Today I was chatting with two of my coworkers and the topic of salary came up. I know discussing salary is frowned upon (I wonder why? /s) but my coworkers and I are all 20-somethings and I’m guessing they also don’t care if anyone knows their salary. Anyway, they said they got paid like $80-85k a year, which surprised me because my salary is $40k. (I said so and their response was both “wtf”)
Now, I’m a tier 1-2 IT support specialist. My two coworkers are network admins. I think they should be paid more than me for more complex work. But more than twice as much? That doesn’t seem fair to me. Especially since average salary for my position (in my state) is around 50k and theirs is around 70k. So I’m getting underpaid and they’re getting overpaid. I’m a hard worker, too, lots of people have told me I’m quick to learn the job, good with customers, complete lots of tickets…
I didn’t ask for much when I interviewed for the job. I was desperate to get out of another IT support job that paid even less (32k), so I only asked for 40 because I really wanted the job. (This job also makes me eligible to get a TS clearance which is significant). I got what I asked for, but now I feel like I’m being lowballed. I’m disabled and I support myself as well as help support my sister who is also disabled. At the very least, if I make more, then I can provide more support for my sister. So it would be nice if I got paid what I’m worth.
So my question is, am I getting underpaid (I’m guessing yes), can I ask for a raise at 4 months into the position, and if so how should I go about it? Thanks so much in advance.