kevin_lane Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 i do like the job i just wish the nm isnt all ways looking over my sholder i feel like hes watching me like i want to do an audit on all the switchs and see what version they are on and maybe update them. i started today getting list of all the switchs but then he came in so i minimized the window cus i know if he asks me im going to have to tell him. and i know what he will say NO dont need to if its not broken dont fix it, thats his attiude to pritty much everything. but like i say i've got an interview next week at a dolls house company in ripely but i just feel if i go to the interview and get the job and the company goes bust even though its been going for 29 years. im stuffed lol and plus their is the 6 months test thing (making sure you fit in) i dunno...sorry just on another rant i feel this is the only place to get stuff of my chest:bored:
Midget Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 I know some people who would explode at the spelling and grammar in this thread. bit of advice for anyone in Wales wanting a payrise, don't use english schools as examples. When I did it was brushed off with "yeah well english schools get more money" It's probably the same for north/south. Unless you can find examples within your county then they won't listen. When I left they spent a few months trying to get someone on the same pay and couldnt get anyone as qualified and ended up having to get an NM on more than I was on and an assistant (which I'd spent many months asking for)
Oops_my_bad Posted January 4, 2009 Posted January 4, 2009 Attend Middle Leader training (for heads of Department). Get yourself recognised as a HoD so that people will treat you with the same 'expert' status as teh head of English or Science might have. Interesting.. is there a particular middle leader course that might be relevant to that of a network mangler?
hillskill Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 On 24 K here network manager with 1 Technician possible looking to take on a trainee soon!
scouselpl Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 ah the north / south divide comes into play once more! Not necessarily, I am on 35k and in a secondary school in Liverpool - the variety of wages for NM's is quite amazing. However the dreaded TUPE is lurking in a year or two as we are a BSF school. Steve
hillskill Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 35K is one of the highest network manager pays I have heard of. IS your school/team quite large? Did your school require you be fully microsoft certified or anything specific like that?
scouselpl Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 It was a failing school with a failing network certainly - and they wanted someone with a fair amount of experience at a strategic level as an NM. I was on 31k as an NM at my last school. I just don't think the north/south divide is a factor - its more to do with how desperate schools get to affect change!
jcollings Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 I am on a very similar amount for term time only + 4 weeks. I'm in the North too. Not sure why salaries vary so much.
bjohnny42 Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 Oh the dream of term time only and a decent salary....... I'd definately go for no pay increases and more holiday. If only I could fit it all in!
jcollings Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 Oh the dream of term time only and a decent salary....... I'd definately go for no pay increases and more holiday. If only I could fit it all in! It is good - I think I only fit it in because I have an excellent team and I pull a lot of late nights. Still I'd rather do that and have decent chunks of time off.
TheFopp Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 I actually feel as though my wage isn't too bad in comparison to some. Manchester based school, Network Manager £27.5K, 180 PCs, 10 Laptops, 8 Windows 2003 servers, HP Procurves, Whiteboards, projectors..... just me. But the powers that be have agreed to let me have an ICT Tech from next September and give me a payrise as I will be managing another person.
sippo Posted March 24, 2009 Author Posted March 24, 2009 Got my pay rise, of only 3k extra per year, on condition that I do the PAT testing on all IT equipment every year!!
sippo Posted March 24, 2009 Author Posted March 24, 2009 Easily a 1500 pieces. Our LEA says all IT equipment needs to be tested yearly aswell.
AXE Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 I've given up hoping for paid work, I've had over 70 interviews in the past two years and not a single offer. These days I offer to work for nothing as long as there is a possibility of a paid position, even if I have to sleep on the streets. Times are too tough; there really is nobody willing to offer a job.
Tony_Mc Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Easily a 1500 pieces. Our LEA says all IT equipment needs to be tested yearly aswell. Can I give you an honest opinon here?
hillskill Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Hi Axe, 70 interviews and not one offer??? I dont mean to sound harsh but there must be something seriously wrong with your interview technique??? One thing to remember is that if your offered an interview most employee's will have already decided that you meet the criteria to get the job. As a result it must be your interview technique which is messing things up for you. Her are some tips I recommended to a friend who was really bad at interviews and helped her in turn get a job!!! Maybe they will help you!! One of the key things to remember about an interview is that its main purpose is not to judge whether your qualified enough or could do the job (they would already know your qualifications from your application form), but to see how much the staff feel you would fit into the school ethos and generally how much they like you!! This might sound crazy but in all the interviews I have done the candidates who are generally friendly and enthusiastic will come away with higher scores than someone who may be more qualified but seemed to/had a bad attitude etc. As a result it’s key to bare this in mind. When going into interviews I am always very conscious of the following: ALL People will decide very quickly whether they like you or not! I read somewhere that first impressions are formed in less than 30 seconds and once formed its very difficult to change them! - I honestly belive this to be true! It’s really important to have good manners, to come across in friendly way and to be very enthusiastic about the role. Make sure you make plenty of eye-contact, shake hands when you greet and depart, use “please” and “thankyou’s” etc. These little things might sound trivial but they can be the difference between you and another equally qualified candidate. Believe in yourself!! There is nothing wrong with being nervous and in fact as an interviewer I would be unsure of someone who was not. Being nervous shows you are serious about the interview and hence to the role. However make sure you appear confident in your knowledge of the job etc. Take your time when answering questions. It’s far better to take a pause and think of an answer rather than give a rushed one. Interviewers will be far more impressed with a good answer that took you a few mins to give rather than a rushed poor one. Finally try to enjoy yourself! Whether you get the job or not you will learn something from the experience. Your not on trial and have nothing to lose so try and make the most of the experience. You know you can do the job all you have to do is demonstrate to them you can. With this in mind you should be fine! 1
sippo Posted March 25, 2009 Author Posted March 25, 2009 Can I give you an honest opinon here? *waits with baited breath...*
Tony_Mc Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 (edited) *waits with baited breath...* PAT testing will be a MASSIVE pain and for that much money more the school has just saved money. We have a chap here who does the PAT testing and it is pretty much half his job, most of the year he is going around the school testing items and marking them up. I think you have been really missold that deal and the school should know they are taking the p***. You sounds like you know your beans but it is such an awful time to be looking for a new job and if you put the school in a position where they feel you will leave they will fill your boots easily with someone half qualified for half the money. I worked at a primary school 3 years ago, I was on 13.7k, It was a small school 50 computers one server, email. I also did the site manager role and PAT testing. It was a nightmare and when I asked for more money I was told "there isn't any" I got a job doing some contract work in the city and went up to 39k. You can turn it around and it was the scariest move of my life but also the best. if you really know you are worth more, dont accept anything less! Tony Edited March 20, 2010 by witch 1
sippo Posted March 25, 2009 Author Posted March 25, 2009 Very true Tony, I've told them that the network comes first anyhow. I can only do so much, I'll have to PAT Test when I get the chance. I only work term times aswell which is even worse!! For some reason, they don't agree with support staff working during the holidays- well paying for them to!!
jcollings Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Very true Tony, I've told them that the network comes first anyhow. I can only do so much, I'll have to PAT Test when I get the chance. I only work term times aswell which is even worse!! For some reason, they don't agree with support staff working during the holidays- well paying for them to!! At our place our reprographics guy (who works term time only) does the PAT testing in the holidays. He is paid extra for that (I think he does it on a cost per item tested basis). Mind you he does say it's his hobby!
edcirh Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I was taken on as an ICT Tech, just moved on to SCP16-21 (£16,230-£18,882) but on 0.6 term-time + 3wks, so roughly £9700 pro rata. Just me in the school looking after NOR 816 pupils, 70 staff, 170 PCs/25 laptops running M$ XP Pro/W2K, 3 servers (W2K3), 5 switches, 3 WAPs, all the usual s/w, c15 IWBs, a myriad of different printers, and all of the other peripherals. I'm currently going through an exercise to try to get my school to recognise that a) they need someone full-time, and b) that I'm an actual NM, not a Tech - on this one I'm not worried about pay-scales, just having the recognition of the job I actually do. Not sure how successful I'll be - county announced at the end of last week that they're "looking at the option of" a phased closure of our school starting 2011...
Tony_Mc Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I was taken on as an ICT Tech, just moved on to SCP16-21 (£16,230-£18,882) but on 0.6 term-time + 3wks, so roughly £9700 pro rata. Just me in the school looking after NOR 816 pupils, 70 staff, 170 PCs/25 laptops running M$ XP Pro/W2K, 3 servers (W2K3), 5 switches, 3 WAPs, all the usual s/w, c15 IWBs, a myriad of different printers, and all of the other peripherals. I'm currently going through an exercise to try to get my school to recognise that a) they need someone full-time, and b) that I'm an actual NM, not a Tech - on this one I'm not worried about pay-scales, just having the recognition of the job I actually do. Not sure how successful I'll be - county announced at the end of last week that they're "looking at the option of" a phased closure of our school starting 2011... I am really shocked by the saleries in Secondary schools vary so much!? if a server goes down in a school, SO MANY lessons are affected!! why are the pay scales so messed up?
GrumbleDook Posted March 29, 2009 Posted March 29, 2009 I am really shocked by the saleries in Secondary schools vary so much!? if a server goes down in a school, SO MANY lessons are affected!! why are the pay scales so messed up? Because there are no set job descriptions and people will have extra jobs put on them or moved around on a regular basis if they are not careful. And yet the vehement arguements that you get from many when you talk about standardising on jobs is extreme. The responsibility that is assigned a job varies massively from school to school and the job reviews that go on tend to solely look at the technical aspect of the job, the managerial aspect second and rarely make reference to educational knowledge or impact. Even if BSF wasn't hitting many people, this is one area that will be worked on in many LAs and it is not working well for people.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now