Any IT Managers in the House?

[lchyi]

ATOT is probably one of my favorite places to get info so if you work in IT/IS, can you let me know what you make?

I'm getting hired full time out of college and looking to negotiate a salary based upon what other IT Managers receive in my area. So far, it looks to be around $90-100k. I'm guessing as a grad with only about 3 years worth of indepth IT experience, I should be asking for much, much less, but not so much that I shoot myself in the foot.

I have plenty of leverage in that I can leave the company completely stranded by walking out (have my 3 years experience there part-time as the solo IT person) but I also have plenty of incentives to take a lower salary and work my way up because a managing position right out of college is great on the resume.

If you kind folks here at ATOT could just reply with your salary range (if you make 75k say something like 60-80k and that should be a good enough sample) that'd be awesome. If you want to PM me, that would be cool too. I just want to know for info purposes and I'm trying to do my research before walking into a salary review. Thanks!

 

[RichUK]

Do you have ANY managerial experience?

Have you ever held a position with significant responsibilities?

Have you any proven leadership/people skills?

 

[Imdmn04]

It completely depends on how many people you manage. Managing 2 people is a lot different than managing 20 people.

Also, what makes you think you will get a managing position right out of college? Since you are the solo IT person, what management experience do you have?

 

[austin316]

salary.com FTW

 

[FoBoT]

straight out of college you should not make so much
you aren't worth the same as someone with 10-15 years of experience

 

[drum]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
straight out of college you should not make so much
you aren't worth the same as someone with 10-15 years of experience

exactly,
I think experience would be a must for this position

 

[lchyi]

Haha, let me restate this. I AM the IT Manager now. I've just been on a part time salary because I was still earning a degree. Now, I have a degree, I have full-time status, and will be looking to negotiate a salary based upon that. I have 3 years experience.

So, what's entry level IT salary then? Maybe I'll go off of that... with about 3 years experience in the specific industry of law.

 

[Imdmn04]

Originally posted by: lchyi
Haha, let me restate this. I AM the IT Manager now. I've just been on a part time salary because I was still earning a degree. Now, I have a degree, I have full-time status, and will be looking to negotiate a salary based upon that. I have 3 years experience.

So, what's entry level IT salary then? Maybe I'll go off of that... with about 3 years experience in the specific industry of law.

Exactly how many IT people are under your arms? You said in your first post that you are the sole IT person in your company. One IT person in a small company does not make you an IT MANAGER. You have to manage a team of people in order to be an IT manager. It's kind of like people stating that they are the C.E.O of their 1 person company.

I am not trying discount your title, but I am trying to give you a more realistic view of the job market. When you go out there asking for IT manager's salary, you will be laughed at.

As to salary, you are in California, so I would say the starting salary would be somewhere between 50-60k for a fresh graduate with decent experience.

 

[lchyi]

I'm sorry if it sounded like I was trying to toot my own horn or something because I'm really not. The position I applied for when I got hired was "IT Manager" and I'm not trying to elevate my status to anything I'm not. I oversee two offices with a team that is outsourced on the other one and the sole IT personel at my location. To be perfectly honest, I didn't know there was a qualifying factor be an IT Manager, I assumed it meant I managed the Information and Technology at our firm's offices. I do however, do a lot of dictating to the other team, telling them where to go, what to do and how to do it. I converse with them on a weekly basis and have to analyze their efficiency as if it is my own team.

I really didn't want to start a thread explaining myself and most definitely don't want to come off as a naive college student. I guess though, anytime you mention "student", or "college grad", the respect level instantly hits the floor around here.

Let me rephrase the issue. "I've been hired full time as the sole IT staff member of a multi-office company. All responsibilities are delegated towards me. How much salary do I command with 3 years prior experience in the California market when I just received my degree?"

And thanks for the numbers, that's what I was really looking for... an average to shoot for without sounding like I'm nuts when I talk with the boss.

 

[RandomFool]

I'm gonna take a guess and say ask for like 70k, that sounds semi-reasonable to me.

 

[spidey07]

Do you or do you not have to fix "I can't print"?

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Do you or do you not have to fix "I can't print"?

How is that relevant? He's already said he's the only guy at one of his offices. He manages people, even if they're outsourced, so all the people trying to put him down on a technicality are done too.

A good manager will pitch in when needed, even if it's just to fix a printer.

 

[LS20]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=38&threadid=2062778

Originally posted by: BKLounger
apparently the people i interviewed with do not believe in the philosophy of figuring out fair market value. Here is how the question went.

Interviewer: How much salary are you looking for?
Me: I don't know fully about benefits yet but, i would consider an offer that was on par for my experience and knowledge in the field.
Interviewer: That's not what I asked. Money wise how much are you looking for?
Me: Uh Uh um to be honest I really can't think of a precise number.
Interviewer: k

apparently he wanted to be really adamant that i threw the first number out and didn't like that i didn't.

:lol:

 

[sao123]

my IT manager makes about 55-60K...

 

[lchyi]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for sao123

 

[compman25]

Mine makes $60k, only has me to boss around.

 

[rh71]

In your case your title won't help us since managers usually aren't digging under people's desks themselves. My wife is in a similar situation and she's really a sys admin who handles all the IT work (including taking towers apart and installing memory/HDDs) at her 70-person company. Tough to use sites to compare a salary. But as for what you described, I'd say $60k with a new degree and some experience. This would be for NYC and I'm thinking it's prob around there for your particular area.

 

[DaiShan]

I don't know which area you are in, but unless it's silicon valley, or maybe NY or something, 100k right out of school as a tech manager is probably not going to happen. How large is the company that you are interviewing with? Im in the Southeast, so the salaries are lower here and I work for a small company with 4 global offices (50 employees) as the IT director at 55k/year. I'm actually moving on to a more technical role for more money in two weeks, but there would have to be some reason they would start you at 6 figures.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: RandomFool
I'm gonna take a guess and say ask for like 70k, that sounds semi-reasonable to me.

Keep in mind that SysAdmins at Google in Mountainview start at 50-65/year. Also it sounds like you've been working a help desk type position with some sysadmin requirements, but manager means that you have at least another person that reports directly to you, and most companies are going to ask you how many people you directly supervise. I just started a job for a Fortune 500 company as a Unix Manager (manages the Solaris/RHEL team of 9) at 80,000/year with 6 years technical and 3 years Managerial as my first position out of College, but that includes significant managerial duties (budgeting, hiring, projecting HR needs, managing several offices including 2 Internationally, interfacing with customers etc)

 

[Mxylplyx]

This looks like a case of post-graduate inflated self worth to me. You are probably about to be majorly disappointed. I would laugh in a graduates face if he asked for 100K, or even 70K. An IT manager title is worthless if it's a company with 1 IT guy, as those guys aren't any more qualified that desktop support in a corporate environment.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: DaiShan
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: RandomFool
I'm gonna take a guess and say ask for like 70k, that sounds semi-reasonable to me.</end quote></div>

Keep in mind that SysAdmins at Google in Mountainview start at 50-65/year. Also it sounds like you've been working a help desk type position with some sysadmin requirements, but manager means that you have at least another person that reports directly to you, and most companies are going to ask you how many people you directly supervise. I just started a job for a Fortune 500 company as a Unix Manager (manages the Solaris/RHEL team of 9) at 80,000/year with 6 years technical and 3 years Managerial as my first position out of College, but that includes significant managerial duties (budgeting, hiring, projecting HR needs, managing several offices including 2 Internationally, interfacing with customers etc)

Big corporate places pay less than some small businesses. So sad.

 

[playstation3]

youre worth about 30-45

 

[yuppiejr]

IT Manger is applied very broadly to describe a number of different roles. Really, the value of your position as it relates to the market is irrelevant - what's important is what are you worth to your company based on the roles and responsibilities assigned the position.

Most "IT Managers" that aren't supervising a team just support existing system and take care of the normal "keep the lights on" upgrades making their value to the business and salary fairly small. An IT Manager who performs or supervises activities that can be tied to increased profits via decreased operating expenses, increased worker productivity, new sales opportunities, etc.. is of much greater value. It's possible to do either/both with or without direct reports and be called a "manager" though the title "IT Operations Manager" or "IT Project Manager" might be more appropriate if you don't actually supervise anyone.

If you were only working part time while you went to college you do not have 3 years of solid IT experience... You are basically new to the industry with slightly better than intern level experience being the 'IT guy' at a local shop part-time while you worked through college. This is true of 90% of the people who graduate with an MIS or CompSci degree and not a bash against you, just the reality of your situation.

I'd say you qualify to ask for something in the $45k - 65k range depending on the market you're in. If you think you are positioned well to have a positive bottom-line impact on the business and are smart enough to measure & document your achievements it may be worth asking for a lower base salary with a bonus structure based on financials if you want more money quickly.

 

[lchyi]

Wow, funny how things get twisted when you don't type it out right. I didn't mean to throw out the numbers 90-100k to justify myself making that out of college (definitely not self-inflating here...). I'm trying to rank myself in the grand scheme of things. I'm a starter and I think that 40k isn't too much to ask (but it is more than what I'm getting paid now) so I think even then I don't want to ask for a "raise" yet still be under what I should be making. I'm thinking from 40k to 50k in a year or two isn't a bad increase either and if I'm on that track, I think by the time I'm in the industry for 10-15 years, I can definitely make it to that 90-100k range.

Oh, and btw, good answer yuppiejr, I'll be doing a lot of things that will improve the bottom line of the company, I'll bring that up when I talk to them.

 

[ultimatebob]

You're not going $90K-100K as an IT Manager just coming out of college. The people who make that kind of money usually have over 10 years experience and manage a team of a dozen people or more.

If you're the only IT guy in a small company, I wouldn't expect to make more than $70,000 in California just coming out of college. The management title sounds nice, but it doesn't really mean anything if you're just managing yourself.

Also, keep in mind that salary.com is sponsored by job search companies. They seem to like handing out grossly inflated (20% in my area!) estimates in order to motivate folks to click on those ad banners and start posting resumes! Payscale.com seems to have much better salary estimates at the moment in my geographic region.