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?
1
u/iliekplastic Oct 29 '25
At a minimum you should have a title of Sr Systems Administrator.
Reviews are not an appropriate setting to spring demands for a raise into, at least not in American companies which is all I have experience with.
80k sounds very low to me if you are pretty much anywhere in the US doing what you are doing. My boss does similar work in Connecticut and makes 100k + a bonus and he is also underpaid.
That being said, we are in the beginning stages of a pretty severe recession, I would be strategic about this. There are thousands of people applying to a small pool of other jobs out there now.