Hi everyone,

I need advice...

I've been a System Administrator as a government contractor for the past 2 and a half years now. For those that don't know about supporting the government, there are a few to many different companies that loan out their employees to work in the government spaces. So even though a bunch of people work in the same building together, they can all work for different companies.
My sys admin position is basically a glorified help desk specialist and I'm really starting to have a strong distaste for what I do and the customers who need my support. About 6 months to 1 year ago I spoke with my boss about switching roles to become a SOC analyst. I was passed over on 3 occasions, the first being they wanted someone with more experience(understandable) and the other two were due to bad leadership. I was told I would have a spot in the SOC since 2 spots were open but they were actively interviewing to fill both spots. So when the billets were filled I was SOL. now I wont be able to get a spot in the SOC until at least September when the contract I support renews. (I meet all DOD requirements to fill this billet) One issue is that we don't know if this new contract will have another billet available in SOC, there is currently four of four spots filled right now.

The position that has been offered to me will have a 15k-25k pay increase, ill be sitting in the exact same room where I am now just 15ft away so commuting wont make a difference, but the job itself will be dealing with a lot of policy and standards. I'm not that enthusiastic about this position as its not what I want to do in the long run, but it will get my foot in the door for the cybersecurity community . This also means no more help desk and the issues I have to currently deal with.

The issue I am facing is that if I leave my current position and take this new one, when September roles around and the billet opens up, I wont be able to get that position as I will be committed to the new role and I don't want to burn any bridges about switching back and forth between companies.

So should I suffer in my current role for a couple months and then possibly get moved into the SOC, or switch jobs now to one with higher pay but one that I am not truly passionate about?

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Thank you!