I hope this fits the guidelines since this is with regards to career progression rather than entry to networking.
I'm leaving my internal IT job and have two offers that are quite different from two MSPs. I've never worked at an MSP before so I'm not sure what to do.
Both are network engineer positions - one in name only (MSP A), one is true network engineering (MSP B).
MSP A is smaller and the role I'm applying for basically lends me out to about 5 clients at a time to be dedicated support. A lot of that support is network related, but it also includes services like server migrations (e.g. hosted Exchange to M365), AD administration and management, server patching, network device patching, etc. I'd be in the main office and drive out to clients as needed. There will be some break-fix, but the help desk usually sorts that out - I'm there to make sure projects are finished on deadlines, analysis of overall infrastructure health and to make recommendations on improving that health. I would be touching a lot of different infrastructure environments and may be on my own sometimes. I would definitely be client-facing. Interview was with two very high-level folks in the company; the owner who I really got along with (and reviews mention he listens to his employees) and someone else where it was strictly technical so I couldn't get a read on the guy.
MSP B is through and through network engineering. MSP B is big enough to warrant separate systems engineering, network engineering, and helpdesk teams. I'd come in as the low man on the network engineering team and handle tickets every day, all day. I'm at a desk and working from there all day. If the project team gets bogged down or we're ahead of schedule they may throw us a project or two. Reviews on Glassdoor show teamwork problems (lazy teammates, stacking work), but they're all referring to the systems engineering team. During the interview (four people in different interviews) each interviewer stressed that it's a collaborative environment and the guys there always lean on each other for support and to learn. They did make it seem like there's clear progression there as they're hiring to fill holes due to promotions. I got along with all of them pretty well and really hit it off with one guy. I can work remotely from home.
For what it's worth I'm leaving my internal IT job because of burnout and some team issues.
MSP B is paying $90k (+bonus) and MSP A $110k. Good benefits at A, but better at B. I would rather work remotely, but driving isn't too big of a deal to me.
I want to eventually get my CCIE and specialize further or maybe go down the DevOps route.
Anyone have any useful insight I could use here? I'd really appreciate any and all comments!
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