Unsure of what my salary expectations should be

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Hey guys,

I am applying for a Junior IT Assistant role with a successful construction company in Northern Ireland and they have asked me what my salary expectations are and I am unsure. I have 10 GCSE's, 3 A-Levels and I recently graduated with a 2:1 in Computer Science. I am also currently doing a part-time CompTIA A+ course. I worked for a year before starting university as a temp admin assistant earning about £200 a week and I also worked in an IT Technical Support role at a university department as part of my student placement year earning around £250 a week. Since graduating in the summer I have been providing voluntary IT Support at my local secondary school whilst I try to find an ICT Technical Support job. Ideally I would like a job as an IT Technician at a school or university but as I am only starting out I am happy with any type of IT support experience although I would prefer to avoid working in a call centre environment or being a field technician that needs to travel. Can I get some advice on how I can figure out what are realistic salary expectations?

 

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Given what you have said, I would expect you to want between £18-£21k for your first role with a company and then to move up the ranks.

 

Well, you could always try just answering the question in your head...

What are your salary expectations?

Minimum wage is, what? Around £12k a year in the UK. So how much more would you expect for the 1st rung on the ladder?
Remember it's not all just about the pay - there are other things too; will they pay for training, what are the prospects of promotion; how many paid holidays do they offer? Etc.........

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With a title like that (they are stressing the point by using both the 'Junior' and 'Assistant') - I'd say this would be in the £14-17k bracket...

 

I think the problem with starting out in the IT world is that you normally don't get paid much more then you would for just a bog standard office job! I'd probably go with 15-20k area depending on area.

As Richy has said though, there are more questions to be asked in regards to training, prospects and the package they offer. The first two of which are very important to your future at the company/elsewhere.

 

Just to give an idea. I've worked in IT for just about 4 years now and only 3 months ago I surpassed what I used to earn in a well paid warehouse job, before I was made redundant in 2008.

The difference is that back then it was a dead-end career and this time I'm just getting started. It's not all about the money. I volunteered for almost a year, at least 20 hours a week, before I got my first paid job in IT.

 

I can also contribute to this by saying i have only worked in IT for 8 months and by the time ive paid out for my expensive train ticket and parking i am only on £50 better off a month than what i was doing my previous job in a paint shop.

To start with i was on pretty much the same, im only slightly better off now because ive bought a years train pass which downsized my train fair a hell of a lot. However like many have said above i took the job because it got my foot on the ladder and its a good company offering me with alot of experience, prospects & training.

(On a side note i have been promised a payrise this month which im excitingly waiting on how much its going to be)