Hello. I am trying to find the national median salary range for my job. I have looked on a few websites including the Department of Labor, but not sure what job title to search on.

I am the systems admin for 28 Inter-Tel phone systems for my company for the past 8 years. 700+ phones. I coordinate the installs, do all the moves, adds, and changes after install, order phones/accessories. Order phone lines, T1s, trouble tickets. I am also responsible for audio visual needs company wide, branch offices voice and data cabling, etc.

For those of you with similar job duties, what is your job title? Our HR dept. did a review of jobs and concluded I am being paid above the range for my job title of "Telecomm Tech". I am curious if they are correct or not, plus the title may be incorrect, causing them to say this.

Any info or help is appreciated.

Robert Half Technology publishes an annual salary guide that may help. Job titles really can be a grey area in this industry, and that does make it difficult to compare. I think you pretty well need to look at job postings that look close to what you do now and see what they're offering for pay. But like anything, there are regional differences and other variables.

I would change my title to "Telecommunication Systems Manager" with a about a 55-60k pay range. Stay away from any admin or coordinator titles

When you were hired, the position was probably "Telecom Tech". Over the years, you received pay raises including COL raises if offered. You now occupy a position of greater responsibility and the HR department, in doing their audit has discovered 2 + 2 doesn't equal 4! They need to do a new Job Task Analysis to fully quantify your position. Changing the job title isn't enough. Your HR group should be very familiar with the JTA process.

You can also check https://www.salary.com/

I checked those sites, could'nt find a salary for schmuck, guess thats why im broke.

biztel - lol i'm with ya, but are you sure it's not cos you live in Vegas?

threads like these remind me why i got off the corporate treadmill. money wasn't a problem, but everything else was.

BizTel, the problem is that you were looking at tech positions. You have to look at management to find "schmuck." That's why I now sit behind a desk. :rofl:

Deleted by poster.

Do you manage people on a daily basis, bg6214? If I had to guess, I'd say that's where part of the rub is. Companies seem to value people management skills far more than the ability to manage hardware and infrastructure. And while I understand that thinking, it only goes so far. Anyone handling a network of your size deserves fair compensation.

At one time in my life, I managed a sizable network of Definity and System 75 switches. After several years of hitting the same ceiling you did, I bailed on the company. Despite all of my documentation and willingness to help afterward, it only took two "formally trained" but incompetent techs (whose combined salary was higher than mine) to totally hose up the DCS and centralized AUDIX for weeks on end.

What can I tell you? Probably nothing that you don't already know or suspect. Fight the battle over titles, privileges and salary as best as you can. Ultimately though, employment is supposed to be a fair trade between you and the employer. If that is no longer the case, then perhaps it's time to move along.

Did you "grow" with the company? What I mean is, did you and the company start out small and here you are 8 years later managing a larger operation?

If so, then perhaps they still think of you as the "tech" and not as the manager you actually are.

It used to be an old saying: "You never earn where you learn."

Of course if you came in doing all these things and you're still doing them 8 years later, I would say your original job title was a scam. You're certainly doing more than an off-the-shelf Telecom tech.

Sam

I apparently never learn. Still working for family still not making anything comparable to people with less experience or knowledge. And I 'm a little too out of shape to be a male stripper.

Don't be too self-deprecating. Health can almost always be turned around. Plus, you might inherit a great business!

Looking at the picture posted on the Mncommunications.com's "About Us" page, I don't see anybody that is seriously out of shape.

Ah but you sell yourself short..there's always hope

Chippendales dance off


:rofl:

When I performed the exact same job functions for a large corporation in my area my title was communications system analyst. Salary was decent but probably would have been better if I was an actual employee instead of a contract consultant.

I am not in that picture maybe that should tell me something as well.

Dear BG6214, If your not happy with your corporate salary, then why don't you live the American Dream and start your own PBX installation company, after doing that I can advise you that in years 1 to 8 your take home pay will be less than someone who says "would you like a hash brown with your meal?"

Lots of good posts on this subject.
Some of my thoughts...

Sometimes when you grow with the company you can get overlooked.

Some companies only allow the Manager title if you manage people.

I think the 55 - 60k is good. More would not be too much, less would not be enough.

I've beat that same dead horse till there's nothing left. I take care of basically the same duties, only for about 5,000+ phone lines, 200+ locations.....and my pay is about half of what you guys are talking about. I need an exit.....pdq

With the job market turning south and cnn.com reporting yesterday that most economists say we are currently starting a recession, I might just be happy to have a job.

Start your own firm and starve for 5-10 years as said above. While everyone likes to be appreciated and earn more, sometimes, we can never make what we are worth.

If anyone knows a company that is paying people what they are worth let me know (exlcuding the overpaid ceos.. I talking just regular workers).

Brian

I find it's really about quantifying your worth to the company. That's why it's possible for a salesperson to make a great living. There's no question about that person's worth to the company. As long as he or she is bringing in net profits to the company that are greater than the salary+benefits+overhead required, justifying an increase in salary is easy.

The hard part is quantifying skills that do not involve sales. The HR folks at my employer give the managers an annual salary report that we use to help determine where an employee fits within an average pay range for a particular set of job responsibilities in our geographic region. I figure my job is to convince my boss why I should be paid above the average for my those with my skills/responsibilities :-).

One thing I do is to be sure to let my boss know when I've saved the company money on a particular project. For example, when I interviewed with my now boss, I asked him who was supporting the phone system. Since it was manufacturer-based support I figured he could save money by using an independent company and suggested one to call. Before I even started with the company they saved a substatial amount per year by moving support to this company and have not had a support issue in the 6+ years I've been here. That's the equivalent of my employer having to pay me that much less per year less right off the bat.

Just remember, much of these telecom costs are residual, so any savings should be presented as such. Also, if you know that having outside support would cost $100/hr or so (not uncommon where I'm located), let someone know this and it might give you some leverage.

Just my $.02

Ahhh... the old divide between the sales department and the tech department. My AT&T general manager use to tell of the time where the sales people and the techs had so much tension between them (probably over pay) that the company housed them in seperate buildings!

A commissioned sales person is worth every penny they earn. It is a bit tougher for salaried people to justify their contributions, I agree. Someone might save or bring in a ton of money by doing their job right and have to fight for the credit. Agreed. But what is often forgoten is that the tech or admin is paid a guarenteed salary while the sales person carries a tremendous risk. Just ask the millions of folks who tried sales, thinking it was easy, and starved to death financially. The reason sales folks can make a ton is that they have risk. That is as great as component I think in most situations as what profit they bring to the company. An admin or tech may contribute as much but at little risk of their base salary. Am I wrong?

No arguments there Brian. I'll never begrudge a salesperson earning more than me. If that person is making a bunch of money for the company, then it benefits everyone. It's the proverbial rising tide lifting all boats. Heck, if I thought I would be good at it, I'd be a technical salesperson now instead of a CG. As such, I look at my job as one of giving these folks the information they need where and when they need it. If I do that, then the company prospers and it's easier for me to get a raise.

Thanks for all the replies. It helped.

Our HR dept. had everyone fill out our own job description. They then matched that up with what they thought the job title should be. Then assigned that job a certain salary range. I am actually happy with my current salary, but it is now frozen since my salary falls above the maximum of the salary range. This means no more raises, unless I am moved up to the next salary range, which is only going to happen with a job title change. The range has a min / max and median. My HR assigned median is lower than an entry level telecommunications technician on salary.com

To answer dagwoodsystems's question, I don't manage folks. I am sure I will stay put whether things change or not. It's a good place to work. I am left alone for day to day stuff, nobody looking over the shoulder. It's just when your salary gets frozen, it makes you feel unappreciated. My boss has agreed to go to HR and discuss title change and up the salary range, so we will see how that goes.

Thanks again.

I don't know if it would work but find 3 qualified telecom companies in your area. Ask them the cost for 1 hour service call, that will give you a base line. Figure out how many of those 1 Hour service calls you do in a month. Along with the guys you manage. Make a graph or some how put this into a presentation, show them that the company is currently paying your team X dollars(dont forget to include benifits Insurance, paying half your SSI, basiclly any benifit that can have a dollar value assigned.

I have not done the math in a while but with all the benifits your company pays about 1.5 to 2 times your hourly rate to keep you employed. If you make 10 bucks an hour it costs the company about 15-20 bucks to keep you employed with paying all the benifits, insurances, unemployment all those things.

Figure out how much they would be paying in 1 month if they had to hire an outside contractor, I am willing to bet that with your experience with thier equipment you are saving them a ton of money. Rather than Guess on what you should be paid show them. I know it sounds like a lot of work but; if you present the facts you will prove that you are a bargin.

I would venture to say that most of the time a full time telecom guy is costing a company more money than highering outside, 700 plus phones, I don't that is more phones than I manage with all my customers combined.

Bottom line is the numbers, I try my best to pay my employees fair. On the flip side, if I had an ambitious guy that brought me work, and could show an increased profit or savings directly related to him being in my employ, I would pay him more. I would not seek it out, he would need to present this to me.