am i in the wrong job?

paradisiac · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:40

well, been thinking recently, with money the way it is and all, and im sure i got into computers because i was told 'thats where the money is'.
now i dont mean to be rude or anything, just having a general thought i might not be being paid enough and might be worth looking at moving on.
so im a basic pc engineer for a little company, i do pc hardware/software issues, laptop software issues, new builds, virus removal.......
so what on average do people earn an hour doing similar work?

antijoke · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:41

Peanuts.

Azagoth · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:43

£5.80

Cyanide · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:43

From what I've heard from friends and family in the computer business it's "where the money is" only if you're good enough and got in to it at the right time. Most of the jobs taken by the younger generation wanting to cash in on it are relatively low paid.

Xyanzi · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:44

i get 27.20 per hour and im with IT, but i work for a company in london... 10 hours a day

paradisiac · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:45

right, so maybe a change in direction, did my A+ 7-8years ago, then went into domestic elecrtical sales, only last year did i come back into doing IT as there was nothing else around. just seems for the amount of work i do, and the amount we charge the customers, i seem to get a very small percentage.

Azagoth · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:46

Xyanzi said:
i get 27.20 per hour and im with IT, but i work for a company in london... 10 hours a day

£1360 p.w. (assuming that you work 5 days per week) for fixing computers?

Hairybudda · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:50

I would kill to get into IT professionally, even bottom feeding on minimum wage, I think it's the only field I am genuinely passionate about as well as having a natural knack.

jamief · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:53

Azagoth said:
£1360 p.w. (assuming that you work 5 days per week) for fixing computers?

Where did he say he "fixed computers"?

Vesta_Man · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:53

Azagoth said:
£1360 p.w. (assuming that you work 5 days per week) for fixing computers?

Why not

You can earn far more than that for just 'fixing' computers as well!
Supply and demand, if your at the top of your field then your going to be in great demand.

paradisiac · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:55

i fix pcs, sorry did i not make that clear?

dr_volki · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:55

Vesta_Man said:
Why not
You can earn far more than that for just 'fixing' computers as well!
Supply and demand, if your at the top of your field then your going to be in great demand.

i think the OP is asking for people who have kind of a similar job
it would be the same saying i'm the IT manager of xxx company and earn 100k
doesn't really relate to the topic does it?

paradisiac · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:56

Vesta_Man said:
Why not
You can earn far more than that for just 'fixing' computers as well!
Supply and demand, if your at the top of your field then your going to be in great demand.

well i got offered a job with a rival company as he liked the work i did for him. thing is he has only just opened up, and with businesses folding all the time, im nervous about jumping ship to a new company.

Azagoth · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:57

jamief said:
Where did he say he "fixed computers"?

Well considering the OP asked "so what on average do people earn an hour doing similar work?" I assumed he was offering an answer to the OP's question rather than waving his eWilly.

Wicksta · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:57

dr_volki said:
i think the OP is asking for people who have kind of a similar job
it would be the same saying i'm the IT manager of xxx company and earn 100k
doesn't really relate to the topic does it?

I was on an hourly rate of £27 an hour+ in 1996-99 for a role that included desktop support (near Heathrow) which included most of the jobs mentioned in the OP. It's not unachievable even in today's slightly more flooded marketplace. I think you'll find most people who just 'fix computers' as part of their own business (Huddy etc) would charge more than £27 an hour too.

paradisiac · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:58

thing that bugs me is we charge £52p/h for labour, and i get £6.75p/h wages. seems like a very small percentage considering im one of the only qualified engineers and we all get the same money give or take 25p

Solaris · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:58

IT is a much bigger field than just fixing computers and supporting laptops and desktops. The real money is when you start supporting large IT infrastructures, UNIX environments, Oracle Databases, SAP, Mainframes, Super Computers, Cloud computing environments, SOA based infrastructures, and if you are a programmer... Obviously certain skills are worth more than others, I know people coding in ruby and looking after veritas clustering for banks earning £1k a day on certain contracts...

dr_volki · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:58

Wicksta said:
I was on an hourly rate of £27 an hour+ in 1996-99 for a role that included desktop support (near Heathrow) which included most of the jobs mentioned in the OP.

yeah but that was kind of the prime time for IT.
i knew a couple of people back them when i lived in switzerland and just finished their apprenticeship and earned 50-75k a year but after a couple of years they all lost their jobs due to the amount of people who went into IT.

Dave M · 25 Jan 2010 at 15:59

14-17k depending on location, public or private and industry.

Specialised roles will obviously attract considersably more.

Yamahahahahaha · 25 Jan 2010 at 16:01

Solaris said:
IT is a much bigger field than just fixing computers and supporting laptops and desktops. The real money is when you start supporting large IT infrastructures, UNIX environments, Oracle Databases, SAP, Mainframes, Super Computers, Cloud computing environments, SOA based infrastructures, and if you are a programmer... Obviously certain skills are worth more than others, I know people coding in ruby and looking after veritas clustering for banks earning £1k a day on certain contracts...

We've paid Oracle-certified coders more than 4 grand a day.

If you want to have a secure job in computing, learn to program. Good quality programmers are literally worth their weight in gold.

Keeping in mind that the work is dull as dishwater, most people don't appreciate what you do and the only people you'll ever meet are other nerds.

The only other way to rake in big money is to go into management. Which I personally love and would recommend if you like doing a good job and working with good people.