Desktop Support Engineer - €40K??

sgthighway

I am 10 years in IT and am currently in a dead end job as a Desktop Support Engineer. Last year I earned €39K Gross.

The thing is I am sick of it. There is no challange anymore. There is no where and will be no other positions available with my current employer because the qualifications that are required for the System Admin roles are way above what I have and they want to get people in qualified.

I am really good at my job but need to move to another company to progress my career. The only certification I have is a MCDST.

Have I any hope of earning anywhere near €40K ?? I am based in Galway.

stepbar

Good god :eek: 40k! That's shocking. I'd say you'd find it hard to get another job that would match the pay you're getting at the moment. Why don't you go get the qualifications needed? In fairness it sounds like you don't want to go back to college. Unfortunatly, in IT you need to keep learning or you will end up standing still (it looks like this happening to you at the moment).

leeroybrown

Take a look into what certifications you could do that would help you move in the direction you want. You could inquire internally in your company what certifications/qualifications would be required for you to move to a System Admin role.

wandererz

Hate to be a downer, but qualifications is what it's about if you're looking at improvement. i've been in the industry 10 years now, have cissp, ccse, wcse, nsa, ccna,acse and a whole bunch of others i have to certify every 3 yrs or so.
I've designed the networks for the luas line, the dept of bertie and a bunch of major organisations.

if i wanted to stand still i wouldn't bother, but you're in IT, you either keep yourself up to speed & prove (to an extent) that you're worth it or you're a dead fish.

let's face it, it isn't difficult to get an IT qualification these days, it just takes a bit of effort.

pclancy

Choose something you're interested in and get certified or trained up on it, do your MCSE and try find some systems admin stuff, security box stuff is always in demand custom firewalls etc, UNIX/linux, iseries, lotus notes, oracle apps or DBA, server building/configuration, SANs, clusters, maybe try desktop or systems field-based service for a while (same as what you're doing but the days spent in different places-makes it much more interesting) theres also huge demand for developers why not get into a language?

One thing IT does have going for it is the amount of different roles within an industry, theres thousands of different types of work, find one that challanges you or you enjoy!

sgthighway

Had a talk with the Boss today and said I wasn't happy and I got a 20% raise on the spot :eek: :eek: . I reckon I am just to valuable to them and they couldn't risk seeing me go.
My salary was €32K but I was getting an extra allowance for been on call and once a year I got a bonus - that took it up to just under €40K.
I am definetley going getting a few more qualifications or working on it straight away because I know there are a lot of well qualified people out there looking for work.

Lads been realistic life isn't cheap especially when you have kids and a mortgage and I was starting to get upset with the idea of going into debt. I have never been so worried up until the last few weeks but I think I got it all sorted now with the raise.

P.S. - Anyone looking for a Desktop Support job in Galway; check out the Galway Clinic. Money isn't great but it should be handy. Its one I came accross on my search.

Another P.S. - Whats the average wage in Ireland now?

pclancy

:eek: wow congratualtions man! Thats excellent

You're right though, do some courses and find something that interests you to specialise in, gives you something to work towards and a sense of achievement once you do it.

Irish jobs 2007 Salary survery

Eoin

sgthighway wrote:

Had a talk with the Boss today and said I wasn't happy and I got a 20% raise on the spot :eek: :eek: . I reckon I am just to valuable to them and they couldn't risk seeing me go.
My salary was €32K but I was getting an extra allowance for been on call and once a year I got a bonus - that took it up to just under €40K.
I am definetley going getting a few more qualifications or working on it straight away because I know there are a lot of well qualified people out there looking for work.

Congratulations - if you don't mind me saying, the guts of 50K for a desktop support role is very good going. The only thing is that it will now make it even harder to move on!