OS and Software > No, I Will Not Fix Your #@$!! Computer > Salary Research for Negotiation

Salary Research for Negotiation

What do you make now?

I make about $10,000 less than the median based on my research.

Part of the reason for my negotiation relates to the recent promotion of another manager to a level higher than me although their responsibilities managerial wise are about the same but has none of the technical side.

Currently it is 80k, which appears to be a little below the median if I was only a call center manager. When comparing to a Help Desk Manager, the difference is huge.

I am assuming you are living in Los Angeles, CA?

What certifications do you have?
What is your level of education?
How long have you been in the industry?

These three questions also drive salary as well.
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My domain - Nightfall.net

No certifications. Highest level is high school. I have on the job training. I have been doing this specific function for 10 years (at this company. I have about 15+ years in tech) now (Banking 17+ years). Yes, I live in Los Angeles.

Again, keep in mind, I have a peer in my same area that does the same managerial functions as me (managing call center), minus the technical area and is of a higher level/pay. I can do what she can do, but she cannot do what I do. Ironically, it almost looks like having the technical expertise hurts me.

reply to OHN
Does your peer have a college education and/or relevant certifications? What is their tenure in your industry?

reply to OHN
how easily can you be replaced?

reply to OHN

reply to AVD
Not very easily, I have many departments that come to me for assistance. I am the subject matter expert in all call center technology including phone systems. In some situations, even department that own a specific area like Telecommunications come to me for help. I do have my hand or nose, if you will, in lots of different areas. Many different areas depend on my “expertise”.

I think the problem is that my direct manager may not have a complete understanding of my contribution. While they may appreciate it, I don’t think they understand at what level and capacity. Since he has been in the call center, I have always been around. He has no real idea of the headaches you have running a call center when you don’t have technical people i.e. phone systems going down, managing call routing, workforce management, technical support, changes to IVR or auto attendant, ACD. Even though it has been mentioned many times by others that many technology projects could not have been completed if I was not there. For the ones that could, they would have not gone as smoothly and likely taken longer to implement.

Another thing that corroborates that there is a lack of understanding is the demand that I train a very low-level agent to perform some of these complex and business critical tasks (some of which we request from consultants normally). They wanted me to “just train” an agent to do it. Something like asking a tier 1 agent (barely knows tech) to modify VDNs, vectors, prompting and distribution for calls even though our own Telecom department is hesitant to make these changes at times.

reply to Nightfall
They dont have any degrees. Also, their focus is banking only while mine is banking and all the hats I wear technology wise. For the last 10 years I have been here, this person has been below me 5 years. It was not until recently they were promoted and to a level which is higher than mine. Their title is simply called Center Manager.

reply to OHN
Just a thought from what you just posted, why not document just what you do. What is the job description? Things change over time.

Redo a Resume/CV based on what you are actually doing. I think it would be a little bold to redo a job description, though.

Suggested that to a friend years ago and he supplemented it with graphs and other documentation. Received a decent raise. Those in upper management did not even know all that he was doing.

Thanks, that is what I am actually doing. I have a presentation almost ready to go. It talks about my job description, actual responsibilities and provides comparison with positions using market data as well as internal salary structure. I have graphs, metrics and references to various reputable sites. Using various similar positions as comparison, it shows I am underpaid by $15,000 on average.

I met with my boss and mentioned I would be working on this. He appeared to be receptive and agreed that a presentation would be a good idea. I would present it to him and my boss’s boss. One thing though, he mentioned giving me more responsibilities in order to justify it. I first said I was open to it as I am a team player, however, as I write things down I see I have been doing so much already. The whole point was to compensate me accordingly for my current work. If you add more stuff to my plate in order to justify the increase, we are back at square one. If I feel I am not compensated accordingly with current responsibilities and pay, how would giving me even more responsibilities to justify an increase address this?

reply to OHN

This would make sense if his peer had a college degree and certs. According to the OP, his peer doesn't have those things. You are right though. I have seen many talented people who are not paid as much if you don't have the sheepskin or the certifications to backup your knowledge. I know a very talented network and support engineer who hasn't made over 50k in his career because he has no certs or degree and with 10 years of experience. These days, its just too easy to find someone with 10 years of experience with a degree and certs and pay them more.
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My domain - Nightfall.net

reply to Nightfall
I think you are 100% correct. Whenever something is thrown at me, I always say yes and get the job done. I do not think they appreciate what I do. I have started writing down everything. In all honesty, some stuff I was thinking of skipping because I thought, “well it is not a big deal” but once I started analyzing what I do and what it entails, it did end up being a big deal. It is because of what I do that we rely so little on other departments like Server Amins, Telecommunications and ecommerce. In addition, our reliance on consultants has greatly minimized when it comes to tech in the call center.

As far as the person thinking the lack of college or certifications may be the issue, I do not believe so. The person that was promoted has neither college nor certifications. If we were to look at banking experience alone, we have about the same (I have 17+ years). When it comes to managing the call center, we also have similar responsibilities. Based on these similarities alone, we should be on the same level. Again, I have the same if not more, experience as a banker so I can do his job but earn a little less than he earns.

With that said, I then have the Technical responsibilities and knowledge (15+ years) that as you all know, require wearing multiple hats. This is something that this person cannot do or learn. After all, we are all hardcore geeks that eat, sleep and dream this stuff . When you account for that, it even substantiates me having a higher level let alone an equal one.

Summary: If you were to consider me only a call center manager, I am underpaid and at a lower salary level then I should be.

When you account for what I bring to the table technology wise, I am $15,000 underpaid and should even be a higher level than the other person.

reply to Modus