Maximum PC

A+ alone is almost worthless anymore, you will be lucky to get over 10-12 an hour here in oklahoma with that alone.

ok then, what would you suggest as a follow -up cert after getting your A+?

It all depends on where you are applying and what you are replying for. Some places don't care about certs, and some want to see a bunch.

Net+, CCNA, MCSE, are good starts, an IT related degree is even better. PC tech/help desk is the bottom pay scale of the IT dept, which is where most new hires start unless you have a degree and or the experience to start in another position. PC tech is a start but thats about it.

Get your start where ever you can, experience is just as valuable as education. Education and Experience will put you ahead of the competition.

My first year as a technician I am receiving $13/hr in base pay and then with my spiffs and service plan bonuses I average around $17-18/hr. It's decent money for a second part-time job.

My first PC Tech gig had me making ~ $13/hr. Thankfully that only lasted a couple months and then I moved on to bigger and better things.

The local geek squad makes $10/minute:

* Most of their jobs last less than 20 minutes
* Most of their jobs cost $150 - $300

if your not making at least $50k then your not trying hard enough. the real money is in the oil industry and govt.

I'm working part time at a local computer repair shop. As a recent hire I make $7/hr (more than $1 over minimum wage). I expect a raise once I become A+ certified.

I live in Indiana, BTW.

mjjordan01 -- Post Subject: "sucka" pay

Are you Mr. T?





Care to elaborate there?

Getting out after school and with an A+ cert, you might start out low if you find a full time job. The trick is find a temp agency or contact work. do that for a while and get some experience for a year or 2 and get your certifications based on your interest in the field that you like not what you think will make the most money. In time you will find a company that will pay for your experience and certification and education.

The Company i work for and hire for will go through thousands of resumes but the ones we keep are the people with Certifications, A college education. I myself frown on tech schools, they will promise someone 60k after graduating their first year and give them this false image of what a PC tech does. they typically last 3 months and go back doing what they was doing before.

so a good formula for better pay is College 2 or 4 year, Certifications for the skills that your good at and mostly experience.

If you get into the PC field to make money, you need to re evaluate your career goals.

Better money as a full electronics technician. PC is a small part of the job. I work on aircraft simulators overseas. Takes a bit of experience to be considered for the better jobs but once you are in the door 100k for an overseas position is not that unusual. 55k - 65k would be average. Some jobs do require a degree but most of them want military training or tech school and a bit of experience.

In Canada if you get $16/hr you're probably doing good.

Mom and Pop shops will pay the worst, probably $8-12/hr, Futureshop type stores (Big Box) will pay you $12-18, and Corporations where you're doing bench work or an IT Technican (troubleshooting, network support...etc), anywhere from $14-20/hr. Technicians don't generally make more than Administrators, who usually make less than Engineers.

Junior (Inexperienced) Techs will get the lower. Techs (Experienced) will probably get median and Senior (Supervisory) Tech's will probably get the higher number, and/or will be on salary. Same goes for Administrators.

Remember...you make more money per hour than you do on salary because of overtime considerations. It's not unheard of a Senior Tech making $45-50,000 and Junior Techs starting at $20-30,000 a year. For Technicians $36-50,000 is a good median.

Administrator positions, even Junior will be about $40-60,000. Senior or Specialised Admin (like Database) can make upward of $65-100,000+...depending on what they're doing, responsibilities...etc.

Network/Systems Engineers tend to make ab out $65-200,000. The higher numbers being obviously for large corporations, or consultants.

All of this is quite good .. but for Atlantic provinces, subtract 15-20% of the pay. This is true almost across the board, but the closer you get to minimum wage, the less discrepancy there is across the provinces.

Salaries are definitely 20% less ... but on the other hand, my house is in Metro Halifax, 20 minutes from work and 30 minutes from my favourite surf break and it cost less than $250,000. For that price in Vancouver, you might be able to find a doghouse, or a 450 sq.ft. condo in the burbs. Your real estate dollar goes further in Toronto and Montreal, but not by much.

Real Estate in Toronto is probably the most expensive in the Nation. Next to Fort McMurray and some area's of BC.

I stand corrected. It has been a while since I've shopped for housing in T.O.

I live in Lawton OK and that range is about spot on here as well. It's an alright job, to help get yourself through college, and get your foot in the IT door, but I wouldn't consider it a long term career.

50$K is your minimum? Really?

And you're bragging publically about it?

50$K is about as close to real money as Roseanne is to 'attractive'.

Considering that the national average is $44K a year, $50K is pretty decent for entry pay.

I'm not disputing that at all!

Entry level pay, though, is not something that I would brag about or claim to be 'real money' ... it is a good place to start.

You know me, Hit ... the only people allowed to brag on this forum are me, myself, and I. And some monkeys. And people I like. And people who brag about things I like. And girls.

Jipstyle: Bringing Hypocrisy to New Levels since 1974!