Career advice

coax31 · September 2008

I have worked in IT for over 8 years and am 35 years old:

Level 1 helpdesk 17 months 3/2000 - 8/2001
General help desk support, 3000 users, company went chap 11.

Level 2 support analyst 9/2001 - 2/2007
10,000 people, publically traded company, ran some Cisco VoIP install projects as well as a few other IT projects and did general corporate desktop support.

Systems Administrator 3/2007 - present
350 person company, single active directory domain, 5 branch offices, 1 exchange server, Cisco WAN connections, etc.

I have a 4 year BS degree from UOP and several certifications: MCP, A+, Network+, MCSA, and CCENT, and I just completed exam 070-293, I am 3 MS tests shy of a MCSE. I know this may not be enough info, but I only make $55,000/yr and I work in the Denver Tech Center. Do you guys think I am overpaid, underpaid, just right? I personally think I am underpaid but what is your opinion?

UnixGuy · September 2008

underpaid.

I think you need to work more on your certifications and get a higher paying job

darkerosxx · September 2008

Sounds like you moved out of desktop support into infrastructure support in '07. If that's the case, you look to be doing good.

Look up a System Administrator I position in your zip code on salary.com.

jamesp1983 · September 2008

def underpaid

coax31 · September 2008

Thanks for the replies, Salary.com says I am in the 10th percentile or the low end for pay in my area, the 50% is around $73,000/yr. I plan to finish my MCSE and CCNA by December and when I have 24 months of systems administration experience I will negotiate for a raise or find another job.

vistalavista · September 2008

You really only have under a year experience in systems administration, so I think you're doing good for now but you have the potential to be making a lot more in the future. Staying in Helpdesk for over 10 years was I believe a mistake.

coax31 · September 2008

vistalavista wrote:

You really only have under a year experience in systems administration, so I think you're doing good for now but you have the potential to be making a lot more in the future. Staying in Helpdesk for over 10 years was I believe a mistake.

I actually was in helpdesk/desktop support type work for a little under 7 years not over 10. The first job was 100% calls never went to the user's desk we would just VNC if necessary. The second job was no call answering, just desktop support. They did however teach me some project management I probably ran 3-4 projects and was a team member for several more. Learned a lot about Cisco VoIP and attended two company paid classes on it.

I know 7 years is too long as well but there was not a lot of IT job opportunity in Denver from about 2001 – 2006. The tech bubble and 9-11 hit the IT field hard here as well. At that company it was very hard to get promoted from the level 2 department, I saw only one guy actually get promoted the whole time I was there. The level 3 teams were always fully staffed and rarely had a vacant position, IT people here back then would stay at one place as long as possible because of the poor job market. Another thing I have been a systems administrator for more than a year, try 18 months.

undomiel · September 2008

I've been checking the Denver area and it looks like it is getting a lot of IT opportunities these days so it may be time for you start shopping around and see what you are worth to the market. Your skills may be more valuable than 55k but the work that needs to be done may only be worth 55k to your employer. Remember that the biggest pay raise is usually from walking in that door.

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