Is it possible making 50K-70K doing Help Desk/ Desktop Support?

August 1, 2017 11:59 AM

I live in California and my salary is at 40K a year for Help Desk at a Private Small School. What are the chances of pulling in 50K to 70K a year for Help Desk or Desktop Support Work?

After gaining more experience and education, I think it's time to move on to a company that pays a bit more than 40K I was thinking someone where in the 48K to 70K but for like the same work or similar.

Am I able to pull in 50K easily with 4 years of IT support Experience and a Bachelors Degree? Or would I need to move on to something beyond IT support?

posted by iwantworklifebalance101 to Work & Money (8 answers total)

"California" is extremely broad. and wages vary hugely place to place. In SF, 40K for in-house helpdesk-type work would be ridiculously low, but of course cost of living is ridiculously high. In other places, 40K is a great salary. Looking at your history, you're fairly brand new to this (like, in the realm of a couple months?). It would be expected that if you can make 40K now, especially at a Private school which are not generally known for their high wages, you can be making 50K+ in a few years, especially if you moving up a chain (eventually into management, etc). But I wouldn't try to move until you'd been in your current position for a couple years.

Try looking at Glassdoor and other similar sites to check wages for jobs you're interested in in your direct area (nationwide or statewide wages are not useful unless you're planning on moving). and look at job postings for the sort of job you might be applying for in a few years - some of them will have salary info. But yes, going from 0 years to 4+ years experience, and getting the sort of job that expects that, should get your wages increased.
posted by brainmouse at 12:18 PM on August 1, 2017

Yes, this should be possible. I worked at a help desk many years ago and made a little over $50k (granted, it was in a big city), and I know people today that work at a help desk and make around $60k. So there's two data points showing it's possible.
I would look for these sorts of opportunities:
- Consider looking at opportunities for large universities, large corporations, local/state/federal gov, etc.
- Help desks that are internal facing - ie, servicing your coworkers rather than the unwashed masses. You will get better pay and less abuse / frustrating calls if you are viewed as part of the team.
- Whenever possible go to the actual company that is doing the hiring and submit your resume directly. Don't be psyched out by job ads that ask for the world, it cannot hurt to apply.
Good luck - this sounds doable to me!
posted by machinecraig at 1:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yes. This is definitely a possibility. Government work doing that job is likely to pay even higher.
posted by cnc at 2:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @machinecraig

Thanks

Yea I live near downtown LA and was just curious some of the folks said it was hard to find a job but then these were barely recents grads with no IT work Experienced at all.

That said Im really good at selling at myself in the interviews. I do the best I can to sell myself. Would you recommand any certs? I didn't feel like getting one now since I already have plenty of work experience and a degree.
posted by iwantworklifebalance101 at 2:35 PM on August 1, 2017

As far as certifications go - they can't hurt, but you have a good bit of experience already. I'd consider the certs only if you are not getting calls back. When I did this many years ago, I got the A+ and MS MCP certs (but I had almost zero experience). For what it's worth, they were not too hard to study for. No need to attend an expensive boot camp or anything like that. Good luck!
posted by machinecraig at 4:54 PM on August 1, 2017

I made $48k doing software support in Ohio, so yeah, it's possible. I got an offer from Amazon in SF for high 60s.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:23 PM on August 1, 2017

Yes, this is reasonable, if you have the skill set to back it up. I manage a help-desk supervisor and desktop support staff who make around $60-65K in Baltimore. You might have to move to a larger organization to see a salary increase like you're hoping for though. Small private schools tend to fall lower in the salary ranges than larger schools or corporations.
posted by JannaK at 5:29 PM on August 1, 2017

Unless you work in a union role, making above 50-70K will be difficult. Figure out what IT field you want to work in, and get the required certifications to move into it.
posted by GiveUpNed at 8:43 AM on August 2, 2017