a little longer at the position, so why not do both?
NedNoodleHead@reddit
that experience is 10x better than the degree for your position.
idk if it is allowed at all, but the ideal situation for you imo would be to start the job, learn a whole bunch of things for a year or two, then finish the degree slowly. or at another time.
Compache204@reddit (OP)
That's what I'm thinking, I'm really considering it. Also to keep in mind that I will still be getting relevant experience from the internship I have now while also maintaining my clearance.
Do u think it's still worth it considering that I might get paid on the lower end of the salary range?
llDemonll@reddit
Whatever you do keep TS active. Take that job, get experience, and look for better. If you’re good you can pick your job with TS clearance.
logicalkitten@reddit
Get it on your resume, keep the TS active. Profit will come.
NedNoodleHead@reddit
that range is still great (60k usd im guessing?). already like 20% above us median salary. its your first job. the hardest part of IT / programming is getting the first job.
No-Percentage6474@reddit
Take it finish the degree slowly. You want need an internship if you have experience.
coinich@reddit
Ive seen plenty of folks succeed in IT with unrelated or no degrees. The clearance is a golden ticket, far more than a diploma in this field.
StaticFanatic3@reddit
Take the job
30yearCurse@reddit
I would work hard at keeping the clearance. You can slow down the pace of school.
itsfortybelow@reddit
First, I'd recommend posting this in /r/ITCareerQuestions. Secondly, what kind of job are you looking to do with your degree? While there is certainly programming/scripting to be done in a sysadmin role, a computer science degree mainly prepares you for a career as a software developer, which only shares a little overlap with a sysadmin.
That said, your active TS clearance is worth a lot and can help get you in the door while having less experience. Will your clearance remain active long enough for you to finish school?
Compache204@reddit (OP)
Yea fair I should've done that lol I'll ask there too. And that's what I was thinking too. I was hoping to get a software dev role. And I guess I should've mentioned this in the post but the internship I'm in allows me to keep my clearance.
GuruBuckaroo@reddit
Take the job, see if they'll help pay for you to finish your degree. At worst you end up with a job, some seniority (eventually), and maybe the start of a pension. Personally, I dropped out of college after 1 semester because it wasn't for me, and I've now got 38+ years of "equivalent experience".
fieroloki@reddit
Keep the ts active whatever you choose. It's a good playing card.
Compache204@reddit (OP)
What if the internship I have currently allows me to keep it?