Wage Question and Thank You.

LAN_Man

Hello All,

I first of all like to say thank you to everyone on this forum. By using the formula of certs, schooling and volunteering for experience that was recommended I was able to get a job working for an association of YMCAs in my area.
I have been with the company for about a year, I started out volunteering and then moved to 15 hours a week and now am scheduled 32 hours a week. We are looking to budget me full time for next year. I am looking for recommendations on what people think I should shoot for pay. I know this depends on a number of factors but I am just looking for a couple of suggestions for an hourly wage. Here is a little background.

My title at the moment is IT - Support Specialist, I am about to get my A.A.S in Computer Support and a A.A.S in Networking by the end of the year. At work our department supports 9 facilitates with about 400 end users, I answer most of the support calls, I am involved in making changes to our public website, have designed, developed, and support our staff website and a camp website. I have recently deployed 2 new domain controllers, a file server, a new exchange server and worked with the Blackberry Enterprise Server to get it to work with our new exchange server. I am involved in the process of migrating our mixed environment phone system to all Voip. I am located in Wisconsin so I know that the pay may not be the same as if I lived in a larger city. I am looking for some ammo to use for when the talks about wage begin. Any input or advice would be great. Thank you again everyone.

earweed

From what you've done there so far it should be over 30K but I'm just guessing. Seems like you've learned a lot from working there. What will your title be when you go to full time? Seems like with all that you've done so far it should at least be a JR System Admin or something such as that.
I noticed you don't have any certs listed but I guess it's not important where you're working now. You may wantto get some certs relating to what you've worked with so far so as to aid you in a future job search. As many will tell you the certs are not as important as the knowledge gained but since you're learning the stuff anyway why not go that little extra distance and get the certs.

Plantwiz

Depends on your area and how much competition there is, but 25-32K would seem reasonable. IMO

(and the folks from the East Coast and the West Coast will think that's chump change, but that's not out of line for mid-west depending on the city size and the organization).

Rather then asking folks on a forum who probably don't live in your area, start interviewing and find out what's being offered.

LAN_Man

Thanks for the replies. I do not have any certs yet but, I am studying for my 70-290 and am going to go for the MSCE. My boss and I are going to look at my duties and look around at other job posting to come up with a title.

powerfool

LAN_Man wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I do not have any certs yet but, I am studying for my 70-290 and am going to go for the MSCE. My boss and I are going to look at my duties and look around at other job posting to come up with a title.

LAN_MAN, if you are serious about the MCSE, I would get a move on it. At least do one exam each month, if not two. They have already started retiring exams. I think it will truly be a wise path for you to take, you just don't want to be sitting there an exam short when they retire the last one that you need.

With that being said, you are right to work on 290 first. No need to start with the client exam, as the Windows 7 exam will count and it will be around for a long while to come. Once you do 290, start studying hard for 291 and 293 and take them within a short timeframe of each other, as there is a lot of overlap. 294 is not full of a lot of new material after completing those first three.

The electives are where they have started cutting exams, so you will want to get through the core 4 exams in order to make it to those electives and design exams.

Best wishes.

erpadmin

Plantwiz wrote: »

Depends on your area and how much competition there is, but 25-32K would seem reasonable. IMO

(and the folks from the East Coast and the West Coast will think that's chump change, but that's not out of line for mid-west depending on the city size and the organization).

When you're starting out, that is not unreasonable in the Northeast. I should know, as that was definitely what I was seeing when I broke into the scene. It's based on experience, and if I ever found myself in the midwest offered that range based on years of experience, I would most certainly pass. But if starting out, that's certainly the range you can expect. Then after about 3 years (was always the magic number for me) getting something in the 40s wouldn't be unreasonable depending on skillset. Or at a minimum $35k. I know the economy is still rough though.

Salary.com is a good place to start to find out what you're worth/what you can be worth. Keep in mind though that non-profits will 9/10 always pay lower than what you'd get in a private sector industry. But non-profits are great for learning and growing and even running the shop your way.