Advice for someone in IT...

[Lagerstatten.ca]

Hey,

All my life I've been interested in Geology/Earth Science, and I've pursued that all through school up to University.

Graduated in '05 with a B.Sc in Geology/Earth Science and went straight to work in the O&G industry as an Environmental Scientist doing well testing. Wasn't very fun so I quit.

I'm also very good with computers (both Mac and Windows). I've now been working for a large geomatics/surveying company downtown for over 2 years as their Systems Coordinator. I basically manage everything that beeps. Mainly high-end workstations for mapping/drafting and file/print servers.

Everything I know about IT has been self-taught + watching others.

Now the perks at my employer are good:

-full gym membership at Heaven's (on 11th Ave SW)
-my own office
-average OT (5-10 hours a week)
-profit sharing (10-12% of salary - but this depends on how well the company is doing, this year doesn't look so good!)
-first come/first serve parking (we're located across from Mountain Equipment Co-op - in the big building).

However my company is known for being cheap and thus my salary isn't all that great (45K/year before tax).

On top of managing all the workstations/servers/plotters in the office I also maintain and manage the following:

-All wireless devices (blackberries, mobile phones, aircards)
-All GPS (Trimble) equipment
-All inventory for the above mentioned
-All software/hardware issues with above mentioned

I guess it's hard for me to ask for more since I don't have any "real" computer-related education.

What's the best way to get paid more? Or get myself out there in the market more?

Any suggestions as to courses I can take, or where to get certified?

I know there's a lot of IT people on Beyond.ca, perhaps some of them can chime in for some advice.

Thanks! Just hate getting the short end of the stick when the cost of living and etc is so high.

-TT

[Xtrema]

How big is the environment? How busy are you? If you're looking at less than 50 deskop and a couple of servers, I think the paid is ok for a noob.

That said, you'll get more if work for O&G. But most starting positions in IT has been outsourced so I don't know if that's possible. And going with outsourcer/service companies may help your career but not $$. Get some official certification will definitely help your cause.

[SigmaRacing]

If you're cool with being a contractor, the starting rate at most O&G firms for helpdesk is about $30/hr. Keep in mind you'll get business tax and then personal tax on what you take home but that's still damn good for a start. The real benefit is that you quickly learn the corporate IT infrastructure and can transition into a full time position in a non helpdesk job.

just my $0.02

[black_2.5RS]

Certainly going as a Contractor will increase your pay in the short run. However, long term it depends on what your career aspirations are, hard core techy IT goon or IT/Business guy. I think demonstrating that you know more (by a certification, degree or otherwise) is never a bad choice.

One word of warning, if you want to be a hard core techy IT goon, many of O&G companies in crappy times are downsizing and outsourcing areas that cost them money - this generally means IT first. For job security, you may want to consider working for one of the outsourcers around town like Longview or Graycon (don't go to IBM). They'll help you get your certifications for free or highly discounted as a bonus!

Just ask some of your friends who work in the O&G and utilities business in Calgary. Not many IT people are actually employees of the company (ie: CPR, CNRL, Fortis, Talisman, the list goes on).

[Lagerstatten.ca]

Thanks for the advice. I'll take a look into the U of C's ContEd and see what courses they offer.

[aram1000]

In my experience, if you want to make good money in IT, contracting is the way to go, but when doing that you do sacrifice some job security, its like anything else, when it rains it pours, but there is a greater chance of hitting dry spots, I've been working in IT since I got out of school, and to tell you the truth, the salary's I've gotten and currently getting isn't anything to brag about, but then again, i do work at a company where I am permanent full time, and a good chunk of IT companies are smaller firms, which usually results in decent salaries. Unless you get with a large company, or a government job or have special certifications with lots of experience, I'd say the pay in IT is ok at best from what i've seen. The average starting salary is in the neighborhood of what you are making, again though, depends on what you are doing in IT (development, sys admin, db admin, etc)

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by black_2.5RS
Certainly going as a Contractor will increase your pay in the short run. However, long term it depends on what your career aspirations are, hard core techy IT goon or IT/Business guy. I think demonstrating that you know more (by a certification, degree or otherwise) is never a bad choice.

One word of warning, if you want to be a hard core techy IT goon, many of O&G companies in crappy times are downsizing and outsourcing areas that cost them money - this generally means IT first. For job security, you may want to consider working for one of the outsourcers around town like Longview or Graycon (don't go to IBM). They'll help you get your certifications for free or highly discounted as a bonus!

Just ask some of your friends who work in the O&G and utilities business in Calgary. Not many IT people are actually employees of the company (ie: CPR, CNRL, Fortis, Talisman, the list goes on).

Suncor just outsourced their IT to IBM. Another O & G company that decided to oursource.

[Subwoofah]

Hey man go into GIS (Geographic Information Systems). I also make around 46k a year but all I have is an applied degree from SAIT. You already have Environmental Science plus IT (plus GIS)... this puts you in a position MANY companies are looking for. I am thinking of taking IT or Geology to complete my cont education.

Look at www.esri.com and go to their training page. From GIS you can go into many different fields in the future.

[Saukaran]

I have been in IT since I was out of school also. I took a 2 year diploma in computer engineering from SAIT, and it helped me land a couple of alright jobs, but if you really want to get paid $$$ in IT, the thing to get is certifications. The more the better, especially in high demand areas. MCSE'S, CCNA'S, etc.

[Euro838]

$45K/year + all those benefits looks good to me. There's really not much money in DOING IT work anymore. You have to be an architect or some type of specialist or manage systems on a large scale to be making good coin.

Are you looking for a cushy IT job or want to be earning good money like in doing field work? If you are a field service tech, usually the money is good but the work sucks as there is a lot of travel and work/life balance is tougher to manage.

I agree with the other posters that most of the large corporations are outsourcing either locally or overseas (i.e. India) for a lot of IT services as they think they can get better value for their money.

You will need a lot of certifcations these days just to even get a decent job that will pay more than $45K per year. Anyways, good luck, I know a lot of people that got out of IT and went to other areas i.e. project management, business analyst, etc. because the money is better.

[Lagerstatten.ca]

Well I've decided to study and take the CCNA/CCNP and then the MCSE certifications. From there I might consider taking the Novell SUSE linux certification as well...

If I'm going to be at my currently employer for the time being, I might as well use that time to read/study and get these certifications under my belt.

After graduating I've been really slacking with my finances and etc...but I've gotten it sorted out now. Once I get my certifications done I'll considering incorporating and then contracting out. I've received some contacts from SI Systems and Eagle Professionals as well as several other independent companies.

Just going through the average salary for IT from ASET, it looks like all the IT people I know are getting raped on their salaries compared to what the market value is currently at. Damn...I thought IT was a hot commodity right now...guess they don't need us anymore when there's India...

Thanks for all the advice everyone!