LeBroke wrote: » CISSP is pretty much the top-level cert. Hell, you usually can't even get it until you have 5+ verified years of security experience (i.e. a current CISSP has to vouch for your experience), or you have to take one of their approved courses.
LeBroke wrote: » Do you have no experience in IT whatsoever? Then $15/hour is normal. If you want to make a career in IT, teaching English would be fairly counterproductive. Thing is, in IT, experience is king. Certs will get you past HR filters, but unless you can also say and show you've done X, Y and Z, they won't get you a job past entry/junior level. Whereas a candidate without any certs but with relevant experience will usually get considered by most companies if he's got a good resume. You're also a bit all over the place. CCENT is one of the more entry level certs out there (on par with Net+.. maybe a little more difficult, but not by much). CISSP is pretty much the top-level cert. Hell, you usually can't even get it until you have 5+ verified years of security experience (i.e. a current CISSP has to vouch for your experience), or you have to take one of their approved courses. As for your actual question.. Look up the job title, compare it with what people from similar experience levels are making. $15/hour is in line with a typical NOC job, and $2-3 less than a typical help desk job assuming you don't have much experience. Once you've got a year and some good projects under your belt, you can easily get $20-25 in major city areas. Depending on cost of living/IT demand, of course.. Seattle it might be $55k for an OK sysadmin with 1 year Linux in a NOC environment, San Fran might pay $80k, and Atlanta you'd be lucky to have $40k. But if all you're getting now are offers for $15, then either you don't have enough experience (and higher level certs won't help with that - you'd still be getting the same $15 jobs; a CCNP with no experience won't land you a network engineer position), or you're applying to the wrong jobs (apply 1 step higher, like helpdesk -> deskside support, or desktop support -> jr. admin, and see if you get interviews).
LeBroke wrote: » Then yes, at this point, $15 is way too low. At this point, I'd say you're just applying to jobs below the level you should be applying at (or they're expecting to get a qualified sysadmin at $15/hour, this is also possible). $55k is pretty normal for 3 years experience. However, the way you phrased it, makes me think you're still looking at level 1-2 support. A much better decision would be to focus on a career path you want to take, get the next certification you need (i.e. an MCSA if you want to do/keep doing Windows), and then apply for better jobs. Hell, you can start applying for better jobs right now. Maybe post your resume on this forum - see if it pigeonholes you into a role. Write it so it focuses on the jobs you want, not the jobs you had (i.e. great user/customer satisfaction ratings are pretty irrelevant if you want to be a sysadmin, on the other hand, your experience with Exchange administration should be near the top).
Danielm7 wrote: » What have you done in those 3 years of experience? By that I mean if you've just been level 1 helpdesk the whole time the salary doesn't just go up without gaining responsibility, new titles etc. Sounds like you're trying to get into security? I'm just going by you mentioning the CEH, CISSP, what about that appeals to you? What part of security specifically?
TheReceiver wrote: » Ah, maybe I was just typing in haste after some deep thought. I apologize I should've inserted that as well. I also havent actually applied to much anything at all right now, as I am currently under contract until the end of June. However I do tend to spend time before the contract ends getting the feelers out and such. As for my buddy, his IT Firm doesnt have Tiered systems, just regional leads so that may have also been a bit of an outlier.
LeBroke wrote: » Ah okay, that makes sense. As for CEH vs SSCP - remember, most certs are HR buzzwords to begin with. A tech manager might choose an identical candidate with a cert over another one without a cert, but that requires you to be an identical candidate to begin with. The real reason to get them cert is to either get past HR requirements, or to learn new things. For HR, a cert is shorthand to let them know you at least know the basic concepts covered by the cert. I.e. if want to get into a field as a junior level guy, a CCNA shows you have some knowledge of networking, and a CEH shows you at least know basic principles of security and hacking. An SSCP is an entry-level cert very similar to the Security+ you already have. It probably won't teach you many new things, and it won't increase your chances with HR (since their requirement would already be satisfied by your Sec+, or they would want a CEH/CCNA:Security for the next tier of jobs). In all all honesty, I wouldn't recommend it.
