Tech Support Engineering 3 role in DFW market w/Cisco...
Contacted by a recruiter about a TSE 3 position (networking hardware) with Cisco in the DFW market (Richardson) and have talked salary/status (100K based on hourly rate, OT, contract to perm) , and was curious about the overall experience working at Cisco. I know the rate is pretty low compared to numbers I've seen thrown around, but I'm also not doing SW engineering. I have 20+ YOE across the entire spectrum of telecommunications, cellular and defense and aerospace microwave. 285 credits in community college, but no degree, shit ton of experience. Is the $100K range about the maximum ceiling for this type of work in the N Texas market as an individual contributor, and you'd need to go management or sales track to rise higher? Also, what scripting/programming languages are good to learn? Go with the usual LAMP suite, or ???
100k is definitely pushing the ceiling for IC in DFW
Kind of what I was seeing poking around Glassdoor, Ladders, Linkedin and here on Blind. Everything is very preliminary ATM, but if it pans out like I think it will, I'm guessing this is about the only way to move up in pay, as the current place does not do pay raises, and the internal openings are well outside my area of expertise. I wouldn't mind staying on if there were meaningful advancement opportunities, since I get along really well with my coworkers, but a ~20% increase is a hell of an incentive. Any idea if Cisco is firm on doing 18 month contract terms before they consider on boarding full time? That's the most glaring caveat in my mind.
I have no experience with Cisco; my only advice for you regarding a career is don’t saying in DFW for too long