so i want a raise at work, a big one...

[Young Grasshopper]

ok so here is my situation. about 3 years ago i started off my career in IT as a helpdesk technician. prior to that i worked at a drug store, and hated working there so needless i say i was absolutely thrilled to get this job as i felt this was the beginning of my career. my beginning salary was pretty low($28K) only because my experiance was limited(didnt even know what active directory was at the time) and also because they went off my prior starting hourly rate which was $9 or something like that. while i worked there i gained A TON of experiance and after about 6 months i knew i could command a greater salary with everything i had learned there. Things were stressful at the time but i decided to stick it through the rest of the year until my review came up.


So my review came up and i got a 3% raise which i wasn't too happy about as 28k isnt' a liveable salary in california also i was tired of dealing with desktops and wanted to move into servers. so i started looking around and submitted my resume to a few places. a recruiter called me was able to get me an interview for a systems administration/helpdesk job with a salary of 50k. so i went to it and got the job, i was so happy at the time because it was such a large increase in my salary. i moved out of my folks home and got a place with a friend of mine, also bought a new(actually used 2005 model) car. so i worked there for about a year and got tired of it because all it really was, was another helpdesk job.


so i started interviewing again and was able to get a systems engineering job for a technology company, at a rate of 55k a year. this company opened a new west coast data center in orange county CA and i was thier first new hire. the cool thing about working here was it was all server and no desktops. plus i would get exposed to new technologies that i didnt get to work with like cisco routers and firewalls. ive been working here for about 6 months and in this time i have:

had my schedule changed 4 times
came in and changed tapes 7 days a week
did technical support and new client setups(racking servers, imaging servers, setting up firewalls, building domain, setting up terminal servers, etc...)
field installs like dsl and t1
trained 3 new employees
came in on days off to catch up on work
worked 18+ hour shifts for long projects
learned new cisco ASA firewall and routers
headed into office and rebooted crashed servers in early morning hours
promised a salary in review last dec when i was hired last year, never got one but found out every one else did
passed my CCENT and now working on my CCNA


ive done alot basically. everyone else in the company either is in technical support or engineering setups and sticks to just that where as ive done both due to limited staff here. were also opening another facility somewhere in canada which im sure i will be involved in this year and spending alot of time there. i wanted to know if asking for 75k is feasable considering ive only been here for about a year? i think the reviews come up in dec. i want the extra money to pay off my car loan and get a place of my own, rent isnt cheap here in socal. i dont even really need 75k, 70k would be good but i think asking for 75k is better in case they counter with 70k which id take. for example, im not comfortable making 55k now and getting small(maybe 2k) increases every year for the next 3-4 years, where as i would be making 70-75k. the company is a growing rapidly and i really dont want to leave, but i need to get a salary that i can live comfortably with for a few years. what do you all recommend i do in this situation?


thanks and sorry for the long post, but i wanted to give as much backround as possible

 

[LS21]

ask for it why not

 

[nageov3t]

ask for a raise and be prepared to walk or get better at delegation?

 

[Soundmanred]

Look for another job.
There's plenty of guys that would do your job for what you get paid now, and your company knows it.

 

[Young Grasshopper]

you know what my biggest concern is? what if i ask for it and they say its too much, or they cant afford it atm. it then puts me in an ackward situation because then they know im not happy and who knows what happens after that.

 

[magomago]

Are you valuable and not easily replaceable to the company without causing them quite a bit of hassle? If that is the case - I'd say push forward with what you ask for. You are in the weakest position if they can easily replace you. You are in a weaker position if they could replace you with a little bit of effort. You are in a stronger position if they would rather not replace you because it takes to long to bring someone up to speed...and you are golden if they absolutely have to have you because you know the systems inside out like no other person there.

Be prepared to make a case for a pay raise - I would bring up those points you mentioned

 

[Young Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred
Look for another job.
There's plenty of guys that would do your job for what you get paid now, and your company knows it.

i dont know man, we've had a few people quit/fired while ive been here. i think they have a high turnover rate. my-coworker who we just hired maybe 2 months ago(and who i trained) blurted out what he makes(8k more than me) and hes not as technical as i am, so its just kind of weird. i know hes making more than i am because his last position was in the low 60k range but still...



i just wanted to ask i guess if this kind of thing is normal, asking for a large salary increase after 1 year at a company. ive seen guys get large increases before between 25-50k but they had been there 4+ years. ive never heard or soemone getting such a large raise after one year but i feel that is my worth now considering everything ive learned...

 

[aceO07]

If they really think you're worth it, they'll try to give you something. Though it may not be exactly what you want, it may be more than they were planning on giving you if you didn't mention it.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Young Grasshopper
you know what my biggest concern is? what if i ask for it and they say its too much, or they cant afford it atm. it then puts me in an ackward situation because then they know im not happy and who knows what happens after that.

They can't afford it? Lol. You have to realize that if they are paying you 50k, they are getting WAY more in return than 50k worth of work

 

[BoomerD]

Any formal training/degrees? Perhaps that's the difference between you and your co-worker who makes more $$$ than you.

 

[Young Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Any formal training/degrees? Perhaps that's the difference between you and your co-worker who makes more $$$ than you.

well my coworker went to college but dropped out. he may have listed him as having a degree though LOL. ive noticed here they really dont care about degrees or certs or anything, just what you actually know and that you do your work and come in on time, dont take excessive days off etc...we have guys here that have strong cisco, sql, linux skills and dont have a single cert. im not really concerned about my coworkers salary, he asked for that salary and he got it, me on the other hand they offered me 55k and i took it(kind of stupid i guess but oh well).

 

[idiotekniQues]

it depends on the company. some companies will take the turnover rather than pay people what they deserve, or close to it

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Any formal training/degrees? Perhaps that's the difference between you and your co-worker who makes more $$$ than you.

Don't forget years of experience.

 

[imported_Lothar]

$20,000 raise, eh? 36.3% raise from your current salary?
Good luck.

 

[markgm]

Sure, why not?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Lothar
$20,000 raise, eh? 36.3% raise from your current salary?
Good luck.

I've never gotten more than 10% before, for more I've had to leave the company altogether. You may get something but I wouldn't count on getting $20k.

 

[child of wonder]

So you're 2.5 years removed from not knowing what AD is, have no degree or certs, and you think you should be making 75k? Even for California that's hilarious.

 

[andy04]

My philosophy - shitch job, average American does it 7 times after out of collage, b4 settling down... no biggi
Shows ur balls... makes u rise higher...

 

[alkemyst]

Usually in these cases unless you are looking to walk, they will not meet the bar.

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
So you're 2.5 years removed from not knowing what AD is, have no degree or certs, and you think you should be making 75k? Even for California that's hilarious.

This.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: SpunkyJones

Originally posted by: child of wonder
So you're 2.5 years removed from not knowing what AD is, have no degree or certs, and you think you should be making 75k? Even for California that's hilarious.

This.

x3

Not going to happen and expect to be laughed at.

 

[Reel]

If you really are in a systems engineering position, you are grossly underpaid. They are the highest paid engineering discipline at my company easily making what you wrote down by level 3 (probably level 2) and we have a much lower cost of living than California.

 

[Young Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
So you're 2.5 years removed from not knowing what AD is, have no degree or certs, and you think you should be making 75k? Even for California that's hilarious.

i have a degree, but no mcse(although i will get one). i know more than alot of mcse's, my co-worker has one and he didnt know shit about terminal services, iis, etc...he took the braindumps to get it. like i said here, ITS WHAT YOU KNOW not what you have on paper. a few guys here have no degree or certs but they make maybe 100k+ because of thier experiance, they are experts at what they do.



ya maybe im kidding myself with the whole 75k, id love 70 but i guess who knows thanks everyone for your replys.

 

[Imdmn04]

They are not gonna give you a 35 percent raise at the same company even if you deserves it, that's just the way it works.

The best way to evaluate your market value is to let yourself be on the open market, go to interviews, and see how much others are willing to offer.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Young Grasshopper

Originally posted by: child of wonder
So you're 2.5 years removed from not knowing what AD is, have no degree or certs, and you think you should be making 75k? Even for California that's hilarious.

i have a degree, but no mcse(although i will get one). i know more than alot of mcse's, my co-worker has one and he didnt know shit about terminal services, iis, etc...he took the braindumps to get it. like i said here, ITS WHAT YOU KNOW not what you have on paper. a few guys here have no degree or certs but they make maybe 100k+ because of thier experiance, they are experts at what they do.



ya maybe im kidding myself with the whole 75k, id love 70 but i guess who knows thanks everyone for your replys.

what is your degree