Is networking domain a low paying job

Trust me - money is very important. But in the IT industry money will NOT be restricted to domains. It's a matter of getting into the right kind of company rather than what domain you're in. If you're in systems then get into some company (even though it's not a large MNC) where the overall health of the systems is critical to their business in fact it's the backbone of their business. Network infrastructure, telcos, small and mid-sized portals, etc. Imagine what eBay may be paying the team who's managing their servers - definitely higher than the team who's developed the code.

Even though job satisfaction is a 8 hr job, you cannot keep doing it year after year if you don't love it. You don't want to wake up every morning and drag yourself to work just to 'earn money'. It should rather be for 'let's have some fun today, take on a few challenges, inspire a few people and make some money in the process'.
 
Kneo said:
Trust me - money is very important. But in the IT industry money will NOT be restricted to domains. It's a matter of getting into the right kind of company rather than what domain you're in. If you're in systems then get into some company (even though it's not a large MNC) where the overall health of the systems is critical to their business in fact it's the backbone of their business. Network infrastructure, telcos, small and mid-sized portals, etc. Imagine what eBay may be paying the team who's managing their servers - definitely higher than the team who's developed the code.

Even though job satisfaction is a 8 hr job, you cannot keep doing it year after year if you don't love it. You don't want to wake up every morning and drag yourself to work just to 'earn money'. It should rather be for 'let's have some fun today, take on a few challenges, inspire a few people and make some money in the process'.
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Loved the way you put this :D
 
Remember one thing , being a system admin the lifestyle will be quite challenging. You'll have to work in shifts and even on weekends.And without hands on experience certifications are absolutely useless. Do not worry about money, if you know your stuff there's the same amount of money to be made as in the development side. Just think about working the graveyard shift @ 30 ...is that something you see yourself doing ?
 
At the beginning of my career ppl at my company did not take me seriously.. But then slowly slowly they came to know me. The start of a system admins career is always hard.. but once you are past the 2-3 yr exp mark then u can expect good things...

Having said that this industry is a place where one should know how to sell himself to the company. Make sure you look good and you're good to go :)
 
Its true that initial pay on development side is much higher than networking field..!I'm working as system admin for more thn 1yr and still working to be honest 'm enjoyin my job...as like the OP i'm also nt at all interested in coding.. sitting and doing all those stuffs...ahh...:D networking filed is like the story "Rabbit and Tortoise race" slow and steady wins the race.:cool2:

Its only my interest tht 'm getting into networking field...after i completed my b.tech in IT i did certifications first i did CCNA searched for job i didnt get one thn i did MCP and also i dint get one and thn i studied RHCE and get certified searched everywhere for job didnt get one evry1 needs experienced no one needs fresher i felt desperate my friends gets palced in big companies like Infy,TCS 'm jus sitting here and do certifications..:(but i didn't blame my career path that i have chosen so i again searched for job at last after 1year i get a job do u know wht was the initial pay only 4500.!now getting a good salary as i completed 1 year and yes ofcourse experience matters..!

'm here working in a mixed environment both windows and linux but now i'm leaning towards linux and do RHCSS certification next year and i have hope that i will get a better job mostly in linux environment.!

Every field has competition networking filed is vast very vast have to specialize in something like security,VoIp,Linux etc..its according to the taste..and have to get some serious skills if u have flair to that u will definitely succeed :)

Every job has its own respect so tht system admin also :D

@OP Choose a career path what u love what u love to do dnt hear opinion from evryone bcs tht differs u cant take a appropriate decision from that its wht i studied from my life..!

All the Best Dude..!:)
 
CCNA MCP MCSA & even MCSE are lower level course...You won't get good pay for such courses..... once you enter the specialized courses like CCIE / MCITP etc that's when you will start to see huge price hikes in your pay.

You have to struggle initially, who doesn't have to from Actors to Politicians everyone has to struggle for that good start. but in the end its worth it cause you'll be doing what you love to do.

I always advice my friends to pick a stream they want to pursue & go as deep into it as you can.

I started working back in 2006 & my first pay was just 3k / month now its a lot lot more.

Never stop improving yourself, Good Luck
 
networking/systm administration domain can be generally summed up as an initial low payment job, but with more and more experience, its much higher paying job than s/w development. But in that profile, one shouldn't be concerned about salary for atleast first 4 years, as he mostly will have to struggle hard in the beginning, unlike software development, which is a medium level struggle only.
 
A friend's cousin after graduating did not get a job for 2 yrs , he wanted to get placed in a big firm initially .

Then he decided that was not feasible , so he applied for mid and low level firms , he got a couple offers but had problems with the salary package , then he thought he cant just sit at home , so he decided and took up a low paying job .

He was quite disappointed but kept on working like a donkey for a measly 4 k for 18 months . Then a big guy noticed him and got his details , he came to know he was paid significantly lower than others who did not work as good as him at the same position .

The boss himself wrote an application to the MD and got him a good salary package . Now he is at par with others after a lot of struggling .

What am trying to say is be realistic , its good to be enthusiastic about something . But that alone is not enough , I have seen people excited about things and when they actually have to do it , they feel it was not their cup of tea after all .

So do proper research , understand the path ahead and then only choose it .

There is a hindi saying which i ll translate " Farther scenes are beautiful " , but once you get close you might not really like it .

And if you want a good pay , make yourself capable or worthy of it and that also might not be enough ! . As someone above said , you should be able to sell yourself . All sort of skills are necessary . Understand yourself , and analyze whats good for you .

Some prefer 8 hrs of boredom and repetitive crap and choose the big fat salary , and some do what they like .

There is nothing wrong in both , one had liking for his job , one for his money , so both are in the end faithful to their likings and wants .
 
when networking is mentioned the destop hardward/software installations, networking etc comes into everyones mind.

but there are some specializations too and you can gain niche skills, like some IBM/Rational server specialization, Informatica servers, Netezza admin, some Web/App server admin like BEA weblogic, etc. SAN certifications, and so on. These are not programming jobs but server administation/disk management jobs and are very rare in nature and at the same time so rewarding that your programmer friends can get jealous
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You should rather build your knowledge on networking concepts and move towards linux , the pay which a kernel/network engineer gets is awesome and you work mostly on contractual basis
 
Arun1 said:
Isn't that just a fancy way of saying there is less job security.
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which IT job is secure these days, abslutely NONE.. Perform or perish is the new mantra or this what they follow. You dont do it properly they have another ten thousand people to sit in the same shoes you are in..

Quoting #Keno "It should rather be for 'let's have some fun today, take on a few challenges, inspire a few people and make some money in the process'."
 
All I did was crack the interview after my BE in a non computer filed. I was paid a decent salary for a fresher, hated the job though since it wasnt really my thing.....

But yes to answer your question,

Its a tedious, thankless job

Keep learning as you go, never stop, work smart and learn to pick your fights. ou will earn then.

The whole programmer vs admin thing is BS. Two sides of a coins, thats what they are. People with similar skills but who think differently
 
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