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The 13th annual Redmond/MCPmag.com Salary Survey
Just to add, I'm an MCSE for Windows 2000, MCITP: Enterprise and Server Admin, MCDBA for Windows 2000, MCP for Windows NT, Comptia A+ and N+ certified and finally certified for Citrix Metaframe and have been working in I.T. since 1998 and have 12 years working experience. What's funny is that including my side work, my yearly salary is less than any of the salary quotes above so you could pick the cert with the lowest pay above and if I made that yearly, I'd be celebrating right now.
Again, more B.S. salary quotes!!! For the newly certified and degreed who are scratching their heads wondering why they don't make even half of these salaries quoted above, understand that the people who came up with these figures made them up out of thin air. In reality, most new MCITP/MCSE or even Cisco CCNA's will be lucky to make $15 and hour or $30K in New York City, so be ready to live in poverty and congrats on the cert. Furthermore, after you gain say 5-10 years experience and get your bachelor's degree, don't think you've made it. You'll be lucky if you've doubled your initial $30K salary. I know a person who is an I.T. Security officer for a bank here in N.Y. When his company-bought laptop died, his company did not provide him budget for another. The moral of the story is that he cannot afford to buy himself another computer so here's an I.T. Security officer who can't afford a $500 computer. Luckily for myself, I've been very aggressive taking side work on top of my salary and have flyers at the supermarket and such to do computer repair as well as some intermittant consulting work so I make a few more dollars than him, but not much more. The moral of this story is that once upon a time, I.T. was a high paying career. Today, most people are not doing very well and many are unemployed as of recent to boot. Understand that your company doesn't really need you and can hire a consultant to do your job and leave when done. So you will be at the mercy of your company for your career. I will give Redmondmag the excuse for being way off as most other magazines are smoking similar, um, substances when they cam up with these. If your looking to make money, physical labor and core trades are where it's at. I have a friend who moves furniture who makes more than myself, and he's didn't even have to finish High School to do that. Another of my friends is the manager of a small neighboorhood pharmacy and does better. He has a degree, but not in his employment area so it didn't help him there. Also Electricians, Plumbers, Carpenters are excellent choices as well and no degree required, only their license exams. Even Nursing is far better moneywise. In closing, if your in I.T. to make money, quit while your ahead and go into a field with a future.
I didn't know the NT4.0 exam was still offered. Did you know that certs expire after 3 years? I have had previously CCNA, MCA, and I still hold Linux + , (since it doesn't expire). Making 62K yr. If you keep current and don't sell yourself short, you'll make alot better money. Location will have a big impact also. If I were to move say 4 hours south to the Twin Cities Metro area, I would be in the 90K year.
These figures are way off. I've been a network admin certified under MCSE NT4.0, for the last several years, and have yet to see this kind of money. These amounts are way off, and it sends the wrong message to people who are trying to get certified. You are lucky to see $42k - $55k, even with certification. I'd really like to know where they are getting these figures from.
