IT Salaries

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2009
Posts
19,885
I am currently working in an IT Support job and have been here for 4 months. I'm on 16.5k for 37.5hours. I'm never swamped with calls but work reasonably hard, stuff like active directory, group policy, general problems with Office, setting up new PCs, updates and helping boss with other things like server problems/citrix/exchange/blackberry etc.

I have a degree (2:1) business computing and 2 years experience in IT. So far I have learned loads and an aweful lot from my boss and there's only me and my boss in the IT dept.

16.5k is easily enough for me to live on but what is making me ask is that my housemate has just walked into a job as a supply analyst for big supermarket on 20k and is asking for a payrise to be in line with other people working in his field (21k) (hes been there 2 weeks)

He has no experience in the field, has a business degree (2:2) and previous general office admin experience.

Am I underpaid or is this usual for my field of work/experience?
When is the right time to ask for a rise or should I keep quiet and carry on with 1 to 1 learning?
 
Associate
Joined
28 Jul 2008
Posts
468
I'm just behind you on 1st line support (with bits of other jobs added in). Its my first full time IT job so I'm hoping to move up soon. Been here since March.
 
Caporegime
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
37,491
Location
Leafy Cheshire
I do sweet FA (ok, that's a lie, I just don't have much to do on a day-to-day basis, all my work is long-term project based), with minimum qualifications (an MCP and a CCNA), get labled as the "network administrator" and am on over £30k.

I'd say you are underpayed however, as when I was in a similar role to yourself, working for Wedgwood, even they (struggling to stay afloat) paid me £18,500.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2005
Posts
1,805
Location
London
You will quickly find that the salary ranges for IT are completely broken. You will get people with challenging workloads and tough problems getting what you do, and others who have a better job title and no responsibilites on a lot more than you.

That's not to say that there aren't people who absolutely deserve their pay packets, but I think that not all businesses are able to value their people/roles correctly.
 
Caporegime
Joined
19 May 2004
Posts
31,385
Location
Nordfriesland, Germany
Honestly, if you're learning and not hating the job, just stick at it. It's your first job, it's there to get you experience not make you rich. Worry about in 18 months time when you've got some half decent experience under your belt.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,073
Seems massively underpaid IME, thats a wide range of skills and you are a graduate for little more than a supermarket pays...

Treat it as experience for a while as that is the most important factor, then move on.
 

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
99,992
Location
South Coast
I am currently working in an IT Support job and have been here for 4 months. I'm on 16.5k for 37.5hours. I'm never swamped with calls but work reasonably hard, stuff like active directory, group policy, general problems with Office, setting up new PCs, updates and helping boss with other things like server problems/citrix/exchange/blackberry etc.

I have a degree (2:1) business computing and 2 years experience in IT. So far I have learned loads and an aweful lot from my boss and there's only me and my boss in the IT dept.

16.5k is easily enough for me to live on but what is making me ask is that my housemate has just walked into a job as a supply analyst for big supermarket on 20k and is asking for a payrise to be in line with other people working in his field (21k) (hes been there 2 weeks)

He has no experience in the field, has a business degree (2:2) and previous general office admin experience.

Am I underpaid or is this usual for my field of work/experience?
When is the right time to ask for a rise or should I keep quiet and carry on with 1 to 1 learning?

It does vary, for example where I (and a few others here) worked previous pay was ass, and I mean ass. I started at 12.8k and it rose to 13.4k after 2 years. Yes the experience and knowledge being absorbed was good but for what we were doing we were classed as 1st line if you will but the actual tasks being done were what other companies get 2nd line people doing or beyond - and then there was the swamping!

I knew it was low pay for what it was but it was my first IT job (didn't go to uni, started work right away after college) and now having worked in many areas of IT and currently working in GIS mapping + FRS command management I can see just how big the pay rises can go within this field and yet positions that require less knowledge/experience than my current job are advertised several k more than what I get right now.


I guess that's the way it is though!
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 May 2009
Posts
19,885
Honestly, if you're learning and not hating the job, just stick at it. It's your first job, it's there to get you experience not make you rich. Worry about in 18 months time when you've got some half decent experience under your belt.

Not hating it at all, i actually enjoy it. Sure its not all great but that goes for everything. Its good that ive been given domain admin rights and can use things here like an old server as my test environment (within reason)

Its not my first job, i have had a years placement in IT support and one year in a software development team

Jez - Yes, its pretty gash to think that people in supermarkets are on about the same pay as me and binmen are (were) on more than me!
 

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
99,992
Location
South Coast
Shows you can learn, shows you can stick at something, shows you havent lived at home and worked in a crappy job for years.

It doesn't make a huge amount of difference in this sector. Most IT position interviewers look for people who know their **** and can deal with people or at least show potential from past experience or at interview through questioning and personality.

At one place a new recruit came from being a chef just because he shone at the interview...

My brother spent over a year looking for a job after a 2:1 in Networking and only just found a job in London.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Nov 2004
Posts
16,024
Location
9th Inner Circle
Big salaries aren't as easy to come buy in IT as they used to be and for us Public Sector workers they aren't nowhere near as big as the Private Sector.

Still a reasonable wage, the ability to retire at 60 and a final salary pension to go some way to counter-balancing the salary difference. That and my job is easy!
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,073
Shows you can learn, shows you can stick at something, shows you havent lived at home and worked in a crappy job for years.

TBH mate in IT it doesnt make any difference, i put it to illustrate my point that its a "proper" job yet is paying very little.

That kind of figure is not my experience of support at all (I have 5.5 years of it now starting right at the basics, so i should know). But then i am basing my experiences on generally city based large companies.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jun 2008
Posts
6,240
Location
Portsmouth/Fareham
It doesn't make a huge amount of difference in this sector. Most IT position interviewers look for people who know their **** and can deal with people.

At one place a new recruit came from being a chef just because he shone at the interview...

My brother spent over a year looking for a job after a 2:1 in Networking and only just found a job in London.

Yeah very true. I went to Uni, did basic IT support in my placement year and moved into a job that invovlved very little technical or infact detailed knowledge about I.T.

Stay where you are until you are no longer comfortable, or you have learn't all you think you can learn and move on to bigger and better things. I.T is a good industry in the fact that generally more experience means more knowledge, more knowledge means better job prospects.

If you think you are getting diddled have a look on IT job recruitments and see what there is available for someone with your skills.
 

A2Z

A2Z

Soldato
Joined
9 May 2005
Posts
8,921
Location
Earth
Im kinda of similar, work for support in a small software company, also not swamped with calls, but still learning loads of stuff, networking, and software/server.

I graduated last year with 2:2 in Business Admin, this is my 1st full time job, been here 8 months, on £17.5k.

When I hit 12 months im planning to quit, as theres no way Im gona stay doing this for a long time, I see it as a year of experience, something to put on CV, then move on and try find something better, if not, at least something a bit different.
 
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