I am a level 1 help desk tech at an MSP. I’ve been at this job for a year. I’ve been working in IT for 1.5 years, though.
I have my yearly review coming up and I have no idea what kind of questions to ask. I’m drawing a total blank.
I do know that I am being prepped to become a level 2 tech, but I’m not there yet.
My company is small and I can be totally open and honest with my boss.
I’m still anxious though.
Can I have a raise?
Don’t take random people’s advice at face value. You know your circumstances best.
That being said:
“I’ve done the following this year and feel my work meets or exceeds expectations. That being said cost of living has been going up quite a bit and I would like to discuss how my pay can reflect this”
Or
“What steps do you think I should take to advance my career here? What’s the best path forward to taking on more responsibility and the commensurate compensation?”
And, if you’d rather just ask in general how things are going
“I feel this and this has been going great. Are there any areas you feel I do best in? Any areas that I should work on refining?”
And if the last question doesn’t have anything then that may be a good time to ask about pay. Just the COL alone is reason enough because there’s always the option of finding a new job whose starting pay is what you want.
If you’re on the path to level 2, ask what you need to get there.
If you can get specific feedback then you can work on those things, and it also shows your boss that it’s your goal so they can help you work towards it.
I know that I have to get a specific Microsoft cert to get discussions on a promotion started. I attempted the cert exam and failed pretty badly. Gotta study more.
I plan on asking for specific feedback and how I can improve and all that.
Would it be helpful to ask for suggestions on getting better at the exam stuff, or do you already have what you need and just need to put in the study time?
Don’t have any MS certs myself, but the conventional wisdom is this: Answer how you think Microsoft wants you to answer. If there are two correct answers, go the Microsoft way.
I know that’s a little nebulous at your experience level. Wish I had some examples, been a few years since I looked at it.
Thank you for such a detailed response! My company pays for the first attempt at a cert test, but I have to pay for it myself if I fail and have to retake it. I am also going to ask for a raise if one isn’t offered. I had to do a self-evaluation and listed a bunch of stuff I want to learn and start doing. I have to get help from other techs for a lot of stuff that I end up not understanding, and I want to not have to rely on them so much going forward. Like, they’re more than happy to help me, but I don’t want them to put their work aside for me. As for my coworkers, they’re all absolutely amazing. I consider them work friends and we are close and support each other.
NoneYa has the best answer you’re going to get, focus on it. All so very true for us techs.
They’re correct about moving on to get paid more. I’ve received massive pay bumps moving from my last two jobs. Hell, if I included benefits, this job doubled my last one. You’re expected to move every 3-5 years so your skills don’t stagnate. Some places won’t hire you if you’ve been in a job for 10+ years. They figure that’s all you know how to do, that one job.
And it’s not just tech! When we moved here, my friend took a job at an oil change place. So wildly under his experience we were scratching our heads. He just kept hopping jobs, excelling, and doing it again. Got up to $80K pretty fast, now he’s well over $100K, finally settled down I guess.
You’re in a great place! It’s where most of us start. Technical learning aside, you also get invaluable experience dealing with people. That will take you far in any field. If you’re not doing it already, use your coworkers to learn more! People starting out are passionate and always experimenting with tech outside their immediate needs.
Build relationships and learn from each other. Those relationships are key in helping you move to bigger and brighter jobs. One of our top managers brought in great people he worked with in the past. Our new VP just brought in a couple of new directors who I’ve talked to and have high hopes for. Keep in mind, even in a big city you’re quite likely to run into your current coworkers down the road.
Go forth and kick ass!
How has me working here financially impacted the company? What can I do to help the company become more profitable?
Oh that’s a good one! Especially since profit is up a whole fuck ton rn. I did do a job where we made $5400 to retrieve 3 emails.
It’s a blessing to be at a company where you can share that info. Looking for work now, but that’s one thing I’m looking for…a company that’s open enough to share how I’ve impacted the overall business.
I hope you can find a company as good as mine. I feel appreciated and cared for for the first time at a job. I broke my ankle and leg in October and had to have surgery to fix it. Everyone has been incredibly accommodating and supportive during my recovery. When I was in the hospital after the injury, I was either too high or crying too much to update my bosses on my condition. My mom did the calling for me and the owner of the company had her tell me that I don’t need to worry about keeping my job and focus on recovering. I ugly cried when I was told that.
A yearly review is generally more for them to give you feedback so you really don’t have to ask questions if you don’t want to. If you’ve been doing a decent job you have nothing to be anxious about. But here are some questions you could consider asking:
What do you consider my strengths? Is there anything I can improve on?
I would like to develop my skills in xyz, are there any opportunities in the company for me to do that? Or do you have recommendations for how I could do that outside of the company?
What are the career path options after level tech 2?
Am I meeting your expectations for where I should be at the current point in my career?
What direction do you see the company/our team moving in in the next few years? How could I help us align with that?
