What is reasonable compensation? Location Midwest

[u/Political-Pineapple]

Asking for a friend. Midwest USA

Position start 2021 Help Desk starting salary $40K. A.S. Information Technology and Networking. 2022 B.S. Computer Information Systems emphasis in cybersecurity. Current salary $53K (plus on call bonuses $200 for the week and $30 for the first 15 minutes of a call and $10 thereafter). Acting Service Manager until they find replacement, no compensation.

Certifications: CNSP, CNVP, PenTest+, CSAP, CySA+, Security+, Network+

M.S. Cybersecurity and Information Assurance expected graduation date July 2026

Was offered a position as security admin for $60K. Should they take it?

Edit: I don’t know if this makes a difference, they work with an MSP.

Edit 2: I was wrong. They will be working directly with the head of technology and the two of them would be doing basically CISO duties as the company does not have a CISO.

[u/xored-specialist]

This depends on where you live. $60k is fair in some markets. Take the job if it will help you. You should be changing IT jobs 2-3 years max. In this case, after a year, get to looking agaon.

[u/survivalmachine → u/xored-specialist]

$60k is like, $8/hr above the average living wage in the Midwest.. As a highly skilled trade, we all really need to value ourselves higher than that.

Any competent admin with education and/or experience should easily command over $100k in the Midwest, but we’ve all somehow agreed that companies thinking that’s too much is ok, and devaluing skills is totally cool and normal.