1997 IS/Network Manager Salary Survey Do What You Like "Do what you like" is perh aps the most sound career advice anyone can get, since there's nothing worse than toiling long hours and hating every task. Despite the stress and the hours, network/IS managers are a pretty satisfied group. In the survey, 84.5 percent of the respondents said they are either very satisfied (22.6 percent) or moderately satisfied (61.9 percent) with their jobs, leaving only 15.5 percent disgruntled with their job lot (see Figure 5). Those numbers pretty much mirror the responses from Network Computing's 1996 salary survey, in which 85 percent of the respondents reported being either very satisfied or moderately satisfied with their jobs. The moderately satisfied contingent grew slightly from last year's survey, up from 57.8 percent in 1996 to 61.9 percent in 1997. Nearly all the network professionals rated their jobs as very or moderately challenging, and only 11.6 per cent rate their jobs as not very challenging or not challenging at all. And they have found what they sought. When asked what they like best about their jobs, 32.4 percent cite the challenge of the work itself and 28.5 percent name exposure to new technologies. After the top two answers, factors such as their companies' progressiveness in IT, the authority to make decisions, and a good relationship with management make the job satisfying for about six percent each (see Figure 6). Intellectual challenge more than cash, fame or job security motivates those in IS-only 3.5 percent said that their salary and compensation is what they liked the best about their jobs. On the other hand, company CEOs shouldn't read this article and order a pay cut for the IT staff, because low pay is a major cause of job dissatisfaction. Not surprisingly, the average salary for people who say they are best motivated by money is $72,780. With 1 7.6 percent of the respondents, the top cause of job dissatisfaction is a difficult relationship with management. Salary a nd compensation come in second, with 16.5 percent of the responses. Little potential for career advancement is the third highest cause of job dislike, with 11.4 percent of the responses and 9.2 percent cited the number of hours worked as their job bane. Consistent with the data on job motivation, "soft fuzzy" factors like recognition and a cooperative staff fall low on the scale. The data on dissatisfaction is a bit different from last year's survey, in which salary and compensation and too much work came in as the neck-and-neck top answers (see Figure 7). As networking/IS is tied tighter to the business goals, more interaction and even conflict with corporate management and business managers is a logical result. A network/IS manager's job centers around keeping up, keeping current and keeping in the business loop. When asked what are their jobs' greatest challenges, the respondents ranked keeping up with the changing technology and industry trends as the No. 1 answer, with 34.7 percent of the responses. Right behind is keeping up with the organizations' demands for IS projects and deployment, at 33.8 percent of the respondents, and 29.2 percent of the people cite keeping skills current as their biggest challenge. In the middle of the list were two business-related issues, aligning the business and technology goals (at 23.7 percent of the responses) and getting funding for IT projects (at 19.8 percent). Three percent are struggling with technology that did not fit the business goals and 3.9 percent cite other reasons. Making business and technology fit together is the eternal struggle of the IS professional.

Paid What You're Worth Slackers You'r e Not In for the Long Run Age, Gender and Education Count Sizing Up the Organization and People on the Network The Regional Accent Methodology and Feedback The Survey Updated January 24, 1997