Am i being underpaid???

[cookie_monster]

I have some convict friends who lived over here for a while and they loved it, they said that it was great being able to get to anything in a couple of hours. Lived here in the Peak District and could be in London on the train in a couple of hours or pop to the Millenium Stadium for some rugby (they watched Wales v Auz twice).

 

However they thought it was pretty expensive (read: jaws dropped every time they ordered a beer :-)) but they thought it was a great experience for a couple of years.

[zag]

Thats shockingly low pay for the job you are doing, I would restrict your activities to non server work and have a look at your job description and title as well.

[john]

Yup poor pay, then again most dont fair much better.

 

One place I was applying to for a Network Manager post has been in touch and said there not replacing the person that left due to budgets. Not good for me as it was a good offer as well

[link470]

I'm over in Canada and am doing Network Administration and Security as well as desktop support for high schools here in the school district. I started about a year ago and am currently being paid about $24,000 Canadian. I know the feeling of being underpaid forsure. I'm the only IT guy here in the building and they call the job description "Computer Lab Technician" but I don't think they have a clue what it means to do that half the time. They think I fix or replace a mouse or refill ink sometimes. But very rarely do any of them actually know how much work we do.

 

I'm not on salary. I'm doing the job of a Network Engineer [as I'm certified for], Network Administrator, Network Security Analyst [which I specialize in], Programmer, Help Desk, and yes, the computer lab technician. I'm paid $21 CAD an hour. At the same time, I have clients on the side, and I completely agree with Micheal on what he said here: "Working in education is a great place to learn your trade, develop your skills and work with other network managers with years of experience." It's absolutely true, however I have nobody above me. I design and make the decisions as well. Sure, I pass it by Administration of the school so they know how it affects them and how it affects the budget. But really they just want everything to work, and that's the one thing about IT. They have NO IDEA how much work we do to make everyone happy and streamline things. I came here after a previous tech had no security experience etc., had staff information accessible by students, etc., and it's not pretty. But did they like him? Absolutely, they loved him. Again, they have no idea.

 

Now here's the thing. I got this job last June, I was 19. I'm 20 now. Being 19 and graduated from high school and University I was already very happy to be making $24,000 a year and with clients about $32000 a year Canadian. That's more than I'd ever dreamed of where I'd be right now. I think the best part about working in Education is that it's not as strict as some places may be [i assume, I don't know your exact working conditions], it's often a very friendly environment, and best of all, where I'm at? I have 6 servers, multiple high end switches and 250 client machines here in this building alone that I have complete control over how I can shape and design the network. The experience of having all this stuff at the tips of my fingers is awsome, I can do whatever I want here and the decision making is mine. That's something you may not get down the road if you switch jobs and are under the supervision of someone higher than you. However, with the experience gained here, we can immediately have the chance to move into a higher position because we already have the leadership experience, the networking experience in ALL aspects, not just the help desk, and gains us quite the resume for the future.

 

The most important thing, am I happy? Absolutely. I get to hang out with my friends and then come here to work and have complete control over an entire schools network with a growing setup and provide customer service to very friendly people, and everything we learn here, appleis to everything else whether it's my home setup, a clients setup, or just adding it to the general knowledgebase in your head.

 

Dispite the school district just next to our area of the city is offering me nearly double, I want to finish what I started here at this school, and make this place truly own before I go anywhere. It's not work to me. It's a project.

[torledo]

 

They think I fix or replace a mouse or refill ink sometimes.

 

 

Just count yourself lucky you haven't got BSF in canada, 'cos that's all you'd be doing if you decided to stay on under the managed services.

 

Dispite the school district just next to our area of the city is offering me nearly double, I want to finish what I started here at this school, and make this place truly own before I go anywhere. It's not work to me. It's a project.

 

Next the situation i'm at here.......unfinished business. Although i must admit if someone offered to double my salary i'd take it, but then you don't have a housing crisis in canada do you ?

[DSapseid]

Thanks for all the responses it just clarifys exactly what i thought. Time to write an email to head me thinks.

 

website

infrastructure (installing and maintaining)

Helpdesk, faq, intranet, etc

Music equipment

AV equipment

Stage lighting and sound

Photographs

Powerpoints

Anything "showy" that needs to be good; sorting pics for brochure etc

Teaching an apprentice

Occasional Staff training

Anything which runs on electricity

 

I do all that as well as my origanal post!! I am also liasing with suppliers to try and get the best price for a thin client solution to try and save the school money!

[mikeymike]

interesting thread. do you guys do any teaching of ict when teacher off for any reason or support in leassons, and how much holiday do you get is it paid???

[DSapseid]

interesting thread. do you guys do any teaching of ict when teacher off for any reason or support in leassons, and how much holiday do you get is it paid???

 

Absolutely not on the teaching front. Although that when there is a substitute teacher in the lesson that knows nothing about ict and they need help then they come and get me.

 

I am term term + 2 weeks so i get about 10 weeks holiday a year!

[jsnetman]

It is in my work description that I should provide in class support for ICT teachers, but this is very rarely asked for. On occassions when the ICT teachers are teaching something like dreamweaver/webdesign or basic programming they ask me to babysit them.

 

28 days holiday and yes it's paid for, I'm on a full time contract. Would love term time only but would'nt want the drop in pay.

[mikeymike]

i support in all ict lessons and lead if teacher is way. as for holidays we all get 14 weeks off paid. its a private school by the way. reading this thread has seriously made me think about my responsibilites and actually what i do. i am titled as a ict technician but i do manage the whole network as its just me so tinkering on the server is a daily occurance.

[Pottsey]

“interesting thread. do you guys do any teaching of ict when teacher off for any reason or support in leassons, and how much holiday do you get is it paid???“

Unless there is a major project or problem I spend 80% of my time teaching lessons and as classroom support. I get the same holidays as teachers baring the odd problem when I have to come in but I get paid overtime for that.

[mikeymike]

It is in my work description that I should provide in class support for ICT teachers, but this is very rarely asked for. On occassions when the ICT teachers are teaching something like dreamweaver/webdesign or basic programming they ask me to babysit them.

 

28 days holiday and yes it's paid for, I'm on a full time contract. Would love term time only but would'nt want the drop in pay.

so what do you do when its holiday time then are you alone in your school

[mikeymike]

“interesting thread. do you guys do any teaching of ict when teacher off for any reason or support in leassons, and how much holiday do you get is it paid???“

Unless there is a major project or problem I spend 80% of my time teaching lessons and as classroom support. I get the same holidays as teachers baring the odd problem when I have to come in but I get paid overtime for that.

80 % thats alot of teaching/support time. is that really a technician's role or a LSA/TA role??

[jsnetman]

so what do you do when its holiday time then are you alone in your school

 

Do the important stuff like major hardware updates and testing new server technology like Windows 2008. But I must admit when the school is on holiday work is pretty slack most of the time.

[tmcd35]

so what do you do when its holiday time then are you alone in your school

 

Work! I get more done during holidays than during term time! Installing/upgrading servers. Moving/upgrading/installing ICT suites. General maintenance and cleaning. There are a huge number of tasks that we have waiting for the hols. Then again we have something like 6/700 laptops and desktops across the school.

 

This half term (if all goes to plan), we have an an suite upgrade, replacing some aged laptops, moving staff home files to a new dedicated server and virtualising the server hosting student home files. And I believe one of the switches is going to be repatched/tide up.

 

I'm only in for two days so my two colleagues have quite a bit to keep them busy

[FatBoy]

I would say you should start on 24k.

 

18k is low for network manager, trouble is that figure of 18k is not uncommon in a lot of areas for NM's

 

100% agree with torledo there, sounds like you're not getting paid nearly enough

[Pottsey]

“80 % thats alot of teaching/support time. is that really a technician's role or a LSA/TA role??”

It very much depends on the time of year. After new budgets its very much a technician's role, during quite parts of the year like now it’s more of a TA/teacher role. 70% of that 80% is all computer and IT work. The IT co-ord is away for the week so I have 4 IT lessons with robots and roomers to do today. Then 3 lessons of maintenance.

 

It’s partly because we are a small special school and everything for the most part runs smoothly. When there are new computers coming in or major upgrades I go back to being 100% IT tech. It works out well; I get a nice verity in the job and school trips without all the extra paper work of being a Teacher or TA.

[Bluetooth]

Yep 18k is deffinately too low for a NM.

 

My NM is on 24k and he mainly focuses on procurement, the staff under him do the implementation and testing etc.

 

I look after 7 primary schools, with:

 

200 - 250 curric machines

70 - 80 laptops

30 - 50 smartboards

60~ projectors

10 - 15 admin office machines

 

And im currently on 16.4k, i am told im being put up to 17.4 this month though.

 

On the teaching front, at some schools there is less to do than others, i will lend a hand teaching in those lessons, show kids where to click how to do something etc

[mikeymike]

Yep 18k is deffinately too low for a NM.

 

My NM is on 24k and he mainly focuses on procurement, the staff under him do the implementation and testing etc.

 

I look after 7 primary schools, with:

 

200 - 250 curric machines

70 - 80 laptops

30 - 50 smartboards

60~ projectors

10 - 15 admin office machines

 

And im currently on 16.4k, i am told im being put up to 17.4 this month though.

 

On the teaching front, at some schools there is less to do than others, i will lend a hand teaching in those lessons, show kids where to click how to do something etc

 

how are your hours deligated then do you do like 2 hours here then go to another school and do 2 hours there or is it linked up to do remotely??

[broc]

I didn't know that it was up to the head alone... do the governors not have a say too?

 

Normally the HT will decide what he/she wants to pay for a given role, this is then taken to the Governors (usually to a finance or personnel sub-committee) as a recommendation which 9 times out of 10 the governors will agree to as long as the school has the money to fund it.

 

Unfortunately HT can & do use 'the governors' as an excuse to avoid/delay paying pay rises to staff, especially support staff. They will also say things like 'we only review salaries once a year, we have to wait for the new budget' etc etc. There is nothing in the 'rules' that dictates any of this. The HT can pay an increase as & when he/she chooses, subject to budget of course! In my own school (where I work as network manager) after a request for salary review I was given a 25% rise, paid in March, backdated to the previous September. A similar thing happened to our Bursar & Exams Officer.

 

Sometimes the governors are blissfully unaware of staff seeking salary increases as the HT fails to mention this to them.......

 

Speaking as an ex-Chair of Governors, I have known this to happen. As far as our governing body was concerned when I was in the Chair, we wanted to be assured the money was in the budget; the rate was appropriate for the job, and if increases were being proposed that the evidence was available to demonstrate why the increase was justified. I cannot recall ever having a recommendation for salary increase refused by our governors.

[Bluetooth]

Uh its a bit complicated.

 

Basically tuesday to friday (except wednesday AM 8 - 12) all the schools get half a day each.

 

Monday is an On Call day for me to work around my schools and do the highest priority jobs etc

 

wednesday morning set aside again to catch up on anything missed + meetings with senior management at whatever schools.

 

I usually tend to do teaching support on a thursday morning as long as i have nothing to do at that school but recently things have been picking up with quotes and jobs etc so i havent done much teaching and also theres been no kids to teach in the ICT room.

 

I normally help them out with Dazzle and thats about it, teaching them keyboard and mouse control etc.

[Grommit]

A network manager should be getting £38k +

 

Junior/ trainee Tech £15k- £18k

Middle Tech £18k - £20k

Tech £20 - £24k

Network Manager £28k+

 

Thats how it works here

[timbo343]

A network manager should be getting £38k +

 

Junior/ trainee Tech £15k- £18k

Middle Tech £18k - £20k

Tech £20 - £24k

Network Manager £28k+

 

Thats how it works here

 

Bloody hell... which part of the country do you work?

 

Pay is a lot lower than what you are quoting up north.

 

Network manager is on about £25.

[torledo]

Bloody hell... which part of the country do you work?

 

Pay is a lot lower than what you are quoting up north.

 

Network manager is on about £25.

 

yeah you' right, that is considerably lower. not worth getting out of bed for tbh

[localzuk]

A network manager should be getting £38k +

 

Junior/ trainee Tech £15k- £18k

Middle Tech £18k - £20k

Tech £20 - £24k

Network Manager £28k+

 

Thats how it works here

 

Now I see why you don't see £14 a month as a lot...

 

The top of the scale for a NM in Somerset is 18.5k!