My average starting salary

abdul 17717

[h=1][/h]I am a ccna, ccnp, ccna-wireless, ccnp-wireless, ccna-voice, ccnp-voice, mcitp ,cwna and ieee wcet certified. I also hold a Master's degree in Electrical engineering (Telecommunications). I have 6 months exp in the IT field, what would my average starting salary be if I got a job at Verizon wireless, at&t, T-mobile, etc..? Currently I live in Egypt and I wish I get a job in the US at one of the companies I listed.
Thanks
[h=2][/h]

the_hutch

Well your qualifications are fantastic. But average salaries are just that...averages. They can be misleading and are often skewed by not including the people with those qualifications that haven't been able to find a job because of lacking job experience. I never recommend people make career decisions based on these figures. That being said...with only 6 months work experience, I'd say $60-70k in the states. But the job market can be tough if you have limited work experience. If you are already doing a routing and switching or network engineering job (assuming you are making a comfortable living), I'd recommend waiting until you have a couple years experience before making such a drastic move. Once you have a few years experience...you shouldn't have any problems finding work with probably $80-90k.

m3zilla

IMO, unless it's in a state with a high cost of living, I can't see him getting 60-70k with 6 months of experience, regardless of what cert he has. That's assuming the 6 months of experience is relevant experience, and not something like doing help desk.

I think it's better to expect less, rather than expect more when you're planning something like this. With all those certs, I think you should be able to land a Jr engineering role, or a sys admin/network admin role for a small/medium size company doing network/servers stuff. 40-50k seems reasonable.

abdul 17717

Thanks for the reply.
From what you guys are saying i guess my Master's degree wasn't worth it? i mean don't you think its a bit low for my qualifications(I'm not showing off or something I just need to know would it be worth it to move to the US)?
And on the CWNP website it says that the salary of the CWNA certified was around $90k in 2009.

m3zilla

You have an impressive list of certs, and the Master is a plus, but the problem is people who are hiring for CCNP level position expect you to have at least a couple years of experience. IMO, a CCNA with 2 years experience > CCNP with 0 experience.

P.S Don't rely on salary figures found on the web, especially those found on a sites like CompTIA, Cisco, CheckPoint, Microsoft, etc..

abdul 17717

What if I am applying for a Telecommunications job, would my certs be a plus?
sorry for the headache

YuckTheFankees

abdul 17717 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
From what you guys are saying i guess my Master's degree wasn't worth it? i mean don't you think its a bit low for my qualifications(I'm not showing off or something I just need to know would it be worth it to move to the US)?
And on the CWNP website it says that the salary of the CWNA certified was around $90k in 2009.

Salary Search | Indeed.com shows individuals with a CCNA should be making 78k...if thats the case, I bet a lot of guys on here are being underpaid. You should only take salary info with a grain of salt.

YFZblu

If I'm an employer looking at your credentials, I'm thinking one thing: We need this guy.

At some point proven intelligence, talent, and hunger transcend the experience factor; and I think people should be jumping at the chance to hire you, personally. How long have you been applying for jobs? What types of offers have you received?

matt333

experience > master and certs IMO.. if your not playing with the stuff in the REAL world then you cant expect to get payed above average.
employer want to know you can do the job.. a piece of paper only tells them so much

Hypntick

Heck Sec+ shows 63k where I am, i'm getting robbed lol.

YFZblu

m3zilla wrote: »

IMO, unless it's in a state with a high cost of living, I can't see him getting 60-70k with 6 months of experience, regardless of what cert he has. That's assuming the 6 months of experience is relevant experience, and not something like doing help desk.

I think it's better to expect less, rather than expect more when you're planning something like this. With all those certs, I think you should be able to land a Jr engineering role, or a sys admin/network admin role for a small/medium size company doing network/servers stuff. 40-50k seems reasonable.

I'm sorry, but this is post is laughable. I was offered and took a job making 50k with just helpdesk experience. And just to avoid the next question up front: It is in an extremely low cost area in one of the worst economies in the country. I understand there are lots of impressive people that frequent these forums, but the 'jaded' factor is getting slightly ridiculous.

I'm not saying he should be making $300/hr, but the 40k number literally had me laughing out loud.

m3zilla

you think my post is laughable yet you think that because you got 50k with help desk experience, everyone can expect the same? Cool.

Hypntick

I could see 40K on a probationary period, sure the list of credentials is impressive but you've got to be able to perform.

abdul 17717

Well, in Egypt the work(corporate) environment is mostly effed up, I've been applying for almost 2 months now and didn't receive any offers, it's so hard to get a good job without having a guy in the inside, like i know this guy just graduated with no certs whatsoever no Master's who got a job in the biggest mobile carrier in Egypt just because his dad is friends with a manager in the company, you get what I mean? That's why i wanna move to the US(or Canada) but the replies are frustrating. I feel like I did all this for nothing.

YFZblu

m3zilla wrote: »

you think my post is laughable yet you think that because you got 50k with help desk experience, everyone can expect the same? Cool.

Do you not see the comedy gold TE is providing us all? Earlier today someone asked this exact question, it was some helpdesk guy with basic comptia certs and a CCENT - The thread quickly filled with people telling he's worth $40,000 'depending on where you live'.

Fast forward a few hours and an electrical engineer with three CCNP's ask the same question - TE's response? "Meh, 40k depending on where you live"

I love this place.

NetworkVeteran

From what you guys are saying i guess my Master's degree wasn't worth it?

If you enjoyed earning your degree, it's worth it. I'd second $60-$70k in the states.

ccna, ccnp, ccna-wireless, ccnp-wireless, ccna-voice, ccnp-voice, mcitp ,cwna and ieee wcet certified

You're entry-level, but certified at the intermediate-level. Most employers will not take your CCNPs seriously. You will likely be paid at the entry-level. Granted, the entry-level for someone with a good degree.

m3zilla

YFZblu wrote: »

Do you not see the comedy gold TE is providing us all? Earlier today someone asked this exact question, it was some helpdesk guy with basic comptia certs and a CCENT - The thread quickly filled with people telling he's worth $40,000 'depending on where you live'.

Fast forward a few hours and an electrical engineer with three CCNP's ask the same question - TE's response? "Meh, 40k depending on where you live"

I love this place.

Did you even read the other post? Half the people in there said they would pay him 30-40k....and he has 3-4 years of experience. I gave a range of 40-50, and the OP has 6 months experience. I'm sorry, but cert doesn't mean too much without experience, considering how easy it is to **** one.

I participated in plenty of group interviews where the person being interviewed has CCNP, with little to no experience. Sure they can give you detailed explanation of how routing protocol works or what HSRP does, but when you start asking things like

"Have you ever dealt with a network outage?", or "You find out you have a STP issue, and there's a loop in your network, what do you do?", they go "ummmm"

ptilsen

There are simply too many factors at play here. If you had a bunch of experience, I think we'd all agree on a much higher range, probably over $100K in most cases. With extremely impressive education and certifications, but virtually no experience and presumably not being a native English speaker or a citizen, it's really hard to have any idea what you can get. The truth is that it's probably less than a lot of people with fewer qualifications. Maybe it's only $40,000 in one region, maybe less. Maybe if you're lucky, it's $70,000 in another. It's really hard to evaluate based on just the objective factors, and these particular ones are especially difficult. The money alone is actually pretty meaningless without knowing where you'll be living. NYC's $70,000 is not Denver's $70,000 which is not Detroit's $70,000.

Regardless of what your starting salary is, what you can be rest assured by is that your salary after having a few years of relevant telecom/networking experience could be astronomical. You've got a great list of qualifications, and CCIE is pretty much the only place to go up from here. We can all agree on what they make -- a lot.

YFZblu

@M3zilla: Actually I agree with your estimate in that thread, I think you gave a nice range for the guy in NY.

I also agree with you that a person with certs but no experience is still entry-level in that technology. But all things considered with the OP, I don't think he would have any problem getting 65 - 70 in the states. If he does get a 40k offer IMO it will be a low-ball to see if he's that willing to take the first job offered to him. I think underpaying is rampant in IT, which is why we have so much turnover.

sratakhin

How did you get all these certifications with only 6 months of IT experience? Are they real or just "paper"?

abdul 17717

i did them in my free times(summers between academic years, weekends etc..)

abdul 17717

Guys,
I am aiming for a telecommunications job, not an IT. I just took those certs to fill my CV, and the 6 months exp in IT were just to make some living. You will be surprised of how much money i made a month............less than $200. This is how it is effed up in Egypt. I know some of you will be thinking "man you should be satisfied with 10k a year" but I didn't go to a 5 year University plus 2 years of Master's which cost me around 60k for nothing. I hope you understand my frustration. Btw I didn't **** any of my certs.

sratakhin

You are in a funny situation. I would say you are overqualified to have an entry-level position but don't have enough experience to do something more serious.

drkat

Wow, shows how easy these certs really are without actually doing the job. No offense to the OP, but if there was ever an argument against validity of NP level certifications this is it.

techdudehere

Since you're not residing in the US, I would expect it will be difficult to get what you're worth. Do you mind sharing where you graduated from? Staying there for 200$ a month is a bad idea. Come on over, you may get short changed at first but once you've proven yourself with some experience here you will be able to get the higher salary. I believe Canada may be easier to obtain citizenship in than the US, though, but it's very cold there.

higherho

YFZblu wrote: »

If I'm an employer looking at your credentials, I'm thinking one thing: We need this guy.

At some point proven intelligence, talent, and hunger transcend the experience factor; and I think people should be jumping at the chance to hire you, personally. How long have you been applying for jobs? What types of offers have you received?

This is very true, I've landed promotions (three - helpdesk , low level SA , Senior Hybrid SA) simply because of the proven intelligence and hunger to transcend. Anyone can pass a test but it's the individuals who you can trust, willing to learn, grow, and have the ability to perform that makes a world of difference.

Skills matter. Yes, job experience is very important but if you find a competent and very intelligent individual than that person will be a great asset to your company.

Of course lets keep in mind that in certain fields individuals do not get expert or mid level roles without job experience but do we need real world experience to understand how our field of interest works and to apply what we learned? No, we do not. If that was the case then every doctor would start off as a low ranking nurse.

abdul 17717

I graduated from Pharos University in Alexadria. Engineers here would kill for a 1-2k a month job.

SignalDistortion

abdul 17717 wrote: »

Well, in Egypt the work(corporate) environment is mostly effed up, I've been applying for almost 2 months now and didn't receive any offers, it's so hard to get a good job without having a guy in the inside, like i know this guy just graduated with no certs whatsoever no Master's who got a job in the biggest mobile carrier in Egypt just because his dad is friends with a manager in the company, you get what I mean? That's why i wanna move to the US(or Canada) but the replies are frustrating. I feel like I did all this for nothing.

In my experience (which isn't much, but...) this is THE most important part when searching to get "into the industry" , it's all about networking. "It's not what you know, it's who you know"...It's a sad fact but having those connections go a long way in finding a well paid job, which is another bonus/side effect of having those X years of OTJ experience. You will meet people and your network will grow. However, don't sell yourself short on the education you paid for with money and effort, it will serve you well in time. Good luck with everything!

pumbaa_g

My first question is do you have a valid Visa to work in US? secondly unless you get a offer from a company based in US you will not be eligible to work there legally.
I am afraid there is not much choice in this matter, I see a lot of people in India who get the fraction of the Salaries mentioned in the thread with years and years of experience & certifications and they are ready to bend over backwards to get those positions. Unless you can get a offer you have to just keep trying and not give up hope

nhan.ng

6 months of experience and a bunch of high-level certifications. Sorry but that just scream "****" to potential employers, which explains the reason why most employers do not want to take their chances with you.

Maybe if you take those certs out of your resume and just list your education and experience, employers may take you seriously this time.

Having a bunch of certs like that with little to no experience in the field does not mean you'll get 60-70k a year. If you disagree with this, you're in for a rude-awakening.

prtech

abdul 17717 wrote: »

Guys,
I am aiming for a telecommunications job, not an IT. I just took those certs to fill my CV, and the 6 months exp in IT were just to make some living. You will be surprised of how much money i made a month............less than $200. This is how it is effed up in Egypt. I know some of you will be thinking "man you should be satisfied with 10k a year" but I didn't go to a 5 year University plus 2 years of Master's which cost me around 60k for nothing. I hope you understand my frustration. Btw I didn't **** any of my certs.

If you're trying to get into telecommunications engineering, then none of the certs matter. You could get a job with your masters, IF you lived in the US. The problem is no one will sponsor your working visa with your lack of experience. Most of my experience is in telecommunications and we did bring in engineers on a working visa. But those engineers are at a senior level with at least 8 years of experience.