Author Topic: Advice for an IT professional looking for a new job  (Read 2876 times)

rugorak

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Advice for an IT professional looking for a new job
« on: May 10, 2013, 11:46:26 AM »
So I recently went through some interviews and in the end was not made an offer from one place and made an offer from another but I ended up turning it down. For details see this thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/desired-salary-what-to-say/

I figured I would start a new thread since although this is a continuation of that it is still very different.

First question is what pay range/total compensation package should I be looking for/expecting? All the usual places for research (glassdoor.com, salary.com, payscale.com) seemed to have widely different numbers. As low as $45k and as high as $135k with the usual recommendation based on my skillset and experience being around 92k that I should be getting. Based on past experience it seems all my offers have been on the low side. Many for less than I am making at a non-profit healthcare network in the middle of nowhere. For reference I pay $580 a month for a ranch style house and most markets I have looked at the cheapo apartments in crappy areas are at least $950 and for a similar living experience it would cost me closer to $1200-1400 a month and sometimes even a little more. Trying to figure out if I am just overreaching or have just had bad luck with places trying to low ball me and everyone else. I have 7+ years experience as a sys admin, 9+ in IT. Skillset is VMware, AD, Windows, Scripting, Exchange, Citrix, SCCM, some linux, some SAN, some networking for the short summary. VCP 4 certified. So for any who might work in the field, or even better be a hiring manager or HR person what would that skill set be worth?

Second would be does anyone have some advice on some skills I should work on to potentially get better offers? I am hoping to get my VCP 5 cert sometime in the next few months. Not sure what I would want to work on after that. Most likely some Microsoft certs. But I am open to suggestions.

Spork

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Re: Advice for an IT professional looking for a new job
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2013, 01:12:57 PM »
This is going to super dependent on location.

In my current location, $90k would probably be over 2x what that would pay.
100 miles west of here, $90k would be about right.


dizzean

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Re: Advice for an IT professional looking for a new job
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2013, 02:05:44 PM »
So I recently went through some interviews and in the end was not made an offer from one place and made an offer from another but I ended up turning it down. For details see this thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/desired-salary-what-to-say/

I figured I would start a new thread since although this is a continuation of that it is still very different.

First question is what pay range/total compensation package should I be looking for/expecting? All the usual places for research (glassdoor.com, salary.com, payscale.com) seemed to have widely different numbers. As low as $45k and as high as $135k with the usual recommendation based on my skillset and experience being around 92k that I should be getting. Based on past experience it seems all my offers have been on the low side. Many for less than I am making at a non-profit healthcare network in the middle of nowhere. For reference I pay $580 a month for a ranch style house and most markets I have looked at the cheapo apartments in crappy areas are at least $950 and for a similar living experience it would cost me closer to $1200-1400 a month and sometimes even a little more. Trying to figure out if I am just overreaching or have just had bad luck with places trying to low ball me and everyone else. I have 7+ years experience as a sys admin, 9+ in IT. Skillset is VMware, AD, Windows, Scripting, Exchange, Citrix, SCCM, some linux, some SAN, some networking for the short summary. VCP 4 certified. So for any who might work in the field, or even better be a hiring manager or HR person what would that skill set be worth?

Second would be does anyone have some advice on some skills I should work on to potentially get better offers? I am hoping to get my VCP 5 cert sometime in the next few months. Not sure what I would want to work on after that. Most likely some Microsoft certs. But I am open to suggestions.

In Minneapolis that skillset would get you at least 60k if not 75k.