Who here is actually making close to salary.com suggested?

TechJunky

If you are, list your title, and location...

I am just curious how accurate that site is compared to members on this board.

Thanks!

Plantwiz

Not even close.

And realistically, our company just doesn't generate enough to pay the entire staff those rates...and that was based on our zip code. So, maybe a large city would apply or maybe our We$t would fit this model, but not the Mid-West.

dynamik

I get about 60% of the average, but I work at a smaller business that provides flexibility and a few other perks that are more important to me right now.

Megadeth4168

Nope, no where near what I should be making... I do have benefits and a pension but my pay honestly sucks.

I will be asking for a huge pay increase pretty soon... By huge I mean something like 40%. That will put me more where I should be.

Netstudent

Those figures are a national average. Meaning that the system admin in NYC is making 55K while the system admin in Dallas, tx is making 45K. I think the East and West coast drive up the national average.

BeaverC32

Netstudent wrote:

Those figures are a national average. Meaning that the system admin in NYC is making 55K while the system admin in Dallas, tx is making 45K. I think the East and West coast drive up the national average.

Salary.com asks for location (and quite a few other metrics), actually.

I've found that it's not a good source for me personally, simply because my job title (or anything close to it) is not available, so I have nothing to compare to.

mog27

Anyone subscribe to certmag? They recently did a salary survey that looked ridiculously high. I don't know where they got their numbers from. I remember seeing in there saying an A+ tech makes somewhere in the neighborhood of $45k/year. Here is a link to their article: http://certmag.com/salarysurvey.asp

Not sure if they put everything that was in the mag on the site.

Netstudent

BeaverC32 wrote:

Netstudent wrote:

Those figures are a national average. Meaning that the system admin in NYC is making 55K while the system admin in Dallas, tx is making 45K. I think the East and West coast drive up the national average.

Salary.com asks for location (and quite a few other metrics), actually.

I've found that it's not a good source for me personally, simply because my job title (or anything close to it) is not available, so I have nothing to compare to.

good point...Maybe they are old statistics.

snadam

dynamik wrote:

I get about 60% of the average, but I work at a smaller business that provides flexibility and a few other perks that are more important to me right now.

yea im about the same as you. And by small company, its about 300 people.

BeaverC32

mog27 wrote:

Anyone subscribe to certmag? They recently did a salary survey that looked ridiculously high. I don't know where they got their numbers from. I remember seeing in there saying an A+ tech makes somewhere in the neighborhood of $45k/year. Here is a link to their article: http://certmag.com/salarysurvey.asp

I saw that article, but haven't read it in detail yet. I do remember them breaking down salaries by age, and I was well above average.

In regards to them stating average salary for an A+ tech is, I don't think these stats are very meaningful. Is this the average salary for all A+ certified individuals? I have my A+, but my job is quite unrelated to a typical "A+ tech's" responsibilites. In other words, just because I am A+ certified doesn't mean I am a PC technician. Also, a tech with 15 years experience will obviously make more than a freshly-certified tech new to the field.

Daniel333

Wow, that was not even close. They said the bottom 10% gets $81,996, i get about half that. I think I brought down the curve. ha!
CRM Application Administrator
San Francisco Bay Area
3 years XP

Pash

About spot on for London IT starting Wage when I started with no experience. It's been almost a year which should make me £4,000 better off a year come pay review.....we shall see.

Plantwiz

Well,

It could be that when surveyed...people lied (I know hard to believe). It could also be that their results are inflated by some factor.

These survey's often make me wonder if its not some underground group attempting to dictate wage scales. It's nice to know approximately 'what' a particular job pays....but there are too many individual factors that come into play that its almost impossible to set this up to be accurate (meaning I doubt they'll put up the man-hours to research it properly).

mikej412

Plantwiz wrote:

It could also be that their results are inflated by some factor.

It's me. I'm the "factor." I've been contracting for over 10 years now making the BIG Buck$.

I'm sorry I've raised the average...., um except it does give the rest of you more ammo for pay raises.

Plantwiz

Yep, that's it....Mike's fault

TechJunky

OK, I was just curious. I myself make less than the starting wage of a system admin in my area...

I checked my wifes job and hers was spot on. It is good to hear that I am not the only one making below what they are suggesting. I just wanted to get a reality check and see how everyone else compared.

Trailerisf

I am lucky enough to be in the 95% percentile.

JDMurray

If a salary survey isn't broken down by geographical region then it can't be valid, because the same job (or cert) doesn't pay the same everywhere in the country.

Also realize that a person's certification(s) may have nothing to do with their current salary. You might make $100K/year and have an A+ cert, but your salary isn't because of the cert. However, when you take a salary survey, you will skew upwards the average salary in the A+ cert category.

Tricky things these statistics.

larkspur

would this be a more accurate site to scale your current with what it "should be" for US based folks...

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/index.htm

Mishra

I'm a system administrator in southern Indiana.

I do make near 50% of what salary.com has posted.

Turgon

Surveys are often skewed. I have been a contract network designer for 5 years now. Contract rates are very good and will push these numbers upo to levels that little resemblance to many permanent salary expectations. Mind you prior to contracting I was well paid in permanent work where I obtained my experience. As a permy I tripled my salary in 5 years. Had to work for it though and certs didn't have a lot to do with it! They helped me get interviews but my bonuses were tied to my performance. Certs helped to some extent there because I really worked very hard to know my stuff over the years.

garv221

Looks like Chief Information Technology Officer is the job, 50% puts you around 180k with a top at 281k.

Megadeth4168

I don't know.... These Salary surveys are starting to make me feel very unappreciated/underpaid at my job.

Netstudent

I like this survey a little better than salary.com.

http://tcpmag.com/salarysurveys/

liven

Seems like a lot of these numbers are for folks that have min 5 years and closer to 10 years of experience.

I have been in the business for 8 years and I am just starting to make the money in those surveys.

And yes I had to work my @ss off to get here.


I am not 100% on par for those surveys. But I will be soon. I am about 85%.

But like others have said. It is a long slow process, and just like most things in life you have to earn it.

If you really work for it eventually you will get what you deserve.

Just keep plugging away and give 100% all the time!!!

blargoe

Sr. Systems Administrator
Central NC
20th percentile

And I thought I was making pretty good... lol

Slowhand

Plantwiz wrote:

Yep, that's it....Mike's fault

Isn't it always?

multiplexed

I've found that running a couple of scenarios through www.payscale.com is pretty close to a realistic salary.

TechJunky

Thank's for that link.

That defiantly seems a lot closer.

I am on the high average side of that scale.