Market rate for IT jobs

sorry for the attempted hijack

Thought it might be best to post here.

Quick question for the MS certified people.

What is the best route to becoming MSCE certified?

What options are available?
 
dowie said:
Well I guess that figures...

As far as contractors earning that in the UK in the context of this thread (1st line/2nd line support) - you'd pretty much have to learn something like murex and be in a support role on the trading floor of a large bank... taking plenty of abuse form the traders. You might then be on close to 200k in what is essentially a 1st line support role (albeit quite far removed from the generic printer monkey gig).
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Assuming 220 working days per year that's £900pd. Quite possible to achieve in some IT roles in this country but becoming far, far less frequent with constant rate cuts (the banks frequently impose "take it or leave it" cuts on contractors and even furlough's - enforced holidays to save cash). But I've not seen that kind of rate for support work in a while (I've never been a contractor but do employ them). Also if you specialise in a niche product like Murex then you might face periods of being on the bench so your average rate drops due to gaps between contracts.

Back in 2007 I was working with Java Chordiant guys on about £750 a day (I was signing their invoices) but recently rates appear to be significantly less at around £500 to £550pd for similar roles. I'm now seeing support contract rates as low as £350 being advertised in London. That's still good money but it's a lot less than it used to be. Something similar is happening with permie salaries too as juniors are expected to have more experience and take on more responsibility quicker for less/same money as previously.

I wouldn't fancy being IT support on the trading floor. Some attitudes towards IT staff there can be "interesting" and the hours are less than ideal(in at 6am or earlier, not allowed a toilet break for several hours in case a trader needs something, etc).
 
danielanthony said:
If I were you I'd get the Microsoft Desktop Support certifications done as you can study for that using a copy of VMware Workstation and some study guides. Then go and find yourself a 1st line role in some large organisation, impress the right people, then apply for 2nd line roles as they come up. I say big organisations as they will have the big toys which need people on big money to keep them running. Once you start you will gain experience and find areas of technology which interest you more than others, you can then start to specialise.
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I looked on the MS website and they do the Windows desktop 7 & 8, I assume it's best to go for whatever is latest as this will cover everything? http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/windows-certification.aspx#fbid=AKsrIYDCsWW

Is this what I need to look at doing? or is there something else I need to do ontop of this?

Sorry for the stupid questions, just am completely stuck and just need some hand holding before I'm jobless in two weeks.
 
You'd be best off going 7, in my opinion, as most people won't be on 8 at all yet. Most have not long been on 7.


MCSA : Windows 7
Solutions Associate
The foundation for your professional career
Prove you have the expertise to configure and support a Windows 7 enterprise system. (New to IT? Learn about MTA certification for new entrants.)
Step
Exam title
Optional training
Required exam
Certification earned
1
Windows 7, Configuring
6292
680

2
Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician
6293
685

That's the ticket for you though. Would be a good one.
 
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groen said:
I think going from 16.5 to 200k in four years is definitely the exception than the norm. Ive been in IT six years and just starting to get perm job offers through for 40-50k bracket. Which i'm quite pleased about. It just takes time and a lot of hard work, i also think it is true which many people have said before that you get the biggest pay jumps when you change jobs. Ive been in my current role now for 3 years and due for a move but they want to keep me on but won't pay market rate for the role.

Contracting is different all together when it comes to pay. The company I work for gets £800 per day for renting me out but i only get a tiny fraction of that. if you can skip out the middle man, then you can earn a lot. But i don't think its that easy. Well i guess ive never looked in to it in detail, probably should.
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Well said. I'm still just 2 years in the industry but my boss is not getting his salary raised. The trend right now is either you look for a new job/role that pays higher, or, like my self, take some contractual jobs for added income.
 
Hades said:
But I've not seen that kind of rate for support work in a while (I've never been a contractor but do employ them). Also if you specialise in a niche product like Murex then you might face periods of being on the bench so your average rate drops due to gaps between contracts.
[...]
I wouldn't fancy being IT support on the trading floor. Some attitudes towards IT staff there can be "interesting" and the hours are less than ideal(in at 6am or earlier, not allowed a toilet break for several hours in case a trader needs something, etc).
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Actually it looks like rates have dropped slightly in the past couple of years - average was 850 in 2011:

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/murex support analyst.do

I agree it is high - I work with a similar product albeit not in a support role and at the vendor rather than a client... I don't think it would be worth it in terms of additional hours, stress and general BS for me to try contracting on the trading floor of some large bank. It was more an illustration of what is possible - lots of people look at doing MS, Cisco certificates etc.. whereas I've seen people from fairly naff universities with some technical degree do some tech support work for a financial software vendor then pick up fairly lucrative contract work - if they'd gone down a more generic route they'd not likely be earning anywhere near what they're currently on.
 
dowie said:
It depends on the role/industry... but 12k is seriously depressing - I'd suggest anyone who lives in or near London and is considering some form of support role within IT should consider the financial services sector - despite the industry suffering at the moment the starting salary even for 1st line support is significantly higher than that.
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Financial services pays nicely, but expect to be made redundant every couple of years. Just add everyone on LinkedIn because I guarantee you will see most of them again elsewhere. That's just how it goes.

Also get your certs under your belt whilst you are with said company, because you can add to them at the next firm. What a circus it is.

It also pays to get financial related certs (R01 etc) even if you are an IT guy in that industry just to appease the old fuddies, it really is a pretty backwards industry.
 
I've been doing 2nd line for a 2.5 years now, started on 16k and I'm still on 16k :p

I really should get another job...! This is local council btw. People who think all Public Sector employees are earning fantastic money are sooo wrong these days.

The trouble is, although I can do a bit of everything, from coding to support to imaging, etc, I have no qualifications and very little experience with enterprise infrastructure (we're talking servers and back-end stuff).

With 2.5 years of 2nd line experience the only jobs I could really apply for would be other 2nd line support roles.
 
FoxEye said:
I've been doing 2nd line for a 2.5 years now, started on 16k and I'm still on 16k :p

I really should get another job...! This is local council btw. People who think all Public Sector employees are earning fantastic money are sooo wrong these days.

The trouble is, although I can do a bit of everything, from coding to support to imaging, etc, I have no qualifications and very little experience with enterprise infrastructure (we're talking servers and back-end stuff).

With 2.5 years of 2nd line experience the only jobs I could really apply for would be other 2nd line support roles.
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That just goes to highlight that one 2nd line job isn't the same as another.

I'm apparently 2nd line, but we're dealing with all manner of Unix/AIX stuff, Citrix presentation servers, Websphere MQ, Windows Server of all kinds of flavours and plenty of bespoke software too.

I've never known an industry where the same job title can be so wildly different from place to place.
 
I have recently started a 2nd line secondment and now doing much more interesting stuff. Sorting SCOM alerts, SCCM, some stuff in Powershell, Exchange, EAS restores, snapshot restores, XenApp (5-6.5) first look into proxy server setup, firewalls, Scansafe...the list goes on. Of course whilst assisting 1st line but most are more than capable.

Its great working in a bigger company where there is more structure and dedicated teams to certain areas. Means I can book time with people to learn more (taking work off their hands but in the end making myself more valuable)
 
Haircut said:
And judging by his location probably works in Switzerland, where wages and living costs are very high.
Even as a contractor you'd be doing very well to be pulling £200k doing Sharepoint in this country.
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Living costs in most of Switzerland are lower than London, and you pay far less taxes on top.
 
randomshenans said:
^^ You've just got to play the game well. There is money there to be made, it also depends how flexible you are. Jaket is travelling 3hrs per day, most wouldn't.

I'm not the best IT person out there, but I got the experience and skills needed to get the next role, and always do that. Have a rough plan, push yourself.

I'm no way whacking my todger out and slapping it on the table, but you can see in my linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=7412532&trk=tab_pro) I've been in IT for what, just over 4yrs? From 1st line > now. That's gone from 16.5k to over 200k
I moved countries, don't think I'd ever get that elsewhere, but that's what you have to sacrifice if you want what you want.
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I agree, if you want to maximise your earning potential you have to be willing to move countries. London may pay well relative to the rest of the UK but it pays poorly on the global scale, the livings costs are about the highest in the world and the taxes also very high so combined you are rarely going to do well.

In banking and finance london salaries are not too far behind but in research, science and engineering they are far behind IMO. After my PhD I looked for lots of jobs in the UK and they were all in the 22-35K GBP pay range, in the US the same jobs paid 50-120K GBP, in Switzerland 70-170K GBP.
Unless that pay gap changes and taxes reduce I will never return to the UK.
 
D.P. said:
Living costs in most of Switzerland are lower than London, and you pay far less taxes on top.
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Granted I've only lived in London and not Switzerland, but when I worked for a Swiss bank the guys that had come over from Switzerland thought London was a bargain in comparison.
 
Yeah I was always under the impression that EU passport holders commute to say Geneva from France and the French are cool with their salary/bonus being taxed in Switzerland/other earnings taxed in France... meanwhile US passport holders are stuck paying a fortune for some small apartment in Switzerland.

Certainly the Big Mac index for Switzerland is significantly higher than London or NY... I'd have expected property to be similar or higher too... tis a bit surprising to hear someone say its cheaper than London.
 
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