Help w/ Salary Question

ITnewb

Hello I recently went in for a second interview with a company for a help desk technician position. I feel the interview went well and all of the people that I have talked to said I would be a great addition to the team. Salary hasn't been discussed in either interview and but from all of the feedback I think I might get the job. It is a small privately owned company but is in the food processing management industry. If I am hired I wanted some advice on the salary of this position. I have tried to find some information on what type of salary this job might have but the duties responsibilities have me lost. The job description is below

Help Desk Technician
DESCRIPTION:
The company provides food manufacturing companies in the US, Canada and Latin America with overhead sizing, grading and weighing lines as well as fully integrated computerized production and inventory systems for food processing plants.

SUMMARY JOB DESCRIPTION:
The primary responsibility of the HelpDesk is technical support of the company. The proprietary systems involve production and inventory software controls, using multiple devices on multiple operating systems and platforms. The HelpDesk Technicians have to be familiar with all of the software applications, tools and the custom integration of specialized systems in each customer’s operations. Most support communication occurs via phone and email making strong communication skills a definite prerequisite. The HelpDesk is also responsible for quality control through testing software updates, fixes, and/or full development releases. The HelpDesk team assists with setting up and configuring new systems (servers, PCs, scanners, etc.) The HelpDesk is 24x7, averages over 400 calls per month, and supports over 100 sites.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Support customers via phone or email; connecting remotely to systems to identify, assess and/or fix issues.
- Develop and maintain effective relationships with customers and knowledge of their operations within high standards of customer service and professionalism.
- Software quality control testing; based on written specifications, configure test scenarios with detailed documentation of tests/results.
- Coordinate multiple activities and priorities with limited supervision.
- Assist with setting up and testing new systems and other special projects as needed.
- Provide quality results in a timely manner with organization and efficiency.

REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelors Degree or equivalent
- Customer relations experience, 4+ years
- Proven effective communications, verbal and written; strong attention to detail
- Ability to present solutions and ideas in user-friendly, business-friendly and technical language
- Technical experience with databases, Linux, SQL
- Ability to learn quickly, adapt to steep learning curves and complex applications
- Highly self-motivated and directed, illustrating initiative, flexibility and enthusiasm
- Possess strong analytical, troubleshooting and problem solving skills in data related areas
- Must be able to alternate shifts and weekends (alternating on-call rotation), schedule varies as needed – with limited, occasional travel (for training purposes)
- Fluency in Spanish – not required but highly desirable

The job mostly entails querying a database using the progress language and software testing when not helping a client. Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Tom Servo

Where is it located?

BradleyHU

i usually like to discuss salary expectations upfront before I even do interviews. I refuse to go through rounds of interviews, only to get to the salary portion, and they're not looking to pay what I'm looking for.

Salary all depends on where you live, and what industry the firm is in...

ITnewb

I guess I should add more information to this lol. It is located in NC. I like everything about this company as far as growth potential, family culture, people, and work importance. This will be my first salaried position and I basically got an interview because of my Master's degree and the classes I have taken in undergrad. I was told on the shift I would potentially be working there would be at the most 5 calls on a busy day and software/equipment testing so I will always be busy. Any other questions that can help you help me, feel free to ask.

ITnewb

BradleyHU wrote: »

i usually like to discuss salary expectations upfront before I even do interviews. I refuse to go through rounds of interviews, only to get to the salary portion, and they're not looking to pay what I'm looking for.

Salary all depends on where you live, and what industry the firm is in...

They are in the poultry and egg industry but are looking to expand to other other goods like coffee.

jvrlopez

The person who talks first in negotiation loses.

It's a really sticky situation. Hopefully they'll throw out something good and that'll be the end of it.

ITnewb

jvrlopez wrote: »

The person who talks first in negotiation loses.

It's a really sticky situation. Hopefully they'll throw out something good and that'll be the end of it.

That's how I feel. It would be great to at least have an idea of what kind of pay this company offers but since it is a privately owned company it's no real way to find that info. Only way I know of is to know someone in the company, that which I know of none, to provide me some insight. Since it does involve working with databases, linux, and having some idea of how to query using progress and eventually SQL I would only venture to think the pay would be at least $40k but every time I think about this number I think I am low balling. The hiring manager did mention this was an entry-level position in the company but I would have the potential to move up in the company pretty quickly depending on how well I grasp their systems.

sj4088

BradleyHU wrote: »

i usually like to discuss salary expectations upfront before I even do interviews. I refuse to go through rounds of interviews, only to get to the salary portion, and they're not looking to pay what I'm looking for.

Salary all depends on where you live, and what industry the firm is in...

I'm with you. I get this information upfront from either the recruiter or HR person. I don't mention it in the interview with the hiring manager. There is no need to since I already know what the range is. And obviously if they aren't paying in my range I wouldn't even go to the interview. Likewise if they can't give me a range beforehand I won't go to the interview either. I'm not about to go through a whole big interview process only to find out they are only offering 60K when I know that it's going to take at a minimum 75K to get me to sign on.

iBrokeIT

HAve you tried checking Glassdoor and the job boards to see what similar positions in the area pay?

networker050184

jvrlopez wrote: »

The person who talks first in negotiation loses.

I think that is only the case if you do not know what you are worth. If you don't know that you are probably going to lose whether you talk first or second anyway.

ITnewb

iBrokeIT wrote: »

HAve you tried checking Glassdoor and the job boards to see what similar positions in the area pay?

I have looked on there but my only problem is that this job entails software testing, general tech support, querying databases for customer information using progress and eventually SQL when they finish system development. That in itself is out of the realm of an entry level help desk position. There may also be an opportunity to travel to complete installations as the description says. It is tough for me to quantify a number because I am new to this salary thing lol.

I have just got an email letting me know they selected me for the position. I guess I will do some more research before I hear what they are offering. Can no one give me a figure just from their knowledge without thinking about geographic area?

ITnewb

networker050184 wrote: »

I think that is only the case if you do not know what you are worth. If you don't know that you are probably going to lose whether you talk first or second anyway.

A company asked me about what salary I was looking for and I put my foot in my mouth. Then I proceeded to ask them what they were offering.....he laughed *i cried* and he said "That's exactly what we are paying" smh. Never again will I make that mistake.

LionelTeo

I usually put a reasonable expected salary that is slightly lower base on experience, qualification and supposed market rate. Let's say the standard rate is at 36k for your first job. You may consider asking a slightly lower rate at 3.48k (that's about 100 dollar less per month).

The reason for placing the salary is useful. First, it give you an edge over resumes without expected salary. Having the salary can allows employers to know whether you are within their budget, this saves a lot of unecessary interview time between you and employer.

The second reason is that your resume will get consider first over those that do not have expected salary if you are within the budget, because from employer perspective, they have no idea if those resume without an expected salary are within their budget, thus their resume gets to push aside first unless they run out of consideration.

The third reason will save you from the unecessary negotiation, and you know exactly how much you would want and how much would you want to get pay for.

The fourth reason would allow you to gague the market, if you are not getting calls, then you can readjust to a lower value until you get a job that is consider the 'highest' base on your qualifcation.

You may be wonder if setting a salary would also means that you could be underpaid, from experience, if a company is willing to pay you. You will get higher than what you asked for. A lousy company will use that as a reason to give you the unfair wages. A good company however, will pay you even more than what you asked.

My first company to my second company, I only asked for 300 more per month. I gotten an more than 3 times the increment I asked. My second company to third, I asked for a 25% increment. The HR told me my expectation was rather high, but ended up coming back to me with an offer of 3 times of what I had asked.