To be the only IT guy? 1

[f0rmat]

Here's a question... I currently work for a small/midsize company. We're about 400 employees, but have probably 400+ servers including our development stuff.. so we have alot going on. First job out of school, been here for 5 years part of a 4 person team in the states. I've learned alot and now am exploring other options.

My curious question is... what are small businesses like when you're the only IT guy? I started doing helpdesk here.. grew into a sys admin role, but retained the helpdesk role(which I hate.) The downside to working as "the only IT guy" is that you have to do helpdesk as well as the rest of the business.

Upside? Maybe less stress because it's a far less complex environment? Downside? When something goes wrong, it's on your head?

I'm interested to find out everyone's experiences with small businesses in their careers.

I'm not sure if I want to make that switch.

 

[f0rmat]

since I started this thread I figure I should update it with what ended up happening. I found a job at a small startup (30 people) and I was going to be the 2nd IT guy.. very interesting opportunity. However, my company was also sold and the acquiring company didn't want me to leave when I handed in my notice so I was faced with two very different paths.. very small.. or big business (IT dept of 140+ people). I weighed out the pro's and con's and big business ended up winning for a variety of reasons. I've never worked someplace small, nor very large.. so I figure I'll get the large out of the way now..

here goes nothin'!


thanks for all the feedback so far about people's individual experiences, and by no means let this be the end of the thread the responses have been super interesting.

 

[stubnski]

Congratulations on the new job f0rmat! I hope everything works out for you.


Stubnski