What will I be worth???

zenlakin

Hey guys. I was just curious what you guys think might be a salary range for someone living in the Denver, Colorado area with a Bachelors in IT and pursuing a Masters in Computer Systems Security? Also any ideas on what I might expect with all of that plus a CCNA? Just trying to think ahead and see what I might be worth in the next year as my Masters will be done by the end of this year and I also plan on having my CCNA by the end of the year as well. Thanks guys.

DeJay

Depends on how much expreince you have. If you have 0 experience I would guess around $40K.

zenlakin

I have about 7 years of IT experience currently. I am currently a network engineer contracted to the Dept. of Defense. I have been pretty much everything from bench tech/pc technician to network admin and now network engineer.

sthomas

It also depends on the locations and a lot of other factors, I am not familar with Denver Colorado that much but if I had to guess I would say with your experience and education you are looking at 50k or more but that is just a guess.

zenlakin

I am definitely hoping that it is more as in my current job I am making a little over 55k and I was hired on before having my bachelors, masters or any certs.

sthomas

If that is the case then you should be able to make more than your current job.

sprkymrk

While there are many factors invloved, the usual answer to "how much am I worth or will I be worth" almost always seems to be ......


about $5,000-10,000 more than you currently make.

blargoe

Your future earning potential will be greatly increased, but immediate impact, would be more like a few thousand $ probably

famosbrown

You should name your salary. I'm not sure about hte market in Denver, Colorado, but in my opinion, with a degree and the experience you have, you can ask for about 70K+. It all depends on who is trying to hire you, their budget, and what they are paying that position/title. I cam eout of school with my Bachelor's making 60K+ as a programmer. That's what college taught me and their aren't any certs that can combat it. Since I've moved over to the networking/systems side of things, I have taken a pay cut, but soon to be over what I was making out of college programming. If you are with a Federal Governement now, have a bachelor's, going for your Masters, going to attain certs, and have the skills to be a Network Engineer, I would say you should be at least a GS12 on the I.T. Special Pay Scale, which starts off around 62K for Step 1.

Since I've been in this field, talked with many in this field, etc., I've met many who have and still are being underpayed for the workload and the skills they have. Some people with Masters degrees, load of certs, experience, etc. only think they are work 40K because that is all they see. There are many people out there with the same education, experience, and skills that are making 6 digits easily. You just have to find that job, or get with a company who has the money to pay you what you are REALLY worth. The networking/systems/helpdesk (cert reining I.T. field) is so flooded that employers can get a HIGHLY silled applicant for cheap. But you do have those HIGHLY skilled applicants who know what they are worth and know how to negotiate close to what they are worth. Most employers know how much it would take to get their perfect candidate, but that doesn't stop them from starting low. They know that it may cost them 100K a year for a skilled CCIE, but that won't stop them from offering them 60K and hoping they don't negotiate and just settle for less than what they are worth. Just an example.

I could go on, but just got out of class...sleep time .