Any Computer Engineers out there?!?
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,885
Likes: 0
From: Hong Kong
i know exactly what you mean.. let me help you here...
i make (1,000) (thats negative for accounting people) a month b/c i'm a full time boyfriend and my girlfriend wants stuff.
um.. yea you know what I really can't help you here
Joe
i make (1,000) (thats negative for accounting people) a month b/c i'm a full time boyfriend and my girlfriend wants stuff.
um.. yea you know what I really can't help you here
Joe
Registered User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: Chandler, AZ
Salary Search
The job titles that start with "IT" and end with "I" are likely the ones that would apply the most to you. What's your major, or specialty? Are you looking to go into networking, database administration, Solaris/AIX/Linux UNIX support, project management, application development.. etc? I've been in IT for about 6-7 years now in Phoenix, so I guess that means I'm supposed to know a thing or two about it.
In my experience freshouts (college grads w/o experience) can usually expect offers in the $40-50k range if you're very good and can get a hot position with a big company. Otherwise $30-40k may be more realistic until you can build up a resume of actual work experience. IT is notorious for shaking out people who can't make the cut since making a mistake can often mean losing corporate data or crashing an incredibly critical enterprise server. If you're genuinely talented though and get along well with others, it's not hard to work up into the $60-80k range in 5-10 years.
If you're really good and have management skills and maybe do something like the W.P. Carey MBA program at ASU, and again, if you have good people skills as well as technical skills I've seen people in my own company that can't be much more than 30 years old in positions that I know from the job title and salary.com pay in the $80-100k range. It can be tough work, long hours, off-hours work (since server downtime is usually nights and weekends, NOT M-F 8-5) and a lot of getting pages in the middle of the night, but if you can do it well and not break from the stress, it can pay very well.
Specific to the Phoenix area, good old Motorola used to be a great employer back in the days when they employed something like 35,000 people in the Phoenix area. That's actually where I used to work. Over the years as Motorola went downhill they shut down plants and sold off some that you'll now see labeled as On Semiconductor, General Dynamics, Freescale, and a huge chunk locally was outsourced to Computer Science Corporation. There's a lot of other companies in town that have IT and computer related stuff going on though, especially health care companies, believe it or not.
As a UNIX admin myself, I'm of course very partial to UNIX administration since it's kind of a commodity skill that virtually any company has and can use. Even if you're specialised in one type, like Solaris, AIX, Linux, HP-UX, Tru64, or whatever, very often companies just want to see that you know how to use UNIX and they'll be willing to help re-train you on their specific platforms.
The job titles that start with "IT" and end with "I" are likely the ones that would apply the most to you. What's your major, or specialty? Are you looking to go into networking, database administration, Solaris/AIX/Linux UNIX support, project management, application development.. etc? I've been in IT for about 6-7 years now in Phoenix, so I guess that means I'm supposed to know a thing or two about it.
In my experience freshouts (college grads w/o experience) can usually expect offers in the $40-50k range if you're very good and can get a hot position with a big company. Otherwise $30-40k may be more realistic until you can build up a resume of actual work experience. IT is notorious for shaking out people who can't make the cut since making a mistake can often mean losing corporate data or crashing an incredibly critical enterprise server. If you're genuinely talented though and get along well with others, it's not hard to work up into the $60-80k range in 5-10 years.
If you're really good and have management skills and maybe do something like the W.P. Carey MBA program at ASU, and again, if you have good people skills as well as technical skills I've seen people in my own company that can't be much more than 30 years old in positions that I know from the job title and salary.com pay in the $80-100k range. It can be tough work, long hours, off-hours work (since server downtime is usually nights and weekends, NOT M-F 8-5) and a lot of getting pages in the middle of the night, but if you can do it well and not break from the stress, it can pay very well.
Specific to the Phoenix area, good old Motorola used to be a great employer back in the days when they employed something like 35,000 people in the Phoenix area. That's actually where I used to work. Over the years as Motorola went downhill they shut down plants and sold off some that you'll now see labeled as On Semiconductor, General Dynamics, Freescale, and a huge chunk locally was outsourced to Computer Science Corporation. There's a lot of other companies in town that have IT and computer related stuff going on though, especially health care companies, believe it or not.
As a UNIX admin myself, I'm of course very partial to UNIX administration since it's kind of a commodity skill that virtually any company has and can use. Even if you're specialised in one type, like Solaris, AIX, Linux, HP-UX, Tru64, or whatever, very often companies just want to see that you know how to use UNIX and they'll be willing to help re-train you on their specific platforms.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,661
Likes: 0
From: Scottsdale
Cisco CCIE(Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) with 7 years of experience @ fortune 30 company!
I can't even spell I.T.!!!!
Does this somehow adversely effect my earning potential?!?
-Lee
I can't even spell I.T.!!!!
Does this somehow adversely effect my earning potential?!?
-Lee
Registered User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: Chandler, AZ
Ah, I guess I just figured from your screen name and original question that perhaps you were just graduating and did not have much experience. I would imagine you should be able to find your job title or an approximation thereof in the salary.com database. A quick glance shows:
Network Administrator I: $44k
Network Administrator III: $62k
Network Administrator V: $80k
Network Engineer I: $55k
Network Engineer II: $65k
Network Engineer III: $80k
Does that help?
Network Administrator I: $44k
Network Administrator III: $62k
Network Administrator V: $80k
Network Engineer I: $55k
Network Engineer II: $65k
Network Engineer III: $80k
Does that help?
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 406
Likes: 0
From: Tucson, AZ
I started as a systems engineer at $60k down here in Tucson. Not a computer engineer (they actually make more sometimes) but it gives you an idea. $30-40k out of college is NOT accurate anymore. Most of my friends have been getting offers from $49-72k depending on location. I'm happy with my salary down here and at my age (I'm 22).
Assuming a crappy 4% raise every year someone with 7 years experience that started at 60k should be making $78,955. It's a bit higher in Phoenix so just round it off at an even 80k for a big company that's doing well.
Does your degree actually have "engineering" in part of it? That seems to be a big factor in pay rate IMO.
Assuming a crappy 4% raise every year someone with 7 years experience that started at 60k should be making $78,955. It's a bit higher in Phoenix so just round it off at an even 80k for a big company that's doing well.
Does your degree actually have "engineering" in part of it? That seems to be a big factor in pay rate IMO.
Trending Topics
Registered User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 708
Likes: 0
From: Scottsdale
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,661
Likes: 0
From: Scottsdale
Apparently my humor was not caught.....
This is a place we get away from our jobs. A place where we talk about our interests. Work should stay at work. That is my point. I tried to use some sarcasm but the people here are genuinely helpful.....So it backfired on me. The other thread about this made me a bit concerned so I started this thread.
-Lee
This is a place we get away from our jobs. A place where we talk about our interests. Work should stay at work. That is my point. I tried to use some sarcasm but the people here are genuinely helpful.....So it backfired on me. The other thread about this made me a bit concerned so I started this thread.
-Lee
