a different slant on the "how much can i earn" question.

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Ok, rather than asking how much I can earn in my first job, I thought i'd see what happens when you reverse the question and ask what I have to do/achieve to earn a certain pay scale.

I ask because i'm 35 (God - over the hill) and wanting to change careers for geographical reasons to something IT orientated.
SO
Assuming i'm going to be starting on £12.5k to £15k, what certs/experience/years service will I be needing to attain my current salary of approx £30k?

Yes I know geography and other factors will dictate hugely, but any ballpark answers?
appreciated
SK

 

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Thats a tough question to answer Simon, as it depends on so many variable factors. I would say that doubling an annual salary, if all is going nicely to plan and your performance is good, would take a good few years. Though, it may never happen.

The best increases in individuals salaries that i have witnessed over the years is when people switch jobs.

The reason for this is that managers are typically given a salary increase budget, which is a fixed amount based on the current department salary budget and the cost of living/inflation. So there isn't huge amounts to dish out to individuals, even if they deserve it and management wanted to.

 

Ok, new question - honest answers is good.

Assuming the financial environment gets better over the next couple of years, are people employing people of my age (35) in these 'junior' roles. Lets assume i'm touting A+, N+ MCDST or MCSA and have some basic experience supporting client machines and simple networks.

Just wonder before getting certified and finding i'm "over the hill" and unemployable in this field.

Cheers and hope i' not too boring..

SK

 

May well depend on what experience you can put with the certs.

 

Absolutely. I don't care how old you are or what color your skin is or what gender you are; if you can do the job, I want you on my team. I've known people to get started in their ITs in their 40s and 50s, so you're nowhere near being "over the hill".

That said, I wouldn't recommend that you get the MCSA until you have 6 months of actual business IT experience administering servers. The A+, Network+, and MCDST are fine.

 

Depends how often your willing to change jobs
changing jobs brings much higher salary increases than annual performance reviews do, but there are a seperate set of challenges to deal with, and it doesn't always look brilliant on a resume (that's becoming less and less of an issue in the IT world, jobs in IT are very much not seen for life, and progression often requires you to move about)

 

I took a significant - and by that I mean about 30% - cut in my salary when I left my previous career and moved into IT.

I had been with my previous firm for nearly 10 years and had done well for myself and now I was starting pretty much from scratch again.

It took me a couple of years to get back even and another few to make a decent improvement.
In the end I was paid for my contribution to the business and not because of what certs I had. I could just as easily have had none.

I think you probably have to have a fair bit of experience and expertise under your belt before you can expect to have someone throw money at you. Certs alone are never going to do it for you.

 

I can only talk on personal experience, but I went from 12k up to close to your target in about 4-5 years I would say. Each career path is different though, and it depends on capability, location, job availability.

And as Phoenix pointed out, job moves net greater increases. I managed to make a close to 50% increase just by changing jobs once.

 

Hey there, sorry for the delay replying...

Thanks for the confidence boost. Good to know there's a place for me somewhere. I'll aim to be MCDST before working further with certs - sounds a good plan!

I've been in a performance related industry for 13 years now and could move around or up the ladder by passing an interview. Now I am looking at an industry that demands experience, it's all change...

Good though, keeps you on your toes!!

thanks again

SK

 

Another thing that I could see happen is a Salary Adjustment. Basically if you change positions in your company. For example going from desktop support to a system adminstrator. You're no longer doing the same job and thus can get a bigger increase in salary then an annual review increase. As to how much more would you get, that I can't tell you because it's different with every company.

 

Yeah - there a lots of complications.

I've worked for companies where a promotion doesn't necessarily mean a rise in pay.
For example, if you worked in a sales-related department and then got promoted to a higher grade in a support department you may see your salary fall because that department doesn't generate the cash.

I used to work for a major retailer where a customer services manager in a big store would be earning more than the store manager in a small store - but technically the store manager had the more senior job.

To be honest, that sucked because in theory they could down-promote you.

Mind you, I've also worked for a company that kept giving you more money every time you moved, got promoted, passed a good review etc - so guys with long service were earning more than their bosses. I guess that sucked too in it's own way.

 

Mate, I changed careers into IT at the start of June '08, I took a massive pay drop, over 300% in total.

But, I had savings and we have a young family and I knew that if I wanted to actually be a father to my daughter it meant that I needed to see her.

In my previous role, I left before she woke up and was back after she was in bed.

Yeah the money was great, but it was serious hard work and I was left knackered most of the time.

So I moved into IT on perhaps the higher end of the starting wages in 1st Line Support. Worked my arse off and have increased my earnings by £8k over 12 months and am now in 3rd Line Support.

So it can be done, I'm not saying mine is the right way, it is a way, I'll try and find my 1st Year in IT post so that you can read it.

Click ME Please

 

So you were paying them when you went to work?

 

Ahh Craigie,

Now that's what i wanted to read. A real feel good story that makes me think there is a chance.

You see that's me all over. I can't stop reading and learning. Got one "novel" in the bookcase, surounded by literally thousands of reference manuals etc. So the head down and get learning shouldn't be a huge upheval for me!

Ok then, roll on Friday when I can order some books and get working!

Cheers for that boost Mr. C

SK