Career "Fork-in-the-Road"

Well, man,

You ask hard questions. Finally it's a choise of yours. As for me I'd never leave NT field although Unix is quite interesting. And one of the rules I follow through whole my life is that if there's to many doubts - forget about it.
But you are the only one who make a dicision.

Good luck no matter what you choose!

First, I have to agree with Answer #1, it's your decision. However, a couple of things to consider are, salary ( will it be the same, less, more, and does it matter)? Do you have a family(wife, kids)? What kind of hours? How old are you? Other questions like these, are going to make a large impact to your decision. If you are single and don't have any other responsibilities, the decision hinges on only you, but if there are others involved the decision may be tougher to make.
Either way, good luck in your decision.

It sounds like the "new" position is within the same company, based on your info, which should make the decision a little easier to make.

You said, "...if I take this opportunity I will not have much opportunity to continue administering NT systems." Why not? Is the Unix postition with the same company, and they company is so departmentalized that you will no longer have any contact with the NT side? Or is this a move to another company?

You could spend a year as a Unix admin, and then move on to a company that has a mixed NT/Unix environment. Interoperability is in demand. There's big money in being able to get the two systems to work together. If you set up a network at home in a mixed Unix/NT environment, you could stay current with NT and learn to get it to work with Unix.

Some thoughts...
In general Unix Admins get more money than NT admins.

Unix is not going away any time soon (even though MS is trying hard to make it happen).

NT is going away...to XP or other things, so skills will under go serious changes in the near/mid term.

Big Iron is much more likely to continue to move to unix solutions and not Windoze. Big Iron is also experiencing a comeback since it is proving so effective in handling internet loads. Big Iron also pays big.

Unix isn't for beginners, which translates to less competition for jobs.

Unix is less prone to security problems which can mean less possibilities of getting your tail in the ringer for missing something.

It is definity your choice. But my advice is that if you are intelligent and capable give Unix a try. You will probably do very well. If however, you tend to be lazy or don't capture ideas very well then stay with NT because you won't do well on the Unix side.

This is not meant to insult, it is merely based on the fact that MS places so much emphasis on ease of use that a lot of people that would never cut it on Unix are considered acceptable in the NT world. An honest self evaluation here could save you a lot of grief.

My advice: If you think you can cut it go with Unix. With a good NT background you really won't have trouble switching back to Windows if a better opportunity comes along. (Again, if you don't think you can cut it, don't screw up your career--stick with what you know!)

I have to agree with every answer posted so far. Ultimately the choice is yours, but consideration of your motives, desires, dependancies, and opportunities is a must. If you are a TRUE NT admin, the knowledge won't leave you easily, or quickly, so if a reversal opporunity opens itself, you will have the option to take it too.

Hope things work out for ya, no matter what choice ya make.

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