I am 22 yrs old with no college degree

Networkhead

I have about 6 yrs of IT experience ( 4 yrs of sys admin experience). I make 71k/yr as a network admin in the NY area. Is this normal or am I doing well?
I completed 2 years of EE before dropping out to dedicate more time to my job.

royal

To me, it depends on so many factors. I've seen several jobs posted on sites like Craigslist where they want someone in Chicago with 5-7 years of experience and are offering $80,000. I'm pretty sure the cost of living is higher in New York.

Depends on:
1. Where in New York determines cost of living salary
2. Do you consider yourself an expert in a specific piece of technology where your company would consider you a very valuable employee?
3. Do you consider yourself well rounded in many of the technologies that your company's infrastructure has? Do you know the network so well that your company needs you very badly or could you be easily replaced?
4. Do you know if your company is holding you back due to a lack of a college degree?
5. Have you checked other company's salary offerings in your area for jobs similar to yours?

BeaverC32

Where exactly in NY do you live? Expenses are much more expensive in NYC than, say, Syracuse. $71k/year sounds like a good salary at such a young age, though.

SRTMCSE

What part of NY? I'm originally from NY (Brooklyn) and depending on what part of NY 70k could be "ok" or it can be (can't believe I'm saying this) "poor". 70k in the surrounding boros is pretty good, Manhattan, LI, SI that 70k can start to stretch. Hence why a lot of ppl I know work in NY and live here in the Poconos.

Back to the "are you doing well", seems you're right about on point for what you should be making at your level. I'm in this field about 4 years now and have had interviews for positions in Manhattan making a little less than that (turned them down b/c I couldn't stand the commute and lack of family time).

Networkhead

I live in Queens and work in Manhattan.

blargoe

It sounds like you are doing well. I would give very strong consideration to completing some kind of degree and doing soon as soon as you can. If something happens to you at this job, you may have a harder time finding something similar if you don't have a degree. Your resume might just get filtered out without consideration. If your company offers tuition reimbursement, you would be foolish not to take them up on it.

bas13

Yeah I think a degree is critical, about 90% of the jobs I look at all require a Bachelors degree or higher. I'm the same age as you and although I only have about 3 years of experience in the computer industry I am working on my Associates in IT, + certifications which still won't give me a leg up on others until I get that BS in Computer Science. Either way don't be hesitant about going back to school is my main point. Even if your doing it part time that's better then nothing. Don't commit to something you can't finish but a Bachelors degree would certainly put you in the higher paid brackets for similar work your doing now. It's an investment for yourself and your family in the future is the way I like to think of it.

Priorities in my opinion:
1. Experience.
2. Education
3. Certifications

You got 1 & a little of 3 so you ain't doing to bad but with all 3 you would be killer.

Best of luck to you.

SRTMCSE

SweetAcid wrote:

I live in Queens and work in Manhattan.

That's pretty good for Queens, unless it's Howard Beach, LOL.