What was your entry level salary like at your very first IT position.

I hope this isn't a double post, my first post seemed to vanish without a trace. Just trying to see what others IT paths have been like, since I plan to enter the field soon.

What was your entry level salary, at your very first IT position? And what position was it.

What type of schooling or certs did you have, and how long ago? How quickly were you able to move up?

Thanks.

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Comments

olaHalo

snunez889 wrote: »

did u get asked about leaving a job so soon in the interview?

If youre responding to me then yes. I did get asked about it.
No employer has ever said anything negative about me moving up quickly. In fact it is usually seen as a good thing.

Now if you were job hopping to similar level jobs then I can see that raising red flags

brownwrap

mxmaniac wrote: »

I hope this isn't a double post, my first post seemed to vanish without a trace. Just trying to see what others IT paths have been like, since I plan to enter the field soon.

What was your entry level salary, at your very first IT position? And what position was it.

What type of schooling or certs did you have, and how long ago? How quickly were you able to move up?

Thanks.

My first 'IT' job was for $3.18 an hour. I got a raise when they increased the minimum wage. That was in 1971 and I was working on a submarince, but in the private sector. I didn't have a 'cert', I had graduated from a tect schoool, Control Data Institute.

Gess

IT kind of found me, not the other way around. So I find myself in my early 30s trying to shape a career with what I have.

Entry Level Salary: $52K/yr
Postion: Subject Matter Expert/End User Customer Support
Certs/Experience: No certs, but Sec+ was a condition of retention. Had 5 years in the USMC working with the systems I now support.
Potential: I can't move up since the job is so specific, looking to move to GS eventually and try to make a career there. Working on a masters in IT now, my undergrad is in history.

snapdad

$30k as a Help Desk Tech back in 2003.

Shdwmage

My very first IT position was at my highschool. It paid $5.15 an hour.

/usr

I believe I started at $32K in 2003, with an Associate's degree, for a company I had been an intern with for about 8 months or so.

neocybe

1997 - $9.00/hr, HS diploma and an A+.I left at $18, 6 years later.

kurosaki00

7.25 - Seasonal job on 2003 or 2004. Only 1 year of college at the moment.
Pretty much JOA/Support

jws86

Hired this year at $36,400 per year. No experience, certs or degree.

sj4088

First IT position...Helpdesk
$20/hr.
I had just got my MCSE...This was back in 2000, when if you had an MCSE you were looked at as an god, lol, kind of like how people look at CCIEs these days. I set my sights too low, probably could of land a system admin job.
No experience
Associate degree

gc8dc95

First actual IT job....

IT Desktop Support
$45K

A+ and MCP

CyberfiSecurity

-Internship at my High School (Information Technology Specialist Assistance): $0.00/per hour (instead I got an "A" and National Technological Award)
- Micro Center as Technical Rep: $10.00/per hour
- Full-Time at Uncle Sam Misguide Children (USMC): $2.00/per hour (24 hour per day 7 days per week 365 days per year)
- blah balah blah blah
- Current: about $180,000.00/year

Krusader

First Position: (2012) Desktop Support (current job)
Salary: €25k
Experience: None
Certifications: A+, N+, CCNA R&S

mtnseeker

$10/hr + benefits back in 2008 as a Jr. Software Engineer for an outsourcing company located in the middle of nowhere.

RomBUS

Field Tech/Jr. Network Admin for a IT consulting company. Started out at $27k. No certs and job did not have benefits.

wolfinsheepsclothing

I started in Tier 1 support making $58k (Net+ / Sec+ / BS Degree). Moved up fairly quickly (currently making $95k); no longer in a support environment.

Cyberscum

First IT (INFOSEC) 65K/yr

TomkoTech

$10 part-time/intern doing tier 1 Helpdesk for an MSP. Put school on the back burner about 6 months later and went full time bumped to $15 an hour.

tkdgraben

First IT position: help desk, server, database, and consulting. Japanese / English

Salary:45k

Experience: 0

Certs: A+, Network+, MCSA Windows 7

ramrunner800

First IT Position: Tier 2 SOC Analyst

Salary: $ 80k + shift differential and OT (here in the Bay Area this is not as much as it sounds like)

Education: B.A.

Certifications: A+, S+, CCENT, C|EH

Experience: 4 years working as an analyst for a government contractor

seigex

First IT Position: PV2 in the US Army - Satellite Network Controller for MILSATCOM/ArmySpace/SMDC
Salary: somewhere between $8,000 & $10,500 with no overtime and work as many hours as the US Army demanded me to.
Education: High School
Certifications: Satellite Communications Systems Operator-Maintainer Course & ASI 1C Satellite Network Controller course

karthikheb

wolfinsheepsclothing wrote: »

I started in Tier 1 support making $58k (Net+ / Sec+ / BS Degree). Moved up fairly quickly (currently making $95k); no longer in a support environment.

Quick question if you don mind answering, how long did it take u to get to that 95 k ?

aderon

$12.75/hour + Commission + Pay for Performance

It was an internet help desk position consisting of setting up SOHO routers, troubleshooting speed issues, etc. I had an associate's in IT at the time and no certs, but I had a friend who was a manager there who helped me get in. After that, I got really into IT again and started working towards my bachelors and certifications.

pevangel

$17.50 for a systems position four years ago. I had my CCNA, S+, and A+ at the time.

NetworkNewb

Anyone else think its crazy when they say they made $50k+ doing tier 1 support with no experience? I know here in Minnesota, most tier 2 people usually don't even make that.

Its insane the salary disparity in different areas of the country as well. Being from Minnesota I need to avoid these kind of threads, its depressing

Jasiono

Worked at a place for 4 years
got my AAS in networking and went to the systems operations position
39k per year
stayed there for a short time and got a job elsewhere as a software tester
in 2014 I made 116k

ramrunner800

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Anyone else think its crazy when they say they made $50k+ doing tier 1 support with no experience? I know here in Minnesota, most tier 2 people usually don't even make that.

Its insane the salary disparity in different areas of the country as well. Being from Minnesota I need to avoid these kind of threads, its depressing

You really can't compare salary across areas due to the different costs of living, which really highlights the limited usefulness of threads like these. I do think they can be useful for helping people determine what to ask for, and what kind of fields/areas they might want to pursue as long as they know to be careful in their analysis of this info. $50k in some areas is barely a living, in others it could be decently comfortable.

bpenn

My first position came thanks to the experience provided to me by the US Air Force Reserve. I worked one weekend a month as a "Help Desk" airman and managed to get on Active Duty orders for 4 months. I networked with some guys on base and landed a service desk/ISSO/IAO job as a contractor. I started at $47k, have been here 3 years and am now at $51k. Passed the CISSP a month ago and am waiting for one more year of experience to become endorsed and hopefully dive more into security.

Also, I had an Associate of Applied Science in Info Systems Management and A+ when I interviewed.

hurricane1091

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Anyone else think its crazy when they say they made $50k+ doing tier 1 support with no experience? I know here in Minnesota, most tier 2 people usually don't even make that.

Its insane the salary disparity in different areas of the country as well. Being from Minnesota I need to avoid these kind of threads, its depressing

I have the same problem as you. $58k for Tier 1 support for example is literally amazing, kudos all the way. Entry level developer, network admins, and systems engineer positions don't even always pay over that in the big city of Philadelphia. Truly amazing the disparity in salaries throughout this country.

Mooseboost

First IT job: Help Desk.
Pay: Starting @ 12.40/hr, we peak at 25/hr (assuming no promotions, etc)