People with Jobs in Network Administration/IT/Information Systems (United States)

Take ownership of something or many things, such as me. I own all telecom, networking and PC's; basically all the technical devises, they couldn't get rid of me if they tried.

If you do your research and compare your pay rate with other companies that have similar positions in the same job market and area. If the pay rate is higher, run that by your boss, often times they will match for fear of loosing you. It is easier to increase pay on existing employee than train a new employee.

The best benefit of being a govt. contractor and DBA is the fact that the work hours are generally relaxed, and for the most part, deadlines aren't too critical. The Govt. doesn't like to pay for more than 40 hours of work in a week, so most often that is what you work. If you do go over, you get paid for it.

Tried to negotiate when joining, but they said salary was non-negotiable.

Remind your immediate boss of the value you bring to the table outside of your immediate job responsibilities....what you have added to your resume...internal and external courses, what you have done within the community to enhance your company's name with the public....in advance of your next Performance Review. Give your boss the tools to justify a larger than "normal" company increase.

My advice is to not work for county governments until they can bring their payscales up to median range. There are 6 people who run the whole computer department for the county who have a total workforce of over 650 people and growing. We have to constantly wear multiple hats and we work hard only to be paid up to half of what the median salary range is for our job description. It's very disheartening when you are an expert in the IT industry and you can't even be paid enough to afford a home, car, insurance, utilities, groceries, and have some on the side to keep you from being miserable. When are government entities going to wake up and logically look at what they are doing to their employees and they wonder why they have such a high turnover rate and not enough people to train these cycling individuals. It's pitiful.

Let them know your expectations.

I have worked for three different agencies. The first two I worked for I simply asked for a raise after the end of the first year stating I had been there for a year, the company I was working for was happy with my work. In both cases the bill rate had not changed but the agency took a smaller percentage and gave a raise out of profit margin. This only happened on the first year. I am currently persuing a raise on the same basis with the agency I am currently working with.

Focus on serving your instituion. Work on ways to improve your instituition or achieve institutional goals.

Set personal goals and work to achieve them.

Be patient.

Build genuine relationships in the organization.

Work hard.

Critically assess and ask other to assess your value in your role.

Ask carefully, humbly, but firmly for what your desire.

I think before you choose any job you should find out what the benefits are and how it will come out of your weekly pay! The better the compensation package the better option you have!