How much should I make being a Helpdesk Technician in Los angles and Orance County?

How much should I make being a Helpdesk Technician in Los angles and Orange County area? I was offer 15 dollar an hour. How much did you make as a Helpdesk Technician? How much should I expect? No experience here. Let me know, thanks!

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mikey88

I'd be asking for $18-20/hr based on your qualifications and a higher COL area.

N7Valiant

I was given around $20/hr, but I'm told I'm more of an exception given what everyone else offers.

You might also want to consider what other benefits(like health insurance) is offered. If it's just $15/hr with no benefits, I'd pass. $15/hr with benefits is fine, but I'd make sure your job really stops at 40 hours a week.

faintingheart

It's 15.00 an hour with no benefit until 6 week later.
Is it possible for me to get $20/hour? Just like you?

mikey88

faintingheart wrote: »

It's 15.00 an hour with no benefit until 6 week later.
Is it possible for me to get $20/hour? Just like you?

It's normal for benefits to kick in a month or 3 months later. It's unlikely that you'd be able to negotiate a $5/hr more raise. If this is the only offer you got and need a job asap - take it. Otherwise, keep looking.

faintingheart

How long will it take to make 48-50k a year? If I stay in the helpdesk for 3 years is it possible to make 48-55k? Can you guys give me your best guess or through your expereience, thanks!

yoba222

That salary is really bottom of the barrel for Los Angeles. If you're desperate for a paycheck I'd take it and immediately start looking elsewhere.

Minimum wage in that area is soon to be $13.25/hr. You get what you pay for, meaning that if they're that cheap regarding salaries, the IT infrastructure you'll be supporting is also probably neglected since it's been starved of funds. So your first work experience will likely be learning how to do IT the wrong way, with lots of putting out fires with duct tape and band-aid fixes.

Then again, it might just be a call center, indentured servitude type gig, which is equally bad from what I read.

EDIT: As far as how long to make ~$50k/year, there's a thread on here somewhere where people chronicle their job and wage progression over the years. 3 years at a cheapskate company that starts you at $15/hr in Orange County and I'd doubt you'd even be at $45k/year.http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/98832-timeline-your-career-progression.html

TechGromit

faintingheart wrote: »

How long will it take to make 48-50k a year? If I stay in the helpdesk for 3 years is it possible to make 48-55k? Can you guys give me your best guess or through your experience, thanks!

I took me 15 years to get to 48k a year, I however had no degree, only had A+ & Network+ certifications. Also the minimum wage was $4.25 in 1991 when I started out in IT, it's 8.60 now. My first job in IT paid 7.85 a hour. From $15 to $23 a hour in three years at the same employer? No, I don't think that's doable, but after you get three years experience, it may be possible to get hired at another place for that amount.

N7Valiant

faintingheart wrote: »

How long will it take to make 48-50k a year? If I stay in the helpdesk for 3 years is it possible to make 48-55k? Can you guys give me your best guess or through your expereience, thanks!

I don't think it's so much as occupying a position for a length of time so much as how much you commit yourself to the job, learning, training, and seeking more difficult work.

I'm starting out at Help Desk answering phones, doing routine maintenance and troubleshooting, but I've set a pretty ambitious goal to get my MCSA Windows Server 2016 in about 6-8 months so that I can get exposed to doing more involved work with servers. I'd like to be a Systems Administrator in 4-5 years, in which case I'd fully expect to be in the 48k-55k salary range no matter where I go.

LordQarlyn

I don't think you'll get to that range staying in helpdesk, except maybe as a supervisor. Your best chance in getting that range is to advance in certs while gaining experience on the job, maybe down the road get a degree but that seems to be less important unless one wants to get into management.
From helpdesk, you should either look into getting into sys admin, if you have a knack for working on OS's, or, into net admin. Both are good paths that if you can fast track into, can easily get you in the $45 - 50k range, or even higher.

faintingheart

Will getting a degree in BS: network operation and security benefit me in my situation?

EANx

Companies generally want people who can hit the ground running. Whether the degree will help is very dependent on the specifics you will learn. I'd suggest that certs are more likely to help getting a role as a sys-admin/net-admin than a degree would.

faintingheart

Base on glass door salaries range for my area LA and OC the average salaries for help desk technician is $48,623. Will I be able to find a help desk job that pays 40,000 to 42000 dollars? I think 15 dollar an hour is too low. What are your thought on this?

yoba222

I don't trust Glassdoor salaries, at least in my area. They seem considerably off. Just my personal experience.

faintingheart

Ok then, how about median pay from Payscale: $39,900 helpdesk technician in Orange County.

Donklander

faintingheart wrote: »

Ok then, how about median pay from Payscale: $39,900 helpdesk technician in Orange County.

I don't think anyone can answer these hyper-specific questions.

NetworkingStudent

faintingheart wrote: »

How much should I make being a Helpdesk Technician in Los angles and Orange County area? I was offer 15 dollar an hour. How much did you make as a Helpdesk Technician? How much should I expect? No experience here. Let me know, thanks!

How much did you make as a Helpdesk Technician?
Well I'm still in help desk role. I don't want to disclose my salary.

faintingheart wrote: »

How much should I expect? No experience here. Let me know, thanks!

Anywhere between minimum wage for your state, and up to $20.0 an hour or more. I think you can make $20.00-$25.00 in help desk, but it's hard to get to that point.

To get to the level of making $20.00-$25.00 or more any hour you need to be a level 2 or 3. If you're not a level 2 or 3, then you need to be a help desk manager or lead.

One thing to keep in mind is that with any job it's all about supply and demand. There are a lot of people that can work on the help desk, because it doesn't require a lot of experience. Most help desk jobs are are NOT about the technology at all. It's about customer service, and NOT technology.

Another thing to keep in mind:
Every company has a different idea of what help desk is. Some companies will have you justr reset passwords at level one, while other companies want level 1 techs adding users to Active Directory, among other things.

How do you make 50,000?
1) Well I would take that help desk job offer you have! You need to add benefits to the job offer and think of it as a total compensation package.
2) Yes, having a four year degree will help. At some point you will reach a ceiling, and you will not be able to make more money without a degree.
--Some companies will not hire someone without a four year degree
3) Look at getting advanced certs CCNA,MCSA ect.
4) After a year or two in help desk, start looking for advanced roles. desktop support, sys admin, help desk level 2 (maybe)

N7Valiant

I should probably add that I never passed up a job offer due to lack of pay. I was probably willing to take anything even at minimum wage given my lack of experience. I just signed for whoever extended an offer first. It was really just coincidence that the first people to extend an offer to me also gave the highest compensation.

But at the time, I was job searching for about 6 weeks and didn't want to pass up anything seeing as how I wasn't in a position to keep job hunting without a source of income. Maybe your situation is different, but the clock is ticking and you kind of want to minimize the time you're not learning marketable skills.

LordQarlyn

N7Valiant wrote: »

I should probably add that I never passed up a job offer due to lack of pay. I was probably willing to take anything even at minimum wage given my lack of experience. I just signed for whoever extended an offer first. It was really just coincidence that the first people to extend an offer to me also gave the highest compensation.

But at the time, I was job searching for about 6 weeks and didn't want to pass up anything seeing as how I wasn't in a position to keep job hunting without a source of income. Maybe your situation is different, but the clock is ticking and you kind of want to minimize the time you're not learning marketable skills.

You aren't alone in thinking that. When it comes to opening doors, experience is probably the biggest premium. Given the horror stories I hear about working at MSPs, that's probably the only reason anyone works at those, as a stepping stone to gain work experience that will lead to something better.

Queue

I made 19/hr plus overtime/differential and benefits. Ended up with 54,000 that year. It was high because where I had the job. This was also in one of the lowest cost places in the country, the Southeast. I couldn't imagine living in California with the COL, although it's a very beautiful landscape there.

Forgot it actually started at 17 something, but right when I get in there was a COL adjustment/annual raise.

josephandre

Donklander wrote: »

I don't think anyone can answer these hyper-specific questions.

lol seriously. "do you think my boss will let me take every tuesday off on leap years?"

followup question

"which boss will do that in LA area'

Basic85

Depending on your experience, education, and certs, expect to make between as little as $12 an hour to $22 -/+. I'd avoid call centers as much as possible but if you must than make sure it's under 2 years before leaving for another job.

emek

Fellow Los Angeleno here.

With the comptia's you have, and an AA, you should be able to get a job at a university with starting pay around $19-20/hr. 55k is doable in as little as a year if you bounce around jobs, get more certs, or finish your 4 year degree.

faintingheart

Emek that was awesome advice you gave me. Thank you bro!

ashernatanel

I was offered 15/hr as a help desk intern a little over a year ago. Had no experience and no degree, but I'm working on bachelor's and had only Network+ and Security+ at the time of hire. Got a promotion after around 9 months to Network Tech with a considerable bump in pay, along with quarterly bonuses. Even so, I'm probably on the lower end of those scales from Glassdoor/Payscale/etc. This is in the south bay area of Los Angeles.

But with no experience, getting your foot in the door is a pretty big consideration.

rsxwithslicks

I'm in the Socal area as well. A little closer to IE but still "above the national average" according the Glassdoor.

Is it possible for you to get more..? Yes but the experience/education/ability to interview well will be deciding factors. If you have no experience, I would be reluctant to pay almost 40-50k. Unfortunately there are A BUNCH of people looking for entry-level IT jobs so finding people who want to work is not hard.

Currently our company is hiring for a desktop support position and the pay is $15 an hour. And we actually hire through temp agencies only so that means no benefits till you're actually offered a full-time position. I've had people interview with BS, certs, and experience who had no issue with the pay. Everyone is mentioning a higher COL but might not realize how saturated the market is out here.

To give you some background, I started off in desktop support at $17/hr and left the company I was at after a little over a year. My next position was SysAdmin which I started off at $23/hr and no benefits since I was at a temp agency. I did well enough for the company to hire me on early. I have since moved up both in title and pay with no certs or formal education.

As mentioned previously, you can get more but how are you going to prove yourself worth to the companies you're interviewing with? Best of luck in your search!

faintingheart

So I guess 15 dollar is good then. Thanks for info resxwithslicks.

yoba222

rsxwithslicks wrote: »

I'm in the Socal area as well. . . . Everyone is mentioning a higher COL but might not realize how saturated the market is out here. . . .

Interesting. I'm in a part of the US where salaries are ~20-30% lower than nationwide and even then, when I worked a state internship it was at $19/hour. Must be a heckuva lot of helpdesk type employees in that area.

rsxwithslicks

yoba222 wrote: »

Interesting. I'm in a part of the US where salaries are ~20-30% lower than nationwide and even then, when I worked a state internship it was at $19/hour. Must be a heckuva lot of helpdesk type employees in that area.

I think a lot of people got into IT because "Technology is the future!".

ITT Tech had 13 locations in California. 2 in Northern CA, 1 in San Diego and the other 10 were within a 125 mile radius of each other. The schools started pumping people out with promises of making 50k with no problem and never having to flip a burger except at your awesome pool parties you host cause you make so much money in 2 years of technical school. To give a little perspective, my cousin started off at 50k as a mechanical engineer for a fortune 500 company with a BS from UC San Diego. I had a buddy graduate from ITT Tech like 10 years ago and he NEVER got a job in IT. Ended up working in Insurance field.

CA is one of the most expensive states to live in. I recently read something that said that people in Socal need an average income of 109k a year to afford a 2 bedroom place in LA. And that most people spend 40%+ of their income just on renting... I know that life. Through the years, I've moved up in pay and I'm making around the 80k range. I spend about 45% of my income just on rent. I have no kids. I have an excellent credit score. I drive a USED prius. And I wonder if I'll ever have enough to put a down payment on a house... Lol.

Now think about all those people who wanted to get into IT to move on up toward the 6 figure salaries... Yeah. Our market is ridiculously saturated. I've interviewed 8 desktop support people with certs, degrees, and experience in the last 2 weeks for a position at $15 an hour. And all of them really wanted the job...

Basic85

rsxwithslicks wrote: »

I think a lot of people got into IT because "Technology is the future!".

ITT Tech had 13 locations in California. 2 in Northern CA, 1 in San Diego and the other 10 were within a 125 mile radius of each other. The schools started pumping people out with promises of making 50k with no problem and never having to flip a burger except at your awesome pool parties you host cause you make so much money in 2 years of technical school. To give a little perspective, my cousin started off at 50k as a mechanical engineer for a fortune 500 company with a BS from UC San Diego. I had a buddy graduate from ITT Tech like 10 years ago and he NEVER got a job in IT. Ended up working in Insurance field.

CA is one of the most expensive states to live in. I recently read something that said that people in Socal need an average income of 109k a year to afford a 2 bedroom place in LA. And that most people spend 40%+ of their income just on renting... I know that life. Through the years, I've moved up in pay and I'm making around the 80k range. I spend about 45% of my income just on rent. I have no kids. I have an excellent credit score. I drive a USED prius. And I wonder if I'll ever have enough to put a down payment on a house... Lol.

Now think about all those people who wanted to get into IT to move on up toward the 6 figure salaries... Yeah. Our market is ridiculously saturated. I've interviewed 8 desktop support people with certs, degrees, and experience in the last 2 weeks for a position at $15 an hour. And all of them really wanted the job...

No way, that's insane, I've always wondered how saturated the field was. Yeah COL is high in California, and I've known people to move out of state because of that. It's especially high in silicon valley, where even IT workers in that area can't even afford housing.

draught

rsxwithslicks wrote: »

Now think about all those people who wanted to get into IT to move on up toward the 6 figure salaries... Yeah. Our market is ridiculously saturated. I've interviewed 8 desktop support people with certs, degrees, and experience in the last 2 weeks for a position at $15 an hour. And all of them really wanted the job...

It's not even possible to live on $15 an hour that's crazy.