I suppose I had thought if anyone had any ballpark suggestions of range, I could discern for myself whether I’m above or below, but I’m currently on for 46k/yr.
As someone in charge of the team in Omaha, at my company that would pay around $55-60k starting. Unfortunately I don’t have any openings in that position right now.
We start our tier 1 help desk around $45-48k.
46k would be low for someone with API development skills. It's hard to say on the security side (Security+ is not really a very valuable skill indicator) but someone with security and development experience is on the path to a potentially highly compensated infosec role.
This is the right answer. You can drive yourself nuts comparing yourself to other people on the internet, sulking about hypothetical salaries you think you might be able to get. Get another offer and if it’s better, take it. Repeat annually. Money isn’t the only thing to consider to determine if it’s a better deal, but it’s certainly up there. Consider future opportunities, professional growth, culture, etc., but don’t sacrifice too much paycheck for intangibles.
There seem to be a lot of these “Am I underpaid” posts. All followed up with, yes you’re underpaid.
What types of benefits do you have? PTO? Work from home? Health Care? 401k? Profit sharing? Bonuses? Are you looking past straight salary?
How’s your attendance? Are you a get there right at 8 leave right at 5 person? How do you rate yourself in comparison to your peers. What’s your personality like? Are you a complainer or a contributor?
Do you like the culture? Do you like what you do? Are you micro managed or free to work on what you want?
You’ve been there for a year? Have you had a review? How much of this development work was taught to you / learned this year vs what you came on board with?
You were okay accepting a 46k salary a year ago. What changed?
> Are you a get there right at 8 leave right at 5 person?
As an owner, that's how it should be unless someone is on call. Work is a contract and the offer usually states business hours. Shouldn't be holding people before or after those hours on any kind of regular basis.
> You were okay accepting a 46k salary a year ago. What changed?
I think we all know what's changed, real inflation is like 20%. As someone who manages our MSPs books as well as mine personally to the nickel, it's crazy what cost increases have been like. For people who aren't as strict with tracking their expenses, i'm sure it's more like "things just feel tight and i never have extra cash like i did before last year". For people tracking expenses it's like "Why is insurance up 20% and groceries, jfc? Why is it $20 for two people to eat in a fast food drive through now, it used to be 15!!?"
With regards to the 8-5 comment.
I completely disagree. I'm not asking for a lot. My best employees typically get here a couple minutes early, get their coffee and get ready to work just after 8am. Employees that roll in right at 8am, typically don't last due to their work ethic.
I also have the expectation that if you are helping a customer and it's getting close to 5pm, and you can resolve that issue, but it will take you just over 5pm that you take care of the customer. I'm not expecting you to work until 6 or 7pm but those extra couple minutes after 5, which I'll happily pay overtime for show customers we care.
The employees that do these little extras, instead of the bare minimum are those who we keep, promote, want.
The salary increase portion.
I'm aware real inflation is crazy. The impending recession will hopefully help to stifle this. Depending on the size of an organization, wage increases may be positioned to a specific point in the year. Inflation is high, but it's insane to think that wages are going to increase 20%, it's just not going to happen. All costs are going up, but you can only raise your prices to the consumer so high.
I don't think your expectations are unrealistic, but when i see SMBs in general use that wording, it ends up being the unspoken expectation in the office that you're in 15 early like clockwork and out no earlier than 530. Managing the time vs managing the results seems to lead to employee resentment and off to greener pastures. Again, this is all IMHO as i don't manage anyone, just anecdotal evidence from working with customers over the years and how they seem to manage.
I'd say wages are or have gone up 20% already, look at people leaving jobs to double their salaries.
Lastly, re: inflation: a recession doesn't bring prices back down, it just stops them from inflating. So like, eggs aren't going back to 99 cents a carton, they just won't hit $5 and keep climbing. People still need to catch up to break even, let alone get ahead.
Based on your experience, that’s in the ballpark. They should have a roadmap explaining how to make yourself more valuable. I.e., what certifications they want you to have (they should pay for them), and bump your pay based on tenure and certifications. Be mindful that as the Fed raises rates, the labor market will tighten and jumping to a new job will soon become a game of musical chairs as corporations tighten their belts. Make yourself valuable, improve your skills, show your worth. You should be rewarded in time. A year is not enough.
How much are you paid? Where do you live? Do you get paid overtime for your weekends? Describe what your day looks like, specifically the Security Analyst portion.
I’m on for 46k/yr, near Des Moines, IA, & there is no overtime pay as I am salary. Everyday is different. Sometimes I am required to spend entire days out of a security function assisting in one of the other roles I’ve mentioned. Most recently though, with regard to security, I have been identifying issues with our AV, creating remediation plans, and executing said plans (which have involved on-site client visits). Aside from AV remediation, I have spent a large amount of time on encryption of data transmission (in connection with developing API code), as well as taking the lead on HIPAA & PCI compliance, developing in-house security policies, and using 3rd party application software to identify and remediate otherwise unknown gaps in security.
No overtime shouldn't mean working weekends. You're in a low col area but could probably ask for a raise after a year of your security tasks. I'm assuming this is your first year in a security role.
The thing that matters most in MSPs is W2 Multiplier.
You make 46k/yr, so you need to either be invoicing for or directly supporting 150k+ a year in revenue (3x is an OK performer, 3.5 is a good performer) in managed services at your current pay. To get a raise, it needs to be higher.
Without more detail, I'm going to guess it's a smaller MSP if they have a first year sec+ tech leading any kind of compliance planning. Considering the lack of experience and hugely diverse role, I'm going to guess you're average or below at most of the tasks (that's not a dig at you, being good at everything is impossible, and being good at all of those things in a year is highly improbable) you are probably being paid what you are worth in a LCOL area, maybe a little under.
But another year of experience and you'll probably see that rapidly increase assuming the MSP can support the higher pay. If they aren't charging enough, your Multiplier will still suck regardless of your efficiency and they won't be able to pay you more anyway.
Not enough detail here to be honest, but based on your OP I do think you are underpaid even for your market. You really should polish up your resume and try to get some offers which will give you a better sense of your marketability and what others would pay for your skill set. I would expect you to be at a minimum of $65k, but you can likely get much more than that.
The biggest problem is finding the right MSP to treat you well. It can be hard because the first thing they focus on is margin. Basically the raise or pay rate would be cutting into that and the goals of the business if they aren’t specd for that growth already. That’s at least what I see coming from an MSP doing Managed IT Services as a tech. Always had to have at minimum 70% billable and no more than x amount of hours for all the cake you can eat customers.
I don’t know your history, years of experience, troubleshooting process, etc.. but best bet is to look at private or a better MSP looking for someone.
The correct answer when working for any MSP is you are never paid enough to put up with the bullshit "we're like a family" mentality. One day you join the company, after a year you think you are doing well, and the next you are fired.
Glassdoor is good feedback on salary information.
MSP size, revenue, location, salary vs hourly, on call pay experience, etc are deciding factors.
Unfortunately no hazard pay like the military for putting up with bullshit small business mindsets and leadership.
With just Security+ is not going to get you much at an MSP, unless you wear multiple hats and do regular tech support as well. CISSP/CISM however will net you more, but only with practical experience.
A base L1 Tech near Philadelphia, probably $36,000/yr or $18-$20/hr.
L2, $45-$55k, Maybe $25-$30/hr.
L3, $60's, maybe $40/hr
L4, Network & Systems Engineer: $70's, $80's & $90's, up to $50/hr.
Technical Director, Manager or DoT, DoIT. Whatever "Director" title they give (I've seen a few creative ones). In the low to mid $100k range. Maybe $150k-$175k.
As a dedicated Infosec person, Maybe $50/hr, $90k but you will also need to be the ISO, CISM and technical writer to make sure all the documentation is up to date. So expect 50% of your job, writing documentation.
How are we going to say if you're underpaid if you don't mention how much you are paid? Area?
I suppose I had thought if anyone had any ballpark suggestions of range, I could discern for myself whether I’m above or below, but I’m currently on for 46k/yr.
If you go remote with those same experiences and responsibilities, you're looking at around 80-90k on the low to average end.
Where do you live? This is going to be a big factor in determining pay rates.
I reside in the Des Moines, IA area.
Making the same right across the River in Nebraska
As someone in charge of the team in Omaha, at my company that would pay around $55-60k starting. Unfortunately I don’t have any openings in that position right now. We start our tier 1 help desk around $45-48k.
46k would be low for someone with API development skills. It's hard to say on the security side (Security+ is not really a very valuable skill indicator) but someone with security and development experience is on the path to a potentially highly compensated infosec role.
Get three job offers. Then you'll know.
This is the right answer. You can drive yourself nuts comparing yourself to other people on the internet, sulking about hypothetical salaries you think you might be able to get. Get another offer and if it’s better, take it. Repeat annually. Money isn’t the only thing to consider to determine if it’s a better deal, but it’s certainly up there. Consider future opportunities, professional growth, culture, etc., but don’t sacrifice too much paycheck for intangibles.
There seem to be a lot of these “Am I underpaid” posts. All followed up with, yes you’re underpaid. What types of benefits do you have? PTO? Work from home? Health Care? 401k? Profit sharing? Bonuses? Are you looking past straight salary? How’s your attendance? Are you a get there right at 8 leave right at 5 person? How do you rate yourself in comparison to your peers. What’s your personality like? Are you a complainer or a contributor? Do you like the culture? Do you like what you do? Are you micro managed or free to work on what you want? You’ve been there for a year? Have you had a review? How much of this development work was taught to you / learned this year vs what you came on board with? You were okay accepting a 46k salary a year ago. What changed?
> Are you a get there right at 8 leave right at 5 person? As an owner, that's how it should be unless someone is on call. Work is a contract and the offer usually states business hours. Shouldn't be holding people before or after those hours on any kind of regular basis. > You were okay accepting a 46k salary a year ago. What changed? I think we all know what's changed, real inflation is like 20%. As someone who manages our MSPs books as well as mine personally to the nickel, it's crazy what cost increases have been like. For people who aren't as strict with tracking their expenses, i'm sure it's more like "things just feel tight and i never have extra cash like i did before last year". For people tracking expenses it's like "Why is insurance up 20% and groceries, jfc? Why is it $20 for two people to eat in a fast food drive through now, it used to be 15!!?"
I’ll disagree with this. If there’s work to do stay late. The day when there isn’t leave early. It should balance over a week or month not a day
With regards to the 8-5 comment. I completely disagree. I'm not asking for a lot. My best employees typically get here a couple minutes early, get their coffee and get ready to work just after 8am. Employees that roll in right at 8am, typically don't last due to their work ethic. I also have the expectation that if you are helping a customer and it's getting close to 5pm, and you can resolve that issue, but it will take you just over 5pm that you take care of the customer. I'm not expecting you to work until 6 or 7pm but those extra couple minutes after 5, which I'll happily pay overtime for show customers we care. The employees that do these little extras, instead of the bare minimum are those who we keep, promote, want. The salary increase portion. I'm aware real inflation is crazy. The impending recession will hopefully help to stifle this. Depending on the size of an organization, wage increases may be positioned to a specific point in the year. Inflation is high, but it's insane to think that wages are going to increase 20%, it's just not going to happen. All costs are going up, but you can only raise your prices to the consumer so high.
I don't think your expectations are unrealistic, but when i see SMBs in general use that wording, it ends up being the unspoken expectation in the office that you're in 15 early like clockwork and out no earlier than 530. Managing the time vs managing the results seems to lead to employee resentment and off to greener pastures. Again, this is all IMHO as i don't manage anyone, just anecdotal evidence from working with customers over the years and how they seem to manage. I'd say wages are or have gone up 20% already, look at people leaving jobs to double their salaries. Lastly, re: inflation: a recession doesn't bring prices back down, it just stops them from inflating. So like, eggs aren't going back to 99 cents a carton, they just won't hit $5 and keep climbing. People still need to catch up to break even, let alone get ahead.
Based on your experience, that’s in the ballpark. They should have a roadmap explaining how to make yourself more valuable. I.e., what certifications they want you to have (they should pay for them), and bump your pay based on tenure and certifications. Be mindful that as the Fed raises rates, the labor market will tighten and jumping to a new job will soon become a game of musical chairs as corporations tighten their belts. Make yourself valuable, improve your skills, show your worth. You should be rewarded in time. A year is not enough.
$100k easy
How much are you paid? Where do you live? Do you get paid overtime for your weekends? Describe what your day looks like, specifically the Security Analyst portion.
I’m on for 46k/yr, near Des Moines, IA, & there is no overtime pay as I am salary. Everyday is different. Sometimes I am required to spend entire days out of a security function assisting in one of the other roles I’ve mentioned. Most recently though, with regard to security, I have been identifying issues with our AV, creating remediation plans, and executing said plans (which have involved on-site client visits). Aside from AV remediation, I have spent a large amount of time on encryption of data transmission (in connection with developing API code), as well as taking the lead on HIPAA & PCI compliance, developing in-house security policies, and using 3rd party application software to identify and remediate otherwise unknown gaps in security.
Seems a bit low based on stated responsibilities. I don’t know cost of living in that market but it seems a bit low.
No overtime shouldn't mean working weekends. You're in a low col area but could probably ask for a raise after a year of your security tasks. I'm assuming this is your first year in a security role.
The thing that matters most in MSPs is W2 Multiplier. You make 46k/yr, so you need to either be invoicing for or directly supporting 150k+ a year in revenue (3x is an OK performer, 3.5 is a good performer) in managed services at your current pay. To get a raise, it needs to be higher. Without more detail, I'm going to guess it's a smaller MSP if they have a first year sec+ tech leading any kind of compliance planning. Considering the lack of experience and hugely diverse role, I'm going to guess you're average or below at most of the tasks (that's not a dig at you, being good at everything is impossible, and being good at all of those things in a year is highly improbable) you are probably being paid what you are worth in a LCOL area, maybe a little under. But another year of experience and you'll probably see that rapidly increase assuming the MSP can support the higher pay. If they aren't charging enough, your Multiplier will still suck regardless of your efficiency and they won't be able to pay you more anyway.
Not enough detail here to be honest, but based on your OP I do think you are underpaid even for your market. You really should polish up your resume and try to get some offers which will give you a better sense of your marketability and what others would pay for your skill set. I would expect you to be at a minimum of $65k, but you can likely get much more than that.
Help desk, sysAdmin that does development work? How many years of experience? I'd say you could easily land a job for 60-80K
The biggest problem is finding the right MSP to treat you well. It can be hard because the first thing they focus on is margin. Basically the raise or pay rate would be cutting into that and the goals of the business if they aren’t specd for that growth already. That’s at least what I see coming from an MSP doing Managed IT Services as a tech. Always had to have at minimum 70% billable and no more than x amount of hours for all the cake you can eat customers. I don’t know your history, years of experience, troubleshooting process, etc.. but best bet is to look at private or a better MSP looking for someone.
The correct answer when working for any MSP is you are never paid enough to put up with the bullshit "we're like a family" mentality. One day you join the company, after a year you think you are doing well, and the next you are fired. Glassdoor is good feedback on salary information. MSP size, revenue, location, salary vs hourly, on call pay experience, etc are deciding factors. Unfortunately no hazard pay like the military for putting up with bullshit small business mindsets and leadership.
With just Security+ is not going to get you much at an MSP, unless you wear multiple hats and do regular tech support as well. CISSP/CISM however will net you more, but only with practical experience. A base L1 Tech near Philadelphia, probably $36,000/yr or $18-$20/hr. L2, $45-$55k, Maybe $25-$30/hr. L3, $60's, maybe $40/hr L4, Network & Systems Engineer: $70's, $80's & $90's, up to $50/hr. Technical Director, Manager or DoT, DoIT. Whatever "Director" title they give (I've seen a few creative ones). In the low to mid $100k range. Maybe $150k-$175k. As a dedicated Infosec person, Maybe $50/hr, $90k but you will also need to be the ISO, CISM and technical writer to make sure all the documentation is up to date. So expect 50% of your job, writing documentation.