$12 an hour? This is a joke.

The job description below pays $12 an hour. This job is for a Network Tech for a school district in southern Illinois.

Qualifications Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree with experience in all aspects of technology and network usage in a school district. Knowledge and training in all Windows Operating Systems including Windows Servers, Active Directory and Internet Information Service. Experience with Linux systems, network architecture, network security and imaging software. Knowledge and training in the maintenance and set-up of audio equipment for school district functions.

I know I should expect pay to be lower with school districts out in the country but am I naive to think it would be this low?

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Comments

srabiee

It's laughable and ridiculous IMO.

I was making more money than that 6 years ago in a call center with a high school diploma, no certs, little to no help-desk experience, and in the state of WV which has a terrible economy. My job duties were only a small fraction of what your posted job requires.

markulous

Seems a bit low based on what they want you to know and that they prefer a bachelor's. I'm curious as to what the actual job duties are.

cyberguypr

Amazing. That was my 1998 salary. No degree, no certs, 2 years experience, zero Linux, zero IIS, little AD.

Z3-Masterd

That's low pay, but is it commensurate with the area? I work in a backwater area and make lower pay. A job like the one you posted around here would probably only get you around $26,000 -- $28,000

N2IT

@srabiee +1 Stupidity at it's finest! Wow some people love to exploit some desperate souls.

SteveO86

I made that much as PC tech at Circuit City learns ago (when they were still open before they adopted firedog or w/e it was)

I also made more than that on a helpdesk -level-1 (also many years ago)

jvrlopez

Almost made that much pushing shopping carts in 100 degree heat back in 2006.

DrB1986

tjb122982 wrote: »

The job description below pays $12 an hour. This job is for a Network Tech for a school district in southern Illinois.

Qualifications Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree with experience in all aspects of technology and network usage in a school district.Knowledge and training in all Windows Operating Systems including Windows Servers, Active Directory and Internet Information Service.Experience with Linux systems, network architecture, network security and imaging software. Knowledge and training in the maintenance and set-up of audio equipment for school district functions.

I know I should expect pay to be lower with school districts out in the country but am I naive to think it would be this low?

My advice would be unless you really need a job is to stay the HELL away from that position, just my two cents, sounds like to me they want a lot of qualifications but will underpay and probably overwork you as well, I have seen **** like this before in fact I am working in one thankfully leaving soon however.

hellolin

yes it's low pay, but I have known people that worked for school district before and they said the reason why for the low pay is because of the work pace is so slow there. When he got this job here with our help desk team, he had done some 4 month of work when he was in a school district in as little as 3 weeks here in a private company, hence why the low pay, there was just not enough work for him to do, sometimes he could come in and do nothing, maybe work 1 ticket a day that's it, so I'd say that's not a lot work for $12 a hour, sure as good to make as a college student's job

NicWhite

Southern Illinois... That sounds about right. What is the the name of the town? You really can't expect much from that area.

devils_haircut

I don't make much more than that, and I work in the same field. Although my job responsibilities don't "require" any of that knowledge, it's all tech that I interact with, and knowing it makes my job much easier.

Wages haven't budged much in about 20 years, so this comes as no surprise to me. It's frustrating as hell that some of the people doing the hiring seem to think that just because THEY made $25,000 per year when they started in the industry, that should be a fair wage for someone today. Nevermind the fact that they started several decades ago. The best part is when my parents ask me why I haven't bought a house yet (I'm ~30), and I try to explain this concept of stagnant wages and higher COL to them, all I get are blank stares. My dad was making the salary that I am now when he was my age. But that was back in 1989. Gas was closer to $1 per gallon. A 1 bedroom apartment in central Indiana was about 50% less than it is now ($521 vs $218 median rental rate according to census.gov).

Disposable income? Savings? What are those things?

/rant

NinjaBoy

Before I jump in and say "stay away", there's only partial information there... You also have to take into consideration:

What are the career prospects like?
What are the benefits like? eg holidays, healthcare/dental, pension...
What Training is provided/given?
What is the Work/life balance?
Are you currently working in IT?
Can you afford to live on that wage short term, at least?

At $12ph that equates to about $23088 pa, which would have been approx. my salary at my first IT job at a College. The salary was low but the training was excellent. That was my first stepping stone to where I am today

pinkydapimp

Right. Jobs are going to pay as little as possible to get the skills they desire. if they know people will take the job for that pay then thats why its so little. From what i know about school districts, many people mention the benefits as being the reason for taking those jobs. I think you get benefits for life after being on the job for 20 years or something like that. Also, i think doing IT for a school district is one of the more challenging environments. Most districts have little money so you are doing more with less. Plus the kids unlike normal employees are constantly trying to subvert the controls. The plus side is you may have access to learning other skills that another job may not give you. If you can get server experience here whereas another job only lets you crunch helpdesk tickets, it might be worth it for a year.

Mr. Meeseeks

SteveO86 wrote: »

I made that much as PC at Circuit City learns ago (when they were still open before they adopted firedog or w/e it was)

I also made more than that on a helpdesk -level-1 (also many years ago)

You were a PC?

SteveO86

Mr. Meeseeks wrote: »

You were a PC?

Updated my post, I seriously started laughing when I read that!

datacomboss

devils_haircut wrote: »

I don't make much more than that, and I work in the same field. Although my job responsibilities don't "require" any of that knowledge, it's all tech that I interact with, and knowing it makes my job much easier.

Wages haven't budged much in about 20 years, so this comes as no surprise to me. It's frustrating as hell that some of the people doing the hiring seem to think that just because THEY made $25,000 per year when they started in the industry, that should be a fair wage for someone today. Nevermind the fact that they started several decades ago. The best part is when my parents ask me why I haven't bought a house yet (I'm ~30), and I try to explain this concept of stagnant wages and higher COL to them, all I get are blank stares. My dad was making the salary that I am now when he was my age. But that was back in 1989. Gas was closer to $1 per gallon. A 1 bedroom apartment in central Indiana was about 50% less than it is now ($521 vs $218 median rental rate according to census.gov).

Disposable income? Savings? What are those things?

/rant

I say get the hell out of Indiana and Illinois. I know most school districts in Texas pay a heck of lot more than $12/hr.

tjb122982

hellolin wrote: »

yes it's low pay, but I have known people that worked for school district before and they said the reason why for the low pay is because of the work pace is so slow there. When he got this job here with our help desk team, he had done some 4 month of work when he was in a school district in as little as 3 weeks here in a private company, hence why the low pay, there was just not enough work for him to do, sometimes he could come in and do nothing, maybe work 1 ticket a day that's it, so I'd say that's not a lot work for $12 a hour, sure as good to make as a college student's job

Carbondale. So it is not completely backwater.

tjb122982

datacomboss wrote: »

I say get the hell out of Indiana and Illinois. I know most school districts in Texas pay a heck of lot more than $12/hr.

When you say Texas, do you mean Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin etc. or in the sticks?

devils_haircut

datacomboss wrote: »

I say get the hell out of Indiana and Illinois. I know most school districts in Texas pay a heck of lot more than $12/hr.

I was stationed at Fort Hood for a while when I was in the Army. I wouldn't mind going back to Texas. But it costs money to move, and yeah...I don't have much of that.