Where do I fit in?

Excuse me for moment if I appear to digress. I'm not a Bible thumper but there are some wise words in it. One quote that REALLY applies to careers is "A prophet is not respected in his own land." What does that mean? It means that the people who live where the prophet grew up remember this person when they were little. They remember when this person was little and put ink on the neighbor's cat's tail and when this person was the class clown in school. In short, people who know your history will think of that when they see you and will fail to recognize who you are now.

So how does this apply to your/my career? It's like this. When you start a job as a newbie people define you as a newbie. People will ALWAYS think of you as a newbie, even when you have gained a lot of experience and expertise. Your career is on a dead end track.

When you start a new job people will define you at your current level of expertise. Then, when you grow in experience and expertise you will have to find a new employer to have your skill enhancements recognized.

I can't comment on your inquiries about job title and salary. That would require that I know a great deal more about you. Where you live has a lot to do with it. Browse the IT job search web sites for some idea of salaries. Most jobs will post something like "salary commensurate with experience" or some other nondescript phrase. A few job listings will give you a definite salary range. Once you have that you can approach a job recruiter and say that you expect ???? for a salary. Use the highest salary that you saw posted on the job sites as your STATED expectation and see what happens.

In summary: Forget about your current employer. Find a new job at a new employer that better matches your career interests. As far as salary is concerned you can research salaries in your area with your skills by means of IT job search web sites. Find the most amount of salary that anyone is paying for your general skill set. Then go to a job recruiter and tell them that this is the amount of money that you want to make at your new job. See what happens.

I think Junkie's reply is right to the point. However, if you're really an IT person at heart you're still waiting for a specific answer to your specific question. I would say you are a network engineer or a network administrator, or more probably both. If you were in a major metro area with a high cost of living like Washington or S.F. and I was the hiring manager, I would pay you somewhere in the $50-65K range for what you're doing. You should work on your 4-year degree, it will open up more opportunities and get you noticed. It doesn't have to be in IT, business or math would be fine, just show me that you have the drive, IQ, and discipline to do it so I can take you more seriously.

I started at my current job as an Administrative Assistant and inherited the IT side of the house when the company split and the Network Admin left. After I got my 4 year degree (Business degree in MIS), I was promoted to IT Manager though my duties didn't really change. I don't have any direct reports but I do all of the configuration and setup of the computers, the server equipment, the phones, the copiers, write and enforce policy, etc etc etc.

Calling you an IT Manager may ruin your overtime (if you get any) but you don't necessarily have to have direct reports to be a Manager (though it helps). My salary sits just under $50K but I also work in a smaller office than you do.

As I recall, there were distinct advantages to living in Austin as compared to dealing with the traffic issues in Dallas/Ft Worth or Houston.

Smaller cities usually don't always offer the largest salaries, but there are trade-off's to anything in life.

I think we're at about 200,000 people :)

I appreciate it! Off to surf for universities...

Like you, I have grown in my position. Started as a programmer, added System Administration and, software/hardware support. From there I added Network Administration and Security.

Rather than have multiple titles, we bastardized them into "Computer Systems Administrator".

If you look in programs like "descriptions now" for identifying jobs, you will find there IS NOT a title that has kept up with us.

Pay, you should get a wage that makes you happy. Don't worry about what others are making unless you are willing to go where others are. Too many people get petty with pay scales and see it as a status thing based on how much they make. Only a complete loser would feel cheated at their present pay scale based on finding out someone else makes more.

If you like where you are at, that is worth more than the big paycheck at the end of every other week. I could double my income if I would move to a bigger city about 3 hours away, but my friends and family are what I live for, not that paycheck and I won't trade them for money. This is purely a personal choice, not a judgement against people who move to get jobs. It is just a different way of living my life that I have chosen.

Good luck and go where you will be HAPPY, not where you make the most money. Losts of unhappy rich people out there, and a lot of people that jump jobs only to get laid off.

I'm about to bag this entire IT shenanigan. I'm so bitter from my last employer's depeciation and I can't stand where I've been heading since. When I young I worked with this kid that wanted to be a bum when he grew. He said, "John, I'm going to be a bum at the beach. And be a painter". He was serious as all hell. How is the job market for painters at the beach? Anyone?

What I would do if I started my IT career over again is to better understand the business that I am working for. By understanding the business IT connection you will be able to deliver an actionable set of strategic intentions. This IT plan will help the business achieve its strategy and you a pay rise (if the company recognises such achievments that is). Most companies suffer from a lack of good leaders (leaders being different to managers). Sometimes you need to "manage up" (or "lead up" if that makes sense) to meet your goals.