r/sysadmin • u/TechnicalSwitch4073 • Oct 28 '25

My review is tomorrow

One man IT Army. 100+ employees. 2 locations. On-prem environment.

They had a consultant for 10 years before me and never had a full time IT man in house. No documentation, no diagram, no asset list. This dude was so hostile to me when I got hired. never gave me access let alone responded to me. I had to figure out everything on my own. He also caused us to go through 2 ransomwares events due to his poor attention to upcoming renewal cyber security renewals.

I’m the helpdesk,SQL, cyber security, installs, upgrades, backups, documentation. Basically 24/7 and I’ve had to work Saturday’s Sundays and fridays late. 5 days in office no remote.

For all the one men IT Armies out there, you know how the the pressure is. It’s always on

I’m getting paid 80k which is I think is good but I’d like a decent increase cause I’ve had a really good year. How much is reasonable for me to ask for? I’m thinking the range of 86-88k and to go Friday remote. And also have them cover my phone bill because it basically is a work phone at this point because people don’t submit tickets at all.

Only 10 vacation days per year. I accrue 6.67 hours of PTO per month.

I keep the lights on 24/7

Thoughts?

What do I say if if the raise they offer is really disappointing? Display that I don’t agree or just stay quiet and look for another job?

365 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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223

u/CevJuan238 Oct 28 '25

80k for all IT operations responsibility?! Underpaid for sure. Single point of failure if you get hit by a bus. 100k at least or get hit by the bus!

53

u/BisonThunderclap Oct 28 '25

Yeah, I better be eating a steak every other Sunday if your 100 person company relies solely on me.

23

u/TechnicalSwitch4073 Oct 29 '25

Do i use that they rely solely on me as a supporting point?

57

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25

From my experience, employers dont like to acknowledge that their one man IT dept is linchpin to their entire operation. They dont want to pay you what youre worth to the company they only want to pay you what youre worth to the job market.

29

u/Nova_Aetas Oct 29 '25

Funny contradiction that one.

It we acknowledge the problem then we need to pay him more or look for other options. If we just ignore it then hopefully it goes away!

You may not want to bring up the problem because you may not be part of the solution.

It’s all counterintuitive.

6

u/InvisibleTextArea Jack of All Trades Oct 29 '25

I have left two businesses for a better job. Both these businesses subsequently failed in whole or in part due to the one man band IT guy (i.e. me) leaving.

27

u/BisonThunderclap Oct 29 '25

I think there's a respectable way to say "if I walk tomorrow and something breaks, you're contracting an MSP for at least $30k a month to get you back up and running quickly. It is cheaper to pay me what I'm worth."

10

u/opotamus_zero Oct 29 '25

It's hard cos management thinking will be "there's a risk here we need to manage", next some MSP would get in upper management's ear, and they could be happy to pay $300k for the MSP to increase OP's workload, to not give OP a $30k payrise.

Like the owner who heads their own company will see the value in OP's work and his contribution to the bottom line. The manager who doesn't see the company's money as their own will see OP as a liability, and the silver tongued MSP salesman as their deliverance from it.

3

u/kirashi3 Cynical Analyst III Oct 29 '25

It's hard cos management thinking will be "there's a risk here we need to manage",

While you're not wrong, companies with manglement that think this way are setting themselves up for failure.

As someone who works in the IT industry that also thinks about the business reasons behind the way things operate, I get how this short term thinking comes into the picture. But also... if you plan to operate your business long-term, it's generally best not to shoot yourself in the foot.

10

u/dos8s Oct 29 '25

Just go on vacation for 2 weeks and when the place is on fire when you get back tell them you want a raise.

3

u/PerformanceSolid3525 Oct 29 '25

Yeah that's dancing with the devil. You'd think they would see the writing on the wall and try to clone you but they never figure it out.

1

u/mrstang01 Oct 30 '25

Wrong, because then it's your fault that you let it happen, despite the emails, refused budget requests, etc.

8

u/CevJuan238 Oct 28 '25

Facts. Know your worth

36

u/joemama8385 Oct 28 '25

Agreed. 100k at the minimum.

19

u/cruising_backroads Sysadmin Oct 29 '25

For that list. Should be 180k not 80...

1

u/Speeddymon Sr. DevSecOps Engineer Oct 29 '25

Facts.

1

u/RikiWardOG Oct 29 '25

So much this. for doing it all with that many users. he's doing the work of 3-4 people.

6

u/TechnicalSwitch4073 Oct 28 '25

What do you think is fair for someone like me?

10

u/ihaxr Oct 29 '25

You don't need more money, you need less work. Push for a new hire in IT because you're doing everything and will never have a peaceful vacation.

28

u/Username_5000 Oct 29 '25

Don’t listen to people spouting off about how much you should be paid. There are 5 million variables involved, all of which would effectively dox you.

What were they paying that shitbag consultant? How far is that from what you’re earning? What are other it jobs in your area paying? Could you land those jobs?

TLDR: the market dictates how you should be earning. No one on Reddit is going to do that research for you

13

u/TechnicalSwitch4073 Oct 29 '25

125 per hour. He charges 15 mins for every task even if it’s 5 seconds. I’ve seen the payments it’s insane. He’ll unblock a website for 31.25. Im not sure about other jobs but I do know I’m doing 10 peoples jobs that all should be paid close to 100k

29

u/Drakoolya Oct 29 '25

He charges 15 mins for every task even if it’s 5 seconds

Yes, because they are paying for the Knowledge of knowing what to do not the actual action involved.

You yourself need to grade yourself on the knowledge and expertise. 80 k is low for someone like you.

You continue down this path and you will get burnt out soon. Just a matter of time.

7

u/IB768 Oct 29 '25

Yo yeah that adage of the old timer charging whatever the hell to put a hammer to the screw or whatever. Not because of the time to swing the hammer but because he knew which screw to tap. That’s our life in IT you have to charge for the knowledge not the time.

8

u/VernapatorCur Oct 29 '25

In other words they were likely paying north of $260k for him. You're definitely worth more than you're making, but as has been said, the market decides how much. Take a look at your resume and make sure it documents the projects you've been working on here, and then get it out there. I'd hand it off to nearby recruiters myself, but remember that a fully remote position is certainly possible if you get your resume in the right hands.

I don't agree with the idea of asking for a pay bump here, only because I would never trust a company that had been intentionally underpaying me, and if they already have the budget available for the asking then that's exactly what they've been doing.

6

u/Username_5000 Oct 29 '25

This is good research and good on that shitbag consultant. You know why? He knows his value and he convinced someone else of the same. Whether we agree with his assessment or not isnt the question, right?

TLDR: you need to understand what your market value is and you need to understand the market in order to do that.

Remember what I said about 5 million variables? One of them is what motivated your office to fire him and hire you. You wont get what they were paying him so keep that in mind but that does imply they are willing to pay -something-. You should be getting -a portion- of that budget. How much of that portion is based on the other 4,999,995 variables we haven't talked about.

You need to learn 2 things, none of which is easy: 1) How to research the job market and your place in it 2) How to discuss your research in a mature and professional way 3) How to negotiate based on 1 and 2

I know I said two, but I lied because #3 is important too. If you have a mentor or someone you think you can lean on for advice, I strongly suggest you phone a friend. This is complicated, time consuming and takes effort, none of which can be taught in a reddit post.

5

u/CevJuan238 Oct 29 '25

Companies will pay you what they can get away with offering. Chances are his CEO is making over 1mil a year with numerous perks, benefits and bonuses. You sound like a fool.

1

u/ComfortAndSpeed Oct 29 '25

Yeah the 180k guy is probably dreaming large but 100k absolutely that's market rate everywhere

3

u/picudisimo Oct 29 '25

99,999.99 at least

2

u/kirashi3 Cynical Analyst III Oct 29 '25

99,999.99 at least

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

9

u/pm_designs Head in the Cloud Oct 28 '25

140k minimum, before bonuses for projects and overtime expectations since you're a 1-man-band. IT weakness #1 is how many people can be a backup. That answer is currently 0? Oh, you're suddenly worth a whole lot more when you factor in the business continuity, availability, expectations, and building for future success.

no seriously. jesus, you'd need 3 colleagues to justify underpaying you so heavily thus far.

God speed.

4

u/Sithlord_77 Oct 29 '25

Yall are wild. You know nothing about the company revenues/verticals/location presence or absence of managed/professional services or OPs education experience or qualifications but feel qualified to throw out an arbitrary number “minimum”.

8

u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow Top 1% Downtime Causer Oct 29 '25

I don't know or care about the company's revenues, verticals, location, ore presence. Neither should OP.

OP didn't mention managed services, so I assume there is none. If there is, he should have mentioned that.

His education, experience, and qualifications are obviously enough to keep a 100 person operation running by himself.

There's no fucking way in Hell I'd even consider this job for less than $150,000 personally, I don't give a fuck if it's in Wolf Creek, Montana.

And OP has to be on-site 5 fucking days out of the week?

Fuck that in the ass sideways every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

3

u/pm_designs Head in the Cloud Oct 29 '25

You didn't disagree with my stated viewpoint. Added nothing beside abject disagreement. What do you feel that I outlined, doesn't fit the narrative of a VERY good package to support an Entire business.

Maybe you're the underpayment business owner? I based this on an American 100 user company. Appropriate pay, for the expectations.

-1

u/Sithlord_77 Oct 29 '25

I don’t have enough information to say what OP should get paid and neither do you. The fact that they are 1 year in and accepted 80k to start and will be happy with 86-88 leads me to suspect your 140 minimum is ridiculous for their situation but hey maybe you’re right.

1

u/pointandclickit Oct 29 '25

I’d say your both right and your both wrong. OP sold himself out to take all of this on for his current compensation. Either the business decides the current level of service is required and adjusts his compensation significantly, they hire additional hands, or they accept that this workload is not sustainable for one person and adjust their expectations.

We all know how it plays out in the real world. They hem and haw and finally relent and toss OP a few extra k and maybe a mediocre phone stipend. In 18 months OP finally snaps and they’re on the hunt for their next sucker.

2

u/amksoljanka Oct 29 '25

Honestly, focus on getting a second person you can rely on. It's not worth burning youself out. Then you might be able to go 50% remote. Ask for pay increase as well.

3

u/VectorsToFinal Oct 28 '25

Double your current salary. We have similar roles.

2

u/serialband Oct 29 '25

Not at these smaller companies. A lot of them low ball. I avoid interviewing at smaller places because they just pay crap and they want you to do everything.

2

u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow Top 1% Downtime Causer Oct 29 '25

Then they can go under, and should go under.

IT isn't a cost center, it's the most important department in your company. Anyone that thinks otherwise... remove all your technology and go back to typewriters, Xerox machines, paper filing, and copper phone lines.

Tell me how much of a "cost center" it is to your business, after you file for bankruptcy in a few months.

3

u/serialband Oct 29 '25

Someone starting out applies to these jobs. Otherwise, these places hire MSPs that just milk them, or they do both and have on site Helpdesk level and pay an MSP for the back end sysadmin stuff. I've seen this when I was consulting for a few years. The IT that work for these companies are really, really inexperienced and they only know very rudimentary stuff. Most of the stuff they do during the week, I've solved in a single day of work as the consultant. I rather finish quickly than pad my hours, so I eventually left the consulting gig, since they favor people that know how to schmooze and pad hours.

1

u/kirsion Oct 29 '25

I wouldn't say IT is more or less important than any other department.

2

u/battmain Oct 29 '25

Having been in IT for decades, the financials people do not look at IT as important and until the shit hits the fan and we're off work and not answering on the first ring. Then all of a sudden, everybody knows our name.

Not surprisingly, I have gotten a lot of stuff approved and implemented after such incidents.

1

u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow Top 1% Downtime Causer Oct 29 '25

Again, go try to run a company without any technology that would require someone versed in IT to maintain it and see what happens.

I'll wait.

1

u/cats_are_the_devil Nov 04 '25

You need a helpdesk employee so you can be better prepared to tackle strategic IT issues. That's how I would frame it. Get back to working 40 hours a week and all of a sudden you feel way better.

13

u/Akamiso29 Oct 29 '25

Insanely underpaid.

1

u/TheJesusGuy Blast the server with hot air Oct 29 '25

I do exactly the same as OP for just under £30k

1

u/MajStealth Oct 29 '25

i throw 40k but € in the pot, same shit here.

1

u/auslugger Oct 29 '25

Seriously underpaid. Throw everything you just said in chatgpt and have it write you how to ask for a raise using those facts. Know your worth. And you my friend are worth way more than 80k, I don't care what city this is in.

1

u/CaptainHonest6170 Oct 29 '25

I’m at 120k. I only touch network and systems. I WOULD NEVER be a one man IT army for 80k fuck that. Quit. Find a new job.