tech salaries?

[WatermelonBonkers]

So how much can I expect to make as an IT guy just starting out? I recently graduated from UC Davis with an econ degree but I got this part-time gig being THE computer guy for a small company. I make about 17 an hour but its not full time. I don't handle the stuff that is really sensitive like social security numbers and all that but i do take care of the computers that a lot of the other workers need to get their jobs done. I guess what I really want to know is about my future. I love computers and being the computer guy at my company is awesome but i don't see it as something i can really turn into a career without further schooling. Furthermore, I am also aware that the IT industry is in really bad shape. So how can I can turn what i love doing into a career that pays well enough for me and a future spouse/children to live well? I haven't done too much with programming, little bit of C and soem PASCAL, but i'm willing to go back to school to learn more and I'm already taking a "systems analysis and design " course though the UC extension system. So..can anyone tell me if there's a future in IT for a realtive n00b? I'd love to hear what you hardened veterans have to say, and i bet that a lot of you hardened veterans aren't too much older than me (24). Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

[crisp82]

I am a 1st line Tech for Fujitsu and am on approx £12,000 a year. Being the only Tech Guy in a company and supporting all users, I would expect at least £20,000, but you need the appropiate knowledge (servers, networking, desktop etc). If you do, ask for what you think you deserve.

Your best bet is to check for other jobs with the same responsibility and compare salaries (bearing in mind yours will be pro rata as you are only part time).

 

[LiLithTecH]

I would have to say I am a hardened/seasoned veteran,
(x2 your age, 16 yrs IT)and the current trend in IT is to lower salaries.

With a NOW glut of MSCE College Grads, look for salaries
to continue to trend downward.

I have seen SYSADMIN jobs that were paying 75k+ 2-3yrs ago
now advertised as $32k (less than you are making now entry level).

IBM, HP, Dell, etc are sending jobs overseas for the cheaper labor.

The best you can do is get the increase your skill set and find a niche
that you know inside and out (such as specializing in Network Security or Disaster Recovery).

 

[crisp82]

Harsh! I need more money

 

[bozo1]

I have seen SYSADMIN jobs that were paying 75k+ 2-3yrs ago
now advertised as $32k (less than you are making now entry level).

And I'm living proof.

 

[crisp82]

please tell me that they didn't downsize your paycheck while you worked for them?

 

[bozo1]

Originally posted by: crisp82
please tell me that they didn't downsize your paycheck while you worked for them?

Actually they did, but only 5% along with the rest of the company. Then I was laid off and finding a job was VERY difficult. Even with agreeing to a much lower salary, prospective employers were scared that I wouldn't be happy so hire me not they did. (my Yoda immitation)

 

[Mr N8]

I have 3 years experience, and it sounds like we are in a similar job. I'm only getting $15/hour, and plan on changing jobs when the market picks back up again.

 

[tcsenter]

The majority of IT jobs being contracted overseas are lower paying call center and help desk jobs - the 19 year old who didn't know anything when you called Dell or Gateway's free Tech Support line will be just further away and speak worse English now. Except from the employers' standpoint, he comes in on time every day, sober, ready to work for his pay, in stark contrast to his average American counterpart, who varies his workload between socializing on the telephone, flirting with female co-workers, and downloading stuff he's not supposed to.

 

[LiLithTecH]

tcsenter wrote

The majority of IT jobs being contracted overseas are lower paying call center and help desk jobs

Don't get around much do you.

IBM Cuts 600 Jobs from Microchip Division

IBM plans on sending 10,000+ jobs (engineering, Development, etc...) overseas
with in the next 24 months.

IBM, HP, GM, FORD, CHRYLSER, DELL, and the list goes on.
It is not only IT that is happening to. Its just getting hit the hardest.

 

[ITJunkie]

Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
I would have to say I am a hardened/seasoned veteran,
(x2 your age, 16 yrs IT)and the current trend in IT is to lower salaries.

With a NOW glut of MSCE College Grads, look for salaries
to continue to trend downward.

I have seen SYSADMIN jobs that were paying 75k+ 2-3yrs ago
now advertised as $32k (less than you are making now entry level).

IBM, HP, Dell, etc are sending jobs overseas for the cheaper labor.

The best you can do is get the increase your skill set and find a niche
that you know inside and out (such as specializing in Network Security or Disaster Recovery).

As someone similar in experience to LiLithTech, I would agree with this assessment. The pendulum has, unfortunately, swung the other way and salaries are down. I am trying to stay optimistic and believe that the market is in a state of flux that will right itself soon. I seriously doubt we will see pay numbers like before but I still think the money is there for skilled people. Specializing will be important in the coming years and salaries will reflect that expertise.

I have heard stories of CCIE's making 100K+ salaries a few years ago jumping at jobs that will pay in the 75K range now.

 

[azev]

As someone similar in experience to LiLithTech, I would agree with this assessment. The pendulum has, unfortunately, swung the other way and salaries are down. I am trying to stay optimistic and believe that the market is in a state of flux that will right itself soon. I seriously doubt we will see pay numbers like before but I still think the money is there for skilled people. Specializing will be important in the coming years and salaries will reflect that expertise.

obsolutely right. I think Americas corporate still need a lot of IT worker to work in the offices, but most of the developer work are outsourced to asia. The problem with this is, most of the new comers to the field will find that finding job is ridiculously hard, because the veterans IT people is willing to take an entry job rather than unemployed.

 

[Soapm]

Don't overlook that some companies are opting to lease destops and let the manufacturer provide the support. Then the manufacturer can pay a guy cheap wages to go to the site, swap out the PC and bring it in to have it repaired. This cuts the IT staff to bare minimums... I have also seen a company opt to have thier data hosted on remote servers by a company who specializes in hosting. I wonder how that will pan out?

 

[WatermelonBonkers]

wow, the picture you guys are painting is pretty bleak...But specialization in certain field does sound like it could still work out. So what do you guys think? What area of specialization will be hot?

 

[jb60606]

With all these companies outsourcing to India/China, salaries are only going to keep dropping IMO. Also it doesn't help that most of the general public percieves the entire IT profession as "technical/customer" support (a very low paying profession). I was lucky to get a NOC position in a trading firm for 50k+, but I'm headed back to school to find a new profession.

All these companies whom outsource techs claiming they're only hiring them to "weather the storm" during this poor economical slide are BSing if you ask me. Why pay us 90k, when you can pay them 10k for expertise that is just as efficient, then hire some local scrub for 20k to snake network cables and replace hard drives.

I don't mean to sound so bitter and negative (and paranoid), but my outlook is, with Silicon Valley stalled, and networking technolgy getting more advanced and affordable, it's going to ship a lot of our jobs out and all that is going to be left are positions where you NEED to be physically present.

 

[tcsenter]

Don't get around much do you.

lol! I would say I get around better than you can read.

Nowhere in the linked article do the words 'move', 'foreign', 'overseas', or any of their inflections, appear. The 600 jobs cuts mentioned by the article are just that - "cuts". Those jobs have been eliminated from IBMs semiconductor division, not 'moved'.

IBM plans on sending 10,000+ jobs (engineering, Development, etc...) overseas with in the next 24 months.

Which is a small fraction of the estimated 3~3.3 million white collar tech jobs that will move overseas in the next 15 years, according to recent reports published by two heavyweight industry research firms: the Gartner Group and Forrester Research.

Both reports found the majority of those approx. 3 million jobs will be the lowest-rung tech jobs; call center and help desk.

So hey, you may be right, I don't get out much because - unlike you - I'm STAYING INFORMED. You may want to give it a try some time.

 

[tcsenter]

All these companies whom outsource techs claiming they're only hiring them to "weather the storm" during this poor economical slide are BSing if you ask me. Why pay us 90k, when you can pay them 10k for expertise that is just as efficient, then hire some local scrub for 20k to snake network cables and replace hard drives.

It doesn't matter. Companies are doing this to survive, not to enhance their bottom line.

The choice is between cutting costs and going out of business, period.

 

[jb60606]

Not necessarily true.

I am in a field where companies can thrive just as easily in a poor market as they do a rich one. One has made 7 times as much money in the past 3 years than they did in all of the 1990s, but this didn't stop them from outsourcing their entire IT department to India.

regardless their situation, I'm willing to bet they'll still stick with outsourcing.

 

[jb60606]

and tcscenter, I definately agree with you. I'm not saying they had no right to do this. However, im just simply implying the rewards of outsourcing are too great for them to retract from in even better financial times.

Jason

 

[Mitzi]

I finished my Computer Studies degree this year. I was lucky because I had a job waiting for me as an Oracle Applications developer at a local authority. Unfortunately, most other people on my university course are still looking for work two months on.

 

[compudog]

As the only IT guy for a three location manufacturing company, I manage three Novell servers and 45 PC's from Win 95 through Win XP. Not only am I help desk, admin, network, build the PCs I am also the email and web site developer. And I manage an industrial maintenance department of 6 employees. A man of many hats with 1 paycheck. Around $20.00/hr ($800 per 40 hr week salary but I typically work 50 or more hours to get all that needs to be done, done.) I can't take rejection, so I won't even consider asking for a raise.

 

[martind1]

things just arent good out there and IT is one place companies feel they can cut costs, be it with entry level people. hiring deperate people for less money or outsourcing.


it just isnt a great time to be job hunting.

 

[bozo1]

Two things among many that I see companies doing:

- Outsourcing. This is where many people like me with 15+ years experience are at now. We get paid much less than we used to, our companies bill our time at huge rates of which we get little, and the customer still comes off cheaper than having someone full-time on staff.

- Sending existing low-payed employees (usually help-desk) for training. In the past, companies didn't do that because they were scared, and rightly so, that the employee would take the knowledge and leave for a better paying job. Employers know that now, the employees can't leave for a better paying job because there are none out there. So, they send them off, get them trainined, start having them doing the higher end stuff, bump their pay 10-20K a year which makes the employee happy, and the company is still paying half of what they would to hire a more experienced outsider. When the employee gets over his head, they can still just call in an outside company for a little help and still be ahead of the game.

 

[crisp82]

the 19 year old who didn't know anything when you called Dell or Gateway's free Tech Support line

Sounds almost like me, but i am 20 and know my computers...

just hope my next employer doesn't see me like that...

 

[bozo1]

Sounds almost like me, but i am 20 and know my computers

You'll find that knowing your computers inside & out is only 10% of an IT job in the corporate world.