What should salary be??

Cushtie

I wonder if any of you guys out there might have an opinion on this. I look after the IT dept (I am the IT Dept!!) of a small to medium company that is invoved in Accountancy and Financial Services. It is a windows based envoirnment with around 65 users.

I am the responsible for the provision of all IT requirements in the organisation. (basically if it uses electricity I am responsible!!!!!).

I have been here for over 4 years. (Started off in a more junior role and eventually found myself in the role I have today which I have been doing for about 2.5 years)

If the company had to go out and hire someone tomorrow to do my job how much do you think they might have to pay??

WhiteWashMan

how much do you think youre worth?

dont make the mistake of thinking that you think youre importnat, so the company must think so too...

Cushtie

thats the thing, I don't have a clue what I am worth, not being funny. I think I am on good enough €€€ for my qualifications and experience.

I was just looking to get other people's opinions / thoughts on it.

Sposs

How much are you currently on? what level of support to you provide for the users? What would be your daily duties? Are you on call 24/7? what happens when you go on holiday?

The above questions are to give me an idea of what exactly you do.

Eoin

A bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, but I would imagine that in or around low 30K's would be about right, maybe a little more if you have MCSE or similar qualifications.

Have a look at irishjobs.ie or monster and see if you can find similar roles - this may give you an idea of the salary range. Or speak to a couple of recruitment companies and ask what they think you could expect to get if you changed jobs.

Eoin

nesf

Cushtie wrote:

thats the thing, I don't have a clue what I am worth, not being funny. I think I am on good enough €€€ for my qualifications and experience.

I was just looking to get other people's opinions / thoughts on it.

Well if you're happy with your salary and doing the work then why worry?

Other people might be on more money elsewhere but not be happy in their jobs. I know which I'd pick.

That said if you're on less that 20K a year you're underpaid. Most of the people I know in your "kind of work" are in the early to mid 20's bracket.

Eoin

nesf wrote:

That said if you're on less that 20K a year you're underpaid. Most of the people I know in your "kind of work" are in the early to mid 20's bracket.

Oops, sounds like I was only 10K out

nesf

eoin_s wrote:

Oops, sounds like I was only 10K out

It's his experience I'm working off of. I've a few friends in IT who've been there for about 4/5 years and they aren't earning big money. One guy is earning 30+ but he's in a really specialised field. Generic IT doesn't pay that much really.

Cushtie

thanks folks. I am at the mid 30s mark alright. My daily duites include basically everything to keep the IT side of things up and running. I work alone. I'm not on call 24/7 but sometimes get the odd call in the evening or on a Saturday, rarely enough though. During holidays a contractor comes in to keep an eye on things. I am happy enough with the money. the one thing that worries me is my skills are getting a bit outdated. I'd say if I was made redundant I would have difficult getting a similar position. I am looking at doing the MCSA exams etc too.

loz

A Monkey can run window environments so dont expect much - get yourself into unix - solaris/hpux/aix etc if you want a bit more -

better still lock your accounts out and get a suit on - the suits get double the workers usualy

seamus

loz wrote:

A Monkey can run window environments so dont expect much

:rolleyes: Depends on the network, obviously

It sounds about right, Cushtie. Not a bad place to be. If you've done a good bit of work as regards data security & integrity, the Financial Services sector pays big money to its IT people in that regard. Your experience, and further experience could take you far. Some of the big companies will pay €60k+ for an Operations Manager.

loz

seamus wrote:

:rolleyes: Depends on the network, obviously

.

It is a windows based envoirnment with around 65 users.

.........

Unless they have lots of 3rd party links over self managed frame relay\timeplex etc, and the 65 staff are all remote from each other over differing links, vpns, direct fibre runs, ras dialup, wireless, satcom etc - I wouldn't expect network to be that complex tbh

seamus

loz wrote:

Unless they have lots of 3rd party links over self managed frame relay\timeplex etc, and the 65 staff are all remote from each other over differing links, vpns, direct fibre runs, ras dialup, wireless, satcom etc - I wouldn't expect network to be that complex tbh

In reality you haven't a clue what they have. It's an accountancy firm, so unless the management are completely braindead, this guy has to look after security, backups, disaster recovery, etc etc. But, then I haven't a clue what they have either.

Even a small Windows-based network would be no place for a tech monkey (if they wanted the job done right). UNIX qualifications would be no use for him in his current job if they don't use the technology. Though that's no reason not to install a UNIX machine on the network to give himself the experience.

loz

seamus wrote:

unless the management are completely braindead, this guy has to look after security, backups, disaster recovery, etc etc.

Cushtie wrote:

I look after the IT dept (I am the IT Dept!!)

hmmm

AARRRGH

Mid-30's is good. Don't complain

nesf

loz, think of it this way.

It's not what system he's running, that matters little.

It's that the data on the systems would be very valuable and worth stealing. That's going to make his job a hell of a lot harder regardless. I'd personally consider it easier to have to look after such data on a unix system.

Anyone can use unix, anyone can become proficient in it. Securing data on a windows network? Now that's a job for a professional who knows what he's doing.