Pay Cut in return for Certs/Experience?

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Hey guys,

So short of the long is that I am currently in a desktop support role for an IT service provider. The job is alright but I have been doing desktop support for long enough and want to expand on my skills. I have been interviewing for an app support role at a school which will involve training staff on better using the applications, sharepoint administration, and sql server management. The role itself will involve more responsibility, for sure. However, having just got out of an interview with the principal (second interview, first was with the IT manager) the salary question came up and they are looking to pay between 50-55k. This is a concern because I am currently on 60k and with my contract renewal coming up I will likely be getting a raise. So for more responsibility I would be getting less, essentially.

One thing I should note is that I have worked at the school and they were very happy with my performance. It was a contractor so the only reason I didn't stay on was that the budget wasn't available for me to stay on board with them. This is a new position so they will send the incumbent to microsoft training and pay for certification (SQL and Sharepoint I assume) and formal training on the in-house applications. I've been in IT for 8 years and have done some infrastructure roles on the side of my desktop support and even project coordination. I'm not a beginner and know my worth, so I feel that at least maintaining my current salary would be reasonable.

So... thoughts? Would you take the pay cut in my shoes? Thanks!

 

It's a private school in Australia. Primary through High School. I got an offer that is $4229 less than what I make. My contract is currently up for renewal and for a variety of reasons I am confident that I will be getting an (at least) 5k pay bump. That means that I'll be taking on more responsibility for what could be up to a 10k decrease in salary. They have salary increases built into their staff agreements. However, at the current rate I would ALMOST be back where I'm at now salary-wise next year. Another thing is that my wife and I have just taken on a mortgage and I am likely to be the main bread winner soon as we are looking to have kids. While I know that the opportunity is good, I just feel like it just doesn't fit with my situation at the moment.

Another thing that has left me kinda iffy is that fact that when I was given the offer the manager told me the amount with pension included. This would have matched my current pay. It was only after I caught onto this that he told me the amount without the pension, which brings us to the difference. It comes across as if they know that it isn't good pay so they are trying to build it up.

 

Be honest with them and tell them it's considerably less than you're getting now and that whilst you would like to consider their offer you can't do at the moment simply because of the loss in earnings. Also explain to them that you're expecting your current salary to increase so that if they are interested in you not only do they have to beat your current offer but also your expected offer.

They will either agree to this or not, if they don't then do you really want to work for a company that doesn't pay you what you're worth?

Oh and I should add, what happens if they find someone with the required skills? They obviously wouldn't be sending them on training would they?
I would say that the offer of training is good but it's not to be used as an incentive instead of pay (after all who knows how good the training provider is?).

 

What's that here? $5000 = £3000? I think I'd take that drop for more experience and to 'level-up' skills wise.

$10000 (£6000? here), I'm not so sure about - would have to be a bloody good job...

Possible though, in the right circumstances.

 

I think the real issue here is do you like your current job enough to stay? Sounds like you have itchy feet regardless of salary and sometimes change is good.
However, the school is offering less money (bad), plus the promise of training. Unless the training is in your employment contract, they could at any point say "we have no budget at the moment...". Make sure you don't get shafted!
Why not stay where you are and spend your raise and the money you'd lose moving job on some training courses? Then re-assess the situation?

At the end of the day, why work harder for less cash? unless your job is that bad, i'd stick at it. Maybe try and get yourself into a new position where you currently are?

G

 

I am currently doing desktop support and have been for the past 4 years and am eagerly trying to move onto the next step. I would definitely take a drop in wages to gain the experience to get to the next level. This will pay the money back ten fold in the future as you would be going for more qualified jobs with better pay.

You could stay in your current job and in 5 years time still be doing the same stuff and just getting your annual salary increase.

 

Its a tough one I guess but for me personally I would take a pay cut for better prospects in the future, which is what this is as far as I can tell.

Choice 1 - Stay on £xx,xxx for the next 5 years.

Choice 2 - Take say a 5k cut, but in 5 years be £20-30k higher.

Of course we can never be sure that is how it works out, but I'd have to give it a try for at least the chance of a better future in the medium-longer term.

I guess its also down to your personal finances/commitments, can you afford to take the cut? If you can, I probably would.

 

The job I'm currently at isn't that bad. It's desktop support but I've proven myself enough for them to let me work with SCCM which adds to my infrastructure experience. I had a chat with my current manager and told him that I've received a job offer elsewhere. We already discussed that I was interested in an increase considering that in my current role I have become a valuable asset for them handling many high-level tasks that my colleagues were unable to accomplish. He's going to talk to his management and push for a pay bump for me. My biggest concern now is that I know that an (at least) 5k bump is possible considering that I didn't negotiate properly when I started and I could have gotten 5k back then. I'd be kicking myself if I took this pay cut and then am left with a 10k difference to work towards in this new job.

The fact of the matter is this. I have been working long enough in my area to know that I possess valuable skills. Right now it's really a matter of not if but when I can get a pay bump and more skills. This job was attractive to me because I would be learning SQL but I already possess windows server admin skills that I can build upon and get some jr/mid-level server admin roles. I guess right now I'm thinking more out of desperation to go to the next level soon, but my gut tells me that it would be better for me to wait possibly a couple of months and just keep working on my skills for when the right opportunity arises. Having a mortgage and possibly starting a family soon doesn't make me feel too comfortable of taking a pay cut at the moment.

 

I think what you should be going to your manager with is that you are happy working for the company but would also like to progress and put your skills to better use. Maybe try and push for more project work or work with the infrastructure guys while still being a technical league for your current department.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the advice. I ultimately decided to not take the role. My current job bumped my pay making the pay cut even worse for me to stomach. I decided to stay with my current job for now and just focus on improving my infrastructure skills with more labbing and study. I've got my eyes on other positions so hopefully something better will come along that will provide me a new challenge and the appropriate compensation. Thanks again!