Salery

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Hi Guys,

Just curious for your opinions really, I've recently got into IT through my current employer working my way up from the bottom, and when our IT guy said he was moving on, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

With little knowledge I was trained solid for 3 months on the different aspects within our company etc. I have now been in the position for 8 months and its gone great so far, Ive really come on and feel I am stable in the position.

What I want to know is, based on that background, what sort of Salery should I be on? Its a smallish company with around 70 employees and im the IT Admin / IT Support guy. We also have one more IT who deals with the software development on ms access, who doesnt really get involved in my side of things.

Any opinions would be great..


Paul

 

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It all depends on the location, size of the company and job role.

I am a frontline hardware/software support tech. Sometimes I work on the helpdesk or networks setting up 10mbs for specialised software that can only be on 10mbs.

I should be on £17k which is normal pay for the south. But if you look on the web most people are on £18k - £25k

look here

I guess it depends what you are doing IT for money or job satisfaction???

For me it has to be job satisfaction, when I worked for the MOD I was on buckets load of money £36K a year. But I worked 56 - 62 hours per week with no social life and hated my job! I never got time to spend the money, because I was working or sleeping or working

 

Well what is your current salary? And what was the previous guy's salary?

 

Yeah I can see where you coming from on the job satisfaction / money idea, I do like my job and enjoy it, but obviously the reason we work is at the end of the day, for an income. So I think its abit of both with me

Im currently on 15K, Im not sure how much the previous guy was on, but I think it was around the 21K mark.

Location does come into it where I am, Its not central London, its on the edge of London so that comes into it as well. I've been promised a salery review early January time, but im clueless to whether i'll get whats due, or being underpaid etc.

I guess i'll have to wait and see what im offered

 

It's a hard one to judge, in my last job i was in a smallish company too, similar to yours and i was on 17.5k.

However the senior guy (there were two of us) was on alot more, 30k i think.

I moved onto to my current position within a team in the public sector for 23k.... but when my old emplorer re-hired the person now doing my old job is on something like 12k... so it varies quite alot.

I'd say if you're in charge (as in responsibility for the network resides with you) then you should possibly be on more, however it depends on your situation as i know money in small companies can be very tight and fluctuates.

However i think now that now you have been working on 15k its unlikely you will get a large pay rise without leaving, so go for something modest like 17k or show them a development plan:

"Over the next year i plan to attain MCSA status.

The year after MCSE

This will increase my perfomance and provide the following benefits to the company etc etc...

Could we agree a pay rise of £1000 after the MCSA and £2000 after the MCSE"

That way they can see the benefits to the company of your certification to the company and you have something to aim for...

I've also found it best to "ease" these things in rather than give them the whole figure!

 

Hmm...they're taken the pi$$ with that wage m8! If they don't improve it I'd suggest you look to move on very soon! 24k is reasonable for your area!

 

Thanks for your input guys, I do agree that with improved knowledge etc my wage should definitely improve, and at that point I'd have alot more leverage to move on if they couldnt offer me what I wanted.

At the moment I feel at the stage where I just have to accept it, because until I get certs and more experience, I dont really have alot of opportunity to move with just 8 months experience.

I did think I was underpaid as I am the one stop shop for anything to do with IT in the company, and the responsibility is basicly down to me alone!

We'll see how the next 4-5 months go and then see where I stand I'll be back on here for advise on what to do next hehe

Cheers,

Paul

 

I'd have to say that you seem to be in a fantastic position. Ok the money's not great but there's no harm in asking for a little more given the amount of responsibility you have. Even if they say no you are in a position that is going to give you quite a variety of experience and after a couple of years of learning and certs you'll be in a position to get what you deserve or go somewhere where they will give it to you.
Put it this way, I'm on 27,000 in an industry I don't want to be in and I'd swap places with you tomorrow.

 

It is quite a lucky position to find myself in, I do want to take full advantage of it as well, I am planning to start studying hard for my A+ early next year when the new books etc.. are realised and really make a go of it.

I guess the money is important, but the experience im gaining is more important at this early stage of my IT Career.

 

You think that's bad I'm on 8.5k!

Just trying to get as much experience and certs and then I'll think I'll be moving on!

 

How large and how complex is the network you are looking after? How many servers, clients etc?

 

Im running on 4 servers, around 60 users at present. We use Linex and Windows Server 2003.

Judging on how complex the system is, I've only worked with this network so its hard to say how complex it is?

After reading through these posts I do feel a little more lucky then I thought I was, but as always, the money could always be better so we'll see what the future holds

 

I am on 16 1/2 k as a 1st line grunt in hertfordshire

I would deffo say you should be getting around the 17-20k mark.

as side note but similar in subject... our RIM team are on 19k ish, they have just advertised externally for 24k!!! they aint a happy bunch lol but it just shows you that internal promotion etc aint always the best move financially in the short term. However it no doubtedly will lead to bigger and better things later on down the line.

 

Haha, I do agree with the internal promotion thing, its great but you rarely get as much money as an outsider would coming into the job.

As im still fairly inexperienced in the IT world, Im happy to settle for 15K, but as many of you have pointed out, the longer im here, the more money I should come to expect, and after another year or so hopefully with A+ and N+, I will be in a very different situation.

 

Well to be honest, looking after that many users, computers and servers should not be a full time job. However it will keep you busy a lot of the time I am sure.

15K is definitely on the low side *but* this company have trained you from the ground up. It s often the case that people that have trained with a company are on lower salaries than people that are brought in from the outside. This makes sense because to attract potential employees companies need to offer slightly higher wages than the going rate.

I would stick it out there for a while, make them aware that you are eager to increase your package and drop a few hints that you are aware of what others in the IT industry are earning.

You will improve your earnings once you move on from there, that's how it works but the experience you are getting is invaluable, so bear that in mind before you decide to part company.

 

nXPLOSi,

Do you mind if I ask what you do all day that keeps you busy?

I have a network of 5 Servers about 300 Clients, plus SQL application to look after and I find I do nothing all day, why? because it runs itself.

At times I find it difficult to justify my salary, let alone that of the tech who I work with.

 

Thanks for the advise Bluerinse, I agree that the experience is the main thing at the moment and I am aiming to stay with the company for a while yet, I want to get perhaps 2 years experience and A+ / N+ and then reevaluate my situ?

Simongrahamuk, I do agree that some days I do find myself not having alot to do, in that time I usually try to look at bits and pieces to learn about them more. Although alot of my time is taken up with users, basic development of our Access system, and random jobs that my boss comes up with.

Regarding justifying the pay packet, I do also feel sometimes I dont, but they way I look at it is, without me if something was to go wrong, there would be no one here that would be able to fix it, which results in 60 users sitting about doing nothing. Even though we may sometimes not do much, we'r a crucial part of any company

 

Skilled IT staff should be more of an insurance policy than a workhorse, IT systems are pretty intelligent and can often 'run themselves' but the more complex they become, the more difficult it can be to isolate a problem, and thats where your skilled insurance po... IT staff come into play

I've been in roles where i was primarily firefighting and not improving the systems, the business wanted and needed them improved, but with no time between firefighting silly things due to poor implementation it could take us months to roll out simple projects, the less firefighting you have to do the more productive work you can manage

good luck NX
remember any salary increase YOU request will need to be justified, if they offer you a little more moolah though its usually not such a challange (probably why they always ask YOU what you are looking for lol)

 

in all honesty IT roles are mainly to support and develop the infrastructure to maximise company efficiency

if that means the IT bloke does sod all now and again due to having a top notch setup then jobs a good un

its when the shite hits the fan and something breaks that the salary is justified

if a server failed how much would it cost the company in a day nevermind the IT guys 'yearly' salary... thats where the business justification kicks in!!