[geeks] job hunt...

[Nadine Miller]

72K/yr is insultingly low, IMO, Shannon.  I'm in Las Vegas, and making more
than the offer you received from Dahlgren.  Las Vegas is not known for high
salaries in tech since the majority of folks employed here are Windows
admins.

I interviewed at Dahlgren back in '05 time frame, and rec'd an offer
contingent on clearance investigation but never heard back from them as to the
status of my clearance.  I'd consider their budget talk to be questionable
based on my experience.

I recently had a recruiter contact me from the DC area looking for a NetBackup
expert in Alexandria offering 85K/yr for a perm role with clearance required.
I told the guy that was way too low.  He said he agreed fully and had told the
client the same, but that they refused to raise the rate.

I know that I will ruffle feathers with this comment, but in my opinion the
influx of Linux admins that will take really low pay has somewhat diluted the
salary expectations for skilled UNIX admins.  This is one of the primary
reasons I'm seeking to get out of SA operations.  At my last job the Linux
admins got paid between 30-40% less than I did as a Solaris admin.  I see
Solaris admins still being offered reasonable amounts, but shops that are
primarily Linux always low-ball.

As for Bill, if, after 10 years in Houston, you're not making close to 6
figures in the oil & gas industry, you should be looking for a new job.  I
know a guy working in O&G in Canada that's barely out of junior admin skills
who's already nearing 100K/yr.  I am also considering applying to your
employer for oil field services work, since they pay for your CDL and once on
the job, you are paid for every hour when your dispatched to the well site,
whether you're working during that time or not.  Most employees clear 140 hrs
per pay period.