Senior Technician - Doing the Network Manager job

[chazzy2501]

I've been employed as a technician and more recently a senoir technician at my job for 4years now and for the last 2 I've been running the schools IT.

 

In the last to years, I've upgraded the entire netowrk to gigabit, virtualised our servers, changed the AD topology, secured group policy, created an awesome (my words) network filtering solution and many other nice things.

 

I feel I deserve the job title and wage of the network administrator, something my old boss had. How would anyone here broach the subject..

 

btw I have a meeting with the head today at 11:15!

[stevenlong1985]

yep you should be a network manager!

[stevenwba]

Go in with your current job description, and then a list of duties you actually do, say that over two years you must of saved the school a tidy amount by them not having a network manager. surely cant hurt to just ask (:

[IanT]

I dont have the title of Network Manager but I do a network managers job

 

Do you have a network manager there?

[maniac]

I have the job title of Network Manager, but at the moment I'm doing more first line technicians work than anything else.

[Tricky_Dicky]

Tell your head what you have just told us and it should be obvious to them that you deserve the job.

 

Good luck

[apeo]

Seems like the school is getting a Network Manager for the cost of a Senior Tech.. you should defo ask, as to how im sure others will have good advise with this. I'm rubbish with this kind of thing and just ask/tell them straight. I bet that they already know you should be on a Network Managers wage but are keeping quite cause they are getting more for the money. With things like this its pretty much 'you dont ask, you dont get'.

[powdarrmonkey]

I bet that they already know you should be on a Network Managers wage but are keeping quite cause they are getting more for the money. With things like this its pretty much 'you dont ask, you dont get'.

 

In my experience, they don't know this because they don't actually know what you do do. Ask for a formal appraisal and at it, discuss your day-to-day activities, long-term past projects and planned projects.

[davipton]

As a Network Manager:

 

chazzy2501, if i was you as some people have suggested get your JD, make a list of things that you do that are not on there and use this. If you have time, try and get a copy of the old NetMan's JD and see what's on there that you do and point these out to your headteacher.

 

As Union shop steward:

 

Do not carry out any other duties that are not on your JD, your Head will soon see that the development of IT in your school is not moving as fast as he/she would like. Say that you would be prepared to carry on doing the the NetMan's job with the title and salary that goes with it. If you are not in a Union join one!!

 

David

[penfold]

Who has been doing the work of your old boss? If you have picked up the duties then you can argue your case that you have been doing all the work of your old boss (except for job title and wage) in their absesne. This is probably the easiest way for your head to see your job has progressed.

 

You should also ask for an up to date Job description following this meeting so you can identify what the school wants you to do and what they want to pay you.

[witch]

Probably not time but def go to the LA and get 'official' jd for NM and Tech and highlight the things you do. I have just done this with mine and it seems that Dorset have a Senior Tech grade which is far more what I do (cant be NM as dont have any responsibility for budgets or people) tha just the Tech I am already.

Have requested that I be promoted to senior.

 

Just play it straight - remember to be nice, but not easily put off - you deserve this!

[chazzy2501]

cheers!

[chazzy2501]

I dont have the title of Network Manager but I do a network managers job

 

Do you have a network manager there?

 

No, we used to and he left I just filled the gap, they made me a senior technician after they hired a second technician.

 

OK had the meeting, he sending me the job description for a network manager and wants to see what roles I fill, he also wants to have HR look at the roles I'm performing and calulate a wage based on that, then he's going to see if they can "afford" me. All this won't happen till next term.

Edited July 12, 2010 by chazzy2501
update

[IanT]

I know how you feel mate, i dont mind what im doing, i enjoy it but wish I was given the title lol

[apeo]

In my experience, they don't know this because they don't actually know what you do do. Ask for a formal appraisal and at it, discuss your day-to-day activities, long-term past projects and planned projects.

 

True.. they probably dont know whats dif from a tech and a NM but i give SMT a bit of credit (i may get flamed for this) to figure out that thing are still running great without a NM. Its not hard to figure out that the tech has taken on the role. I guess its one of those situations where they dont realise it till you bring it to their attention or atleast thats what they will claim.

[Rydra]

OK had the meeting, he sending me the job description for a network manager and wants to see what roles I fill, he also wants to have HR look at the roles I'm performing and calulate a wage based on that, then he's going to see if they can "afford" me. All this won't happen till next term.

 

Bah, I hate it when employers do this. have you doing someone else's job, then when you point it out to them, decide they cannot afford to pay you for doing said job.

 

Nowadays, it seems they don't replace people when they leave; they bring in someone else, pay them a fraction of what their predecessor, then if it's an internal placement, they bring in a new, even lower paid person to fill the whole.

 

I've seen/heard of this happening in at least 4 schools in my area in recent times, where the NM left, they promote a techie to senior, and employ a monkey as a techie to replace.

[penfold]

And thats if they even employ a monkey!!! Unfortunately this happens all too often.

 

And try to get a copy of what is happening from the meeting if you can. I have been in the situation where I was led to believe the situation would be addressed but not until next term, only to find out that they couldn't afford to backdate anything and ended up loosing out on about 3 months wages.

 

If they cant afford you then you can negiotiate. Maybe more holidays or time off for training etc, something to offer you into staying.

[Sarconia]

Bah, I hate it when employers do this. have you doing someone else's job, then when you point it out to them, decide they cannot afford to pay you for doing said job.

 

Even better is when they manage to swindle you into a job which is far beyond what you're actually supposed to be doing, for example you're so clueless about virtually everything having been just dumped in it completely, you don't even realise you're doing a different job to everyone else for the first 3 months. You then finally begin to have a bit of a clue, speak to your other colleagues and realise you're being shafted. You're working under a completely different job title as to what you're actually employed for and your job description says nothing about any of this, however it has a nasty clause which says "you have to do everything that your manager tells you". So you complain that this isn't fair and that you're actually doing a completely different job but then management throw the book at you for insubordination as you're not doing what your manager tells you to. (I.e: sit down, shut up and get screwed). You then effectively have two choices, continue on or leave.

[maark]

Hope you get pay scale you deserve - at last school they would not pay me proper scale - went to a new job on proper scale and now old school are in a complete mess e.g. network down due to conficker just before ofsted due no updates being done or AV being checked. Shame you have to leave before they appreciate what you do sometimes.

[powdarrmonkey]

Even better is when ....

 

Bitter?