Salary

[Modey]

Originally Posted by newkoba

just curious because i don't know jack about the pay structure in the UK, but seriously at my previous job i was making just below 30k doing front line phone support for a dsl company. the job sucked, but it helped me get this job which is about 20k more a year. i do understand that the pound is worth double our us dollar, but it seems crazy to see 20k referenced as good pay. forgive my ignorance on the pay structure for the rest of the world.

I don't know how comparable pay between the US and th UK is as I would imagine the cost of living is totally different.

I wouldn't say 20k is a good wage per se, but it's not a bad one either. It all depends on benefits and the hours you work. I'm on a similar amount to the one mentioned but I conisder the benefits in my job outweigh the lower salary.

I only work 37hours a week, I'm not on call and I'm not expected to work outside of my 8am - 4pm hours. This does happen on occation but it's very rare and we can take time in lieu if it does happen. My job is also in the public sector so my pension is very good by UK standards. I contribute 6% of my salary and my employer puts in 9% or thereabouts. I was also off sick for an extended period just before summer, that's pretty rare for me, but I was off in total for about 6-7weeks. I recieved full pay during this time, I wouldn't have gotten anything but statutory sick pay if I had still been with my last employer (SSP is hardly worth even claiming). I enjoy my job, my friend & colleague (and secret lover - in joke ) Ken is great to work with and we get on great with our boss. All of the above translates into quite a bit extra in my book.

[newkoba]

gotcha, i am in the public sector as well, although sounds like you guys get better benefits than we do. what is the cost of living on average in the UK? i know here in Orlando to live in a nice area my house goes for 280k and thats the smallest in the neighborhood. obviously placed are much more expensive, as in california, but placed in south carolina and such are much cheaper.

[greenbrucelee]

I applied for a Support Analyst job last week, although the job said it wanted experience I said I was willing to learn etc.

The job advertisment also asked to state what pay you would expect.

In my covering letter I explained that I have just taken an 11% pay cut to drop me down to £17300 per annum, I though it would be cheeky to say I want £19 odd grand a year I was getting 3 months ago and said £18500 would suffice.

I know I have not had a full exposure to IT support but the most of the skills asked for I do on a regular basis and have a good knowledge of the other skills required.

Although I doubt I will get an interview I dont think the pay I have asked for is excessive.

[r.h.lee]

Originally Posted by NenMaster

Ive been working at my current Job for about 2 months now, Im on a 3 month probationary period, so in a month ill be interviewed again and will hopefully get a permanent contract.

They said in the interview that after the 3 months I can talk more about a better salary, as it is currently 13k. My job is basically It support, over the phones, face to face and over RDP. What kind of salary should I ask for at the interview? 16k? or be a greedy get and ask for 17k.

NenMaster,

One question that hasn't been asked by anyone else in this thread is how much money do you need to live on? Is your income enough to support all of your basic living expenses such as rent, utilities, food, and transportation? In short, can you afford to be working at least on a breakeven point where income equals expenses? Also, as a minimum, try to ask for a raise that will compensate for the rise of inflation because anything less will probably lead to you basically unable to afford to work. Do you have any benefits that may offset any personal discretionary spending? For example, paid IT exam study materials, study equipment, or exam fees. Also, since you're a member of CertForums, you're probably currently pursuing some kind of IT certification. If you had to spend your own money for study materials, study equipment, and exam fees, at what income rate increase would you need to achieve those IT certification goals? Yes, that means you need to go shopping to find out how much your study materials, study equipment, and exam fees will be, where you should also account for future inflation/price rise. Also account for building some sort of emergency fund for when your car breaks, something in your home breaks, etc.

Good luck.

[Kraven]

I started on 14k and after 3 months I was boosted to 18k

[mattwest]

My first role in IT was on 12k and after 3 and a half years i left on 13.5K.... (public sector).

I then progressed to a second line support role in a small private company on 17.5K then moved back to the public sector to my current role on 22k.

I start my new job in 2 weeks with a large IT Services company on 34k so i was incredibly lucky to geta 54% pay rise! (The salary range was up to 37k and they didnt ask what my current salary was! So i asked for 35k (what the hell!!) and they came back with 34k!)

What i would say is that when you are in the lower roles on 12k or 13k its harder to move up the scale. If you know your colleagues are on 17k for example ask for 16k with a review 6 months down the line. After all you need to prove yourself and this shows that you are willing to do that.

As you move up from first line, to second, to third for example always try and develop your skills whenever possible. You'll be in a much better position to argue pay rises if you can say "since the last review i have achieved A, B and C and passed this exam".... sounds much better than "i want a pay rise because... ummm... i want one..."

Think of some examples of pro-active work you have done or new technologies you have mastered, put your case forward!

Good luck!

[Modey]

Originally Posted by newkoba

gotcha, i am in the public sector as well, although sounds like you guys get better benefits than we do. what is the cost of living on average in the UK? i know here in Orlando to live in a nice area my house goes for 280k and thats the smallest in the neighborhood. obviously placed are much more expensive, as in california, but placed in south carolina and such are much cheaper.

I don't know if there is such a thing as the average cost of living. If there is, I don't know what it is anyway.

House prices in the UL have gotten really silly in the last few years, they are very high now compared to what they used to be. My house is currently worth about £200K (British Sterling) so I guess that's about $400k in US dollars. That's for a 3 bedroomed detached house in a nice area. I know you mentioned your house was small, but the impression I get from US TV is that small for you, would be massive over here. We do have relatively low interests rates here still, so the cost of borrowing is not too bad (well not for mortgages anyway ).

[newkoba]

heh i said smallest in my area. it sure seems small for me and my family at times though, its 1600 sq feet.

[postal postie]

i think most big companys have a wage structure.
currently i'm on 18k + 2k london weighting a year in a junior role.

on our company website there is a wage strucutre detailed telling you how much you can expect to earn as you get more experienced.

[dmarsh]

Well I'm no expert but heres what I've noticed from job sites etc...

Salaries in the UK are generally £12k-100k

Salaries in the US are generally $12k-100k

So the general conversion of one for one seems valid.

I think $80k in the US is not uncommon and some taxes are lower but you need healthcare.

Earning above £65k in the UK is pretty hard. So there does seem to be some non linear relationship as pay increases on average salary, however if you take the min-max one to one seems to hold.

UK salaries look better than US ones if you use the official exchange rate but I don't think this is a true representation unless you are relocating and can somehow use the exchange rate.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by dmarsh26

I think $80k in the US is not uncommon...

Try again... I can count on one hand the number of people who I personally know that have a salary that high.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by dmarsh26

UK salaries look better than US ones if you use the official exchange rate but I don't think this is a true representation unless you are relocating and can somehow use the exchange rate.

Thats indeed true
I've been looking into roles over there and most are in the 80 - 120k mark, which would technically be a substantial pay drop based on official exchange rate numbers, that said, the cost of living would be substantially cheaper, for the price of my 2 bed flat I could get a 4 bed detached with a pool!

and health insurance? pah for what I pay in NI contributions (like, 200+ quid a month) I could get some pretty good coverage,

I spose its just another one of those reasons that 200'000 brits leave each year

[Luddym]

I'm starting to feel a little monetarily underappreciated for outer (just) London, 1st/2nd line of support... (I get help on 1st line, but the 2nd line is my own... and I rarely pass to 3rd) with over 300 computers and dumb terms and almost 600 users... all for the wonderful prize of..... 17k a year