Hey guys,

I'm having a tough time here figuring out what is reasonable for my upcoming annual review.
I'm THE 'I.T' guy for a visual effects house. We have about 20 employees that work on feature film and the like. And I manage mix environments of OS X, win xp/2000/server2k8/vista and even *nix. Anywhere from simple user errors and support, to high end network engineering for render farms to increase efficiency. I usually work 45 hrs a week, but sometimes more. This will be my Second year as an employee... with 1 year of experience.
Basically, I was hired to fix networking problems that many 200k a year people couldn't figure out. And I bung it out flawlessly. We've never had to bring in a 3rd party to do anything IT related, iv'e always been THE GUY. Never called in sick, and I really believe I've been a huge asset to the company.
I'll stop the ranting, but what should I look @ ?
I'm making $3200 a month gross.

Thanks guys!

 

You should be making at least 60k for that type of work

 

things to consider:
cost of living - if you were down here you'd be making more for sure, but santa rosa doesn't get the pay hike that the bay does.
experience - you say one year, even though it sounds like you put out a lot of fires the lack of years of experience puts you at somewhat of a disadvantage disadvantage.
state of economy - very few people are getting raises and a lot are getting the can
size of company - how much more can they afford to pay you?

that's just food for thought since i'm not a compensation expert, but i think if you can work some sort of argument against these things you'd be in good shape. it seems like you've proven yourself and i don't think a 10-15% raise would be unreasonable even with only a year of experience... after all... you are fixing the problems that 200k-ers can't figure out. you have to put in some sort of professional way that you're worth your weight in gold. our IT guys all drive porsches, but with all the fires they put out and the technically unsavvy they have to deal with i say they deserve it. good luck, man.

 

It director here. Went from an m3 to a bug eye. Never looked back. Shoot me your resume. I'll look it over and tell you what I would offer.

 

Thanks for the replys!

I agree with that 60k 100%, EXACTLY what I was thinking!!

I do agree the economy is hurting, but our business is still pulling threw big time, best ytd work net over the past 5yr, and we're still pumpin.

I'll have to update my resume. Thanks johndabrit ; I'll send over soon

THANKS

 

What VFX house are you at? I've been at ILM and now at Tippett? I hope the 200K guys are at least VFX supervisors!

 

My boss was a Sr. compositor @ ILM and we've worked with T.

PM

 

www.salary.com
Really good tool

 

Since John's already got your worth covered, I'll add this piece of advice when negotiating: NEVER ASSUME THAT YOUR SKILLSET IS IRREPLACEABLE. Confronting your managers with the mindset that they cannot afford to let you go, will get you pwned very quickly.

 

verc: thats a for sure. I wouldn't put my boss on the defensive side for this review.
I'd just like to gently lay out what I did over a year. What other IT positions are offering, and what I do..

 

Wait, this is your second year as an employee but you only have one year of experience? Is that one year in addition to the two years of working for this company for a total of three years of career experience?

If that's the case, as an entry to junior level support person, you're in the right salary range (35-45k/year), especially considering the industry your company is in. If you want to get a tech-industry range salary, you need to work for a technology company.

Oh and btw (speaking in general here): no salaried tech jobs exist at 200k a year--anything above the $120-140k per year range is middle management and up. Experienced consultants will charge $150 an hour and up, but that's not a valid comparison since companies will never pay that kind of money for a 40 hour a week consultant.

Just so you know: I'm an IT manager and ten-year senior UNIX sysadmin. If you want my opinion on what I would offer, you can send me a copy of your resume.

 

I just watched a guy get canned (replaced) for talking himself up too much. Here is the deal. It's never bad to ask for what you want. It is however up to you to have a good idea of what is reasonable to ask for. Consider all the factors and feel out the situation. Go into it with a number in mind but dont throw numbers around in the meeting. Instead focus on what is fair. When it comes time to talk numbers focus on how you are going to justify the extra overhead. You can bring up what you have been doing but only in reference to your level of commitment for the future. Make sure the meeting doesnt end on an uncomfortable vibe. Have a couple practice conversaitions with somebody who will give you honest feedback. Still waiting on that resume...

 

What's your background? What certificates do you have?

Sometimes there's a somewhat big difference between a 4-year college grad than a high school diploma with a bunch of certificates. People with IT degrees from SJSU or any 4-year universities can easily earn above 50K, so it really depends on your educational background too

 

Well some Senior director level and a lot of VP level employees earn in the range of 200K

But now that you speak of only a total of 2-3 years of experience at a non-tech company, then yeah, you can't expect THAT high of a pay. Your work may be good, but again, it is EASILY replaceable.

 

That's what I said, essentially: