Am I underpaid (and passed my CCNA today!!!)

Hi Everyone, new to the forum, been lurking for a while.

Have a B.S in IT (along with an associates degree in networking earned at the same time), approx 7 years of experience and just passed the ICND2 today (have the ccent and ccna).

Also one test away from my MCITP:EA (along with the MCSE/MCSA 2003 certs I earned a while back).

My first love is networking, I currently work as a IT consultant at a firm with roughly 40 employees. I'm one of two network engineers (the other 8 techs being server administrators...the other 20 are applications consultants and the rest are support staff) Back in 2009 I was laid off as a network administrator and took a pay cut to 45k a year (from 52) at my current job. Currently I'm at 48k and feel woefully underpaid.

Passing my CCNA today I decided to find out if its just me throwing a pity party or if I really am underpaid. What do you think, is 48k reasonable for someone with 7yrs experience, a BS, MCSE, CCNA or am I being underpaid?

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Comments

Jackace

It will depend on what you do and where you do it. What type of network(s) do you support? Where do you live?

I don't have an answer for you really, but I have seen a few of these threads here and those are the 2 big questions people ask to give ballpark numbers.

webgeek

Location, Location, Location

Also what type of networks you support

Have tried looking what your current job market is paying?

AnotherITGuy

Live near Minneapolis (about an hour away) and support customers from 2 users up to about 200 (the tech side of our consulting firm supports the small to mid size firms.....our application consultants support small to large ...500+ user firms).

If it comes to networking (configurating firewalls, routers, switches, wireless gear, site to site/client access vpns etc...I do it). I also implement Windows 2008/2011 SBS servers and 2008 r2 servers, SAN's, Citrix, VMware etc etc etc depending on the size of the client. Really a jack of all trades....but again only 1 of 2 networkers on the tech side hence the CCNA and degree in networking.

webgeek

Start looking IMO unless you just got this job. I've had job offers for Minneapolis but meh I love the coast!

AnotherITGuy

webgeek wrote: »

Location, Location, Location

Also what type of networks you support

Have tried looking what your current job market is paying?

I have, unfortunately being a smaller market most employers are tight lipped about pay scales until you get in for an interview.

I've found online salary sites to vary wildly also, thats the reason I'm asking here.

Iristheangel

Congratulations on the pass! As everyone has mentioned, pay is relative to location. 50K in Alabama is a fortune while it's barely living wage in San Jose.

Go out for a drink and give yourself a moment to celebrate

webgeek

Iristheangel wrote: »

Alabama

??? Minneapolis

Iristheangel wrote: »

Go out for a drink and give yourself a moment to celebrate

I agree!!!!!!!!!

Iristheangel

I didn't see the Minneapolis comment when I posted. My bad

I think the OP is a little on the underpaid side with 7 years of experience if all the experience was networking experience.

m3zilla

It depends on the work you do. If you're supporting a network of 500+ users, I'd say yes. But working for an MSP or consulting company where you're only supporting 200 users max....maybe? Honestly, it doesn't take much work to support a network of 200 users.

I also live in MN, and from my experience, I don't think you're underpaid. I've worked at MSP in the past supporting small-medium size business and my salary range was 40-50k. When I moved away from the MSP(s) and started working as a dedicated network engineer for small/medium size companies, I was making around 60k.

MiikeB

Honestly the best way to find out if you are underpaid or not is to get an offer from someone else, so start looking if you are concerned you might be.

Tackle

Another guy from MN here. 48k is reasonable for your experience and education. Granted, I'm an hour north of Minneapolis and always see jobs actually in the city that pay much more but you have to consider drive time and living expenses dramatically increase the closer to the cities you get.

mapletune

I don't even want to begin discussing low salaries... = =

granted, living expenses are dirt cheap here.... but salary standard really scrapes the bottom =/

NetworkVeteran

Iristheangel wrote: »

I didn't see the Minneapolis comment when I posted. My bad I think the OP is a little on the underpaid side with 7 years of experience if all the experience was networking experience.

I'll second you're underpaid based on what someone with those qualifications could do. I don't know whether you're underpaid based on you actually do. The simplest way to make more if you're worth it, is to post your resume and see what other employers in your area are willing to offer. Don't focus soley on the compensation, but also consider how many hours they'd expect you to put in, what sort of people you'll be working with on a daily basis, advancement opportunities, etc.

networker050184

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

I'll second you're underpaid based on what someone with those qualifications could do. I don't know whether you're underpaid based on you actually do.

I agree with this 100%. Its kind of hard to just say seven years experience equals $60k. Its not so cut and dry.

techdudehere

I agree that it's getting harder to obtain salary ranges upfront. You will probably need to call and bring it up in order to get a range. The only way to know is to make calls or get offers in hand. The best time to get a job is when you already have one, so you'll be more likely to ask for what you really want.

antielvis

Perhaps it's not so much that you're underpaid but that you're under utilized. What type of networks are you supporting? It looks like you are supporting SMB business (less than 250 users). Unfortunately, sometimes smaller firms simply can't afford higher wages as the market is so competitive.

If you want to get into networking where the $$$ is great, I'd look at a large enterprise environment or investigate going solo as a contract (tough call).

Hypntick

I'll second the smaller firms comment. I'm at a smaller MSP, I know for the level of work that I do daily i'm underpaid. I also know that where I am, I will never be paid at the same rate as one of the larger companies around for the same type of work. Put yourself out there, couldn't hurt really. While you're already employed, you can negotiate from a position of power. If someone wants to hire you, you don't have the worry of bills piling up to force you to take what you can get.

Also, congrats on the ICND2 pass!

AnotherITGuy

Thanks all for the input. Think I may just start looking around. I can tell you I bill well into the six figures a year and always exceed my goals. Once I've got an offer or at least a strong whiff of interest I'll talk to the boss about an adjustment.

Have found several job postings in the last few days (and in my general location) listing higher ranges.

Look forward to posting more on this forum, thanks again for the input.

ptilsen

As a fellow resident of the Twin Cities at a similar career level, I can assure you that you're worth a lot more. Don't take less than $65K under any circumstances. Shoot for more like the $80s if you can defend it. I only have your credentials to go on, but with the right resume and interviewing you could be doubling your income.

Underpaid, indeed.

it_consultant

Normally I think that people complain about their salary are simply unrealistic. However, I have similar qualifications (I only have an associates degree) with about the same amount of years in and I make much more than you do. Even though I left consulting last May, I was making my current salary when I was consulting for very similar networks.

My buddy wants $60K for work in or near Rochester MN (recent Denver transplant) and he is barely above help desk. I think you have the stuff to demand a higher salary, you better be ready to get another job if you ask for a raise and don't get one. They might be holding you back for other reasons which none of us hear could comment on, because we can't observe your work.

al3kt.R***

Quite frank, at first glimpse it's always real masochistic to watch a thread about mostly North American network engineers' annual wages

, from a Southern Europe colleague's view that is. It makes you wanna catch the first plane to New York or DC or Canada...
On second hand, there are always lifestyle and quality of life monetary differences btw countries, and cost of living expenses can vary quite a bit.

However to get a feeling, salaries this "high" (so subjective characterization) in my country (before recent depression period) amount to a year's wage of the finest business development managers with many years of experience.

I just wanna congratulate you for your pass and wish you the best for future economic and social development and career growth.

Network_Engineer

Yes, you are underpaid. You should be making 70-85k!

sieff

Yes, you're underpaid. I'd say by at least $25-35K. Good place to confirm is glassdoor.com ; now the question is "What do you do about being underpaid?"