IT Specialist ?

Tell me about it.
I am the "one woman band."

Salary?
That of a customer service call center rep.
Well under 30k USD a year for my pay.

It's not about the money though.

I love my people, I love my job, I love getting up in the morning and coming in; the clock ticks by way too fast and I find myself a bit empty when I have to leave at the end of the day.

Do I have amazingly intelligent co-workers?
Not at all. You'll routinely hear me joke about how they can't find their way to the shower in the morning. They are a great group of people though.

I'm learning a lot more by being alone, my coverage area takes me to five different states between the coasts, which means I get to travel all the time and I've made friends all over the country by taking this position and making the most of it.

What I've gained in my experiences makes the fact that I took a 20k a year pay cut well worth it. This is exactly what I'd been looking for.

I'd rather be happy and underpaid than overpaid and miserable.

And my friend, you probably are doing the work of a VP. A Director, a Manager, and probably ... like in my situation... the trainer, the accountant, the baby - sitter...

=)

Systergrrl

I am the only IT person for 200+ computers, and even more users. I do everything except the networking (she share a netadmin with 3 other departments). I do HW support, SW support, web design (internal and external), licensing, purchasing, inventory, training, you name it. I make 34K (US dollars). I don't know how your job compares, but I've always suspected that my pay is a little low. I have great benefits, though, and I really do love my job. I'm definitely never bored!

I work as the lone net admin for two companies via remote networking.

I worked full time for one company but they wouldn't pay over $64,000yr (CDA). I walked out and offered to work under contract, to which they agreed. Now they pay more than the $64,000/yr for my remote management of the same network I used to watch in house!?
The second company pays me well and I only login twice a week unless needed.

My advice to keen SOLO workers, ask for more, if they won't meet it, walk and do your own thing, you'll make more money contracting.

NOTE: You will only succeed in this if you are an agressive and competent job searcher and can sell your abilities without relying on newspaper ads and recruiters. If you are more of a passive or introverted person, stay where you are and be thankful that YOU are employed while millions of MCSE's are hunting for work.

Another thing I've noticed is that people are expecting to find IT careers that existed in the 90's paying huge salaries and offereing great shares of company stock. This is OVER, get used to working for the going rate, IT isn't as lucrative as it was before anyone understod it, yet many expect big salaries. Maybe THAT's another reason why your jobs are going to India, local IT staff expect WAY too much money.