IT people -- am I paid fairly?

Contracting gigs in California pay at least $50-60+/hr for experienced professionals... and there are TONS of them since no one wants to hire permanent staff at the moment it seems. I've seen what I consider to be entry-level work in the $25-30/hr range. People with hugely in-demand skills could probably ask for a lot more if they're patient. I am literally being flooded with offers in SoCal and San Jose areas.

Personally as a senior network engineer for a major telecom company I am well into the six-figure range but keep in mind I have nearly 20 years experience and over a dozen certifications from 4 different vendors.
 
I think your pay is ok, but i wouldn't want your job. To much responsibility, i think people are more efficient when they can focus on a smaller area of expertise.
 
buttons said:
I think your pay is ok, but i wouldn't want your job. To much responsibility, i think people are more efficient when they can focus on a smaller area of expertise.
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Indeed! Some people like having a crap ton on their shoulders. I don't...

Recently I got a new job after being unemployed for a couple weeks. The interview that I was on didn't go into as much detail as I think it should have. I got a laptop and cell phone from the company. That's nice and all, but crap! there's a LOT more to do then they lead on during the interview. I feel like I'm getting pulled 5 different ways at once which doesn't work well.

I'm basically a tier 3 helpdesk, configure hardware for new and existing locations and on call 7 days a week.

All for ~$33k. Seems a little low for Maryland. don't ya think?
 
Being from California, and owning an IT company in California, I think you're doing fine. But IT is like anything else in life - what is your value to the company, and how much can you convince them you are worth.

Really...and this is some "out of the box" thinking...if you convince yourself your pay in IT is entirely dependent on certs, experience, education - you are doing yourself a disservice. Just like any other career.
 
QuiteSufficient said:
Being from California, and owning an IT company in California, I think you're doing fine. But IT is like anything else in life - what is your value to the company, and how much can you convince them you are worth.

Really...and this is some "out of the box" thinking...if you convince yourself your pay in IT is entirely dependent on certs, experience, education - you are doing yourself a disservice. Just like any other career.
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Yep, you're right! though I think I'm making good progress on that front of what I'm worth to them. my second day in I helped with streamlining a process to scan in hardware into a excel spreadsheet. No one ever thought to use a bar-code scanner to pull serial numbers before I came on board.

I've found that experience was above all the most important thing to have, followed by a almost dead even certs and collage. Though collage never can be taken from you where certs tend to expire after a while. Some jobs require collage and experience where others require certs and experience.
 
Well, I still haven't heard anything back. I dropped the the VP an email on Friday to let her know that I want to re-circle on this issue sooner rather than later. We joke at our company that we move "slighly faster than a glacier" ...

I should also add that I have a side business that generates another $40k to $50k or so in annual income (before taxes)... So I feel that I'm doing pretty well overall, but I just want to get paid fairly and not be taken advantage of. To me, the raise isn't really even that huge of a deal, it is more the principle. Heck, I would probably even accept less money then what I am thinking if they brought me up to a Director level.

If I did my side business full time, I think I could do around $150,000 per year ... So if this raise doesn't pan out to my satisfaction, I may just ask to go part-time so that I can concentrate on the side business.
 
Just wanted to update everyone ... I ended up getting bumped up to $85,000 before bonus's, plus they agreed to give me at least 1 weeks paid training per year.. So with my bonus I should be in mid-$90k range no problem.

I also hired a Jr Admin/Help Desk employee (right out of college) to take all the small things off my plate...

So in the end, I'm happy. Things worked out good, plus I had a glowing review. They pretty much told me that if I keep up doing what I'm doing, that there is more money every year. I'll start working on some certifications this year, which will only help me out in the long run.

Thanks for all the input! Never hurts to ask for a raise! :)
 
jtr8178 said:
Just wanted to update everyone ... I ended up getting bumped up to $85,000 before bonus's, plus they agreed to give me at least 1 weeks paid training per year.. So with my bonus I should be in mid-$90k range no problem.

I also hired a Jr Admin/Help Desk employee (right out of college) to take all the small things off my plate...

So in the end, I'm happy. Things worked out good, plus I had a glowing review. They pretty much told me that if I keep up doing what I'm doing, that there is more money every year. I'll start working on some certifications this year, which will only help me out in the long run.

Thanks for all the input! Never hurts to ask for a raise! :)
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Congrats!!! that is awesome. I need a JR Admin job hehe
 
Yea congrats, I'm surprised that a company that small would pay someone that much AND hire an additional IT person.
 
Congrats. That's a nice pay bump and you get extra help. If you need anymore, I'm sure there are plenty of us just starting our IT careers eager for a chance to dive head first into the market :D
 
NickJames said:
The government actually pays very well, sometimes too well for some people.
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I do all the OP does and then some but with a different title (System/Network Administrator) for county gov and I only make 43k :( I do all the work myself and have all the + certs, vmware certs and nearly 10 yr experience.
 
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Rudde93 said:
Do you have an education in what you do?
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I have a really unusual and unique career path, and have spent the last 15 years in my particular business. I've only spent the last 3 in my current position of IT, but I've done just about everything else here. My degree is in Business, and I've been the Manager of departments doing excess of $15 million a year in sales ... I did originally go to school for Computer Engineering, and spent 3+ years doing that before I switched to Business.

I don't have any certifications, but haven't needed to get them for any reason ... It has been important that I learn & understand them, the actual certification hasn't meant anything to me so I've never even tried to get them.

I think that my salary isn't based solely on IT experience & knowledge, but more on moving the company forward in the right direction from an IT & Marketing perspective. I do a lot of training with the employee's on how to use system, programs, iPhones, etc... The average age of our company is well above 40 if I had to guess.

The other thing in my benefit is that I'm in a really niche market, and it wouldn't be easy to find someone with my history and skillset. Heck, for the first job I got with this company 6 years ago (This is my 3rd position in 6 years) they paid a head hunter around $15k just for finding me... and that is when I made about 40% less than I do now.
 
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