Is this normal?

Johnjones

Company has a System Administrator position (Florida) salary at $40,000 annual. I understand location, but I can't think of anywhere in the U.S. where that seems "normal". I think a manager at a retail chain would be pretty close to that.

I've seen MOST help desk positions paying at least $35 - 50 depending on location.

RouteMyPacket

What does "System Administration" mean? Don't get caught up in titles, being a System Administrator at one place will most likely not equal the same title at another company.

It could literally be a Help Desk position. Again, titles mean nothing. How many people do you see loving to put "Sr." in front of their little title? You have to pay more attention to the job description and expected functions of the position than the title.

networker050184

As RouteMyPacket pointed out pay goes by duty, not title. One company's help desk is another's network engineer unfortunately.

cyberguypr

I came here to comment exactly on what the guys said, titles meaning nothing. I know "sys admins" that all they do is reset password and configure Outlook accounts and get paid accordingly. Do you have a list of duties for said position? Another thing, some times if the company is a non-profit or a really tiny operation you'll see ridiculous salaries like that. I would definitely like more context.

MAC_Addy

I definitely agree with the responses to this topic. When looking for jobs, don't look for titles. Look for what you're capable of doing. I've seen with many companies that the starting salary may be quite low, but after a year they may bump you up 20% of your original salary. Though, keep in mind that some companies are relatively small and don't want to spend much on IT - I have seen quite a few companies low-ball offers, to which I have declined, and that's purely because a higher up doesn't seem to think they need any IT professionals, or, they look at IT not making them any money.

devils_haircut

Johnjones wrote: »

I've seen MOST help desk positions paying at least $35 - 50 depending on location.

$10-14 here, but like everyone else is saying, titles mean different things for different companies. My last job title was Desktop Support Technician, but I would hardly call swapping old machines with new ones desktop support.

markulous

Good advice, as always. Titles are fairly useless. The company I work at has a tier 1 desk support position, which you think would be an entry-level position for $15 an hour, but it's with a MSP, pays 55k, and we basically handle any nearly any type of remote issue.

gorebrush

I was a Systems Administrator - and I believe my duties went way and above.

I mean - reconfiguring VoIP call-in menus? Site designs, implementations, managing and maintaining?

Being able to strip down laptops? Migrate complete Exchange Infrastructures? Upgrade Windows Server (completely?)

Manage Spanning Tree?

The list went on. At one company I previously worked for I really was the jack of all trades. I even learned how to completely manage our PBX. I relished those days. Though I prefer to specialise now. Still love getting my hands dirty looking through Group Policy Objects like I did this morning though, very handy that I still remember my MCSE days

Damn, I should so go Technical Architect ultimately...

TBickle

Just to give you some context, I work with "network admins" who couldn't tell you the difference between full duplex and half duplex or the difference between a LAN and WAN. SERIOUSLY! They have these titles because they work in the Network group doing stuff like purchasing and other admin work. And the best part about it for them is that they get paid as much as "real" network admins and engineers in my group. That's the public sector for you.

Anyhow, my point is titles vary by sector and company.

cyberguypr

I had a similar experience at an advanced course I attended a few months ago. One of the guys there was a "network administrator" but he was seriously lacking knowledge and was holding the whole class back. His packet analysis skills were simply nonexistent. He couldn't differentiate Nessus from Metasploit. Story is endless. Random fact: he has a government job.

There's a big gap between purchasing, racking and installing something vs. purchasing, racking, installing, supporting, hardening, securing, optimizing, monitoring, etc.

MAC_Addy

cyberguypr wrote: »

Random fact: he has a government job.

That really irks me. That just means that he won't be fired for a silly reason. I've found (and heard) that most government jobs it's really difficult to let someone go.

jibbajabba

System Administrator - I think the last time I saw a title like that was when NT4 / 2000 was coming in strong. When you either worked in IT or you didn't. Now with so many buzzwords / technologies, titles getting all fuzzy ...

citrus_sugar

I agree with all of the above, however, as someone also looking for a job in FL, the pay scale here is different from most of the rest of the country. Most Help Desk I've seen is $12-15, so $40k for a starting Sys Admin wouldn't be out of the question.