How to negotiate a salary when you’re the only IT pro at the company

When you’re the only IT person at your organization, it may feel like you are wearing a bunch of different hats.

“Enterprise applications, infrastructure and operations, [and] security usually falls to you…in addition to running all of IT,” Heller Search Associates Managing Director Kelly Doyle, who has about 20 years of executive recruitment experience, told IT Brew.

Now it may be time to add one more cap to your collection: the negotiation hat.

No team members in your department? No problem. But how do you make the case for a raise for all your efforts when there’s nothing to compare your performance to? IT Brew caught up with two career experts to discuss how IT professionals who are their department’s sole contributor can navigate negotiation talks.

Money talks. Cristina Magro, founder of a career coaching firm for cybersecurity professionals, told IT Brew that IT professionals seeking a pay raise should be prepared to show the value they bring to their organization to back up their request.

“You need to spend some time gathering this evidence and documenting it, so keeping a file with all your accomplishments,” Magro said. “Be very specific.”

Magro said that professionals should establish a best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or BATNA, which is a minimum pay range they are willing to walk away with from the negotiation table.

Back it up. Leveraging external market data can be useful when negotiating a pay raise, according to Doyle. The average base salary for a help desk technician is close to $46,000, for example, whereas a systems administrator is close to $90,000, according to market data from Indeed.

“If you’re the only person in IT, your company may not know how competitive the tech market is,” Doyle said. “So, you can find industry-specific salary surveys.”

She added that professionals should consider the timing of when they choose to broach the subject.

“You want to have these conversations when the company is doing well or you’ve just completed a major project, or something like that,” she said.

Second time’s a charm. Sometimes a pay raise may not be attainable on the first go. If at first you don’t succeed, Magro said to dust yourself off and try again.

“If the conversation ends up in a place that is not ideal…make sure that you set another time for another negotiation to happen,” she said.

Doyle advised professionals whose companies aren’t able to meet their salary expectations to see if they can receive other benefits in the meantime.

“Maybe they can give you more PTO,” Doyle said. “Maybe you can get more of a hybrid work [arrangement].”

Being the sole IT professional at an organization has its perks. Magro said the position can be leveraged as a selling point by professionals who choose to embark on a job search following subpar negotiation discussions.

“The exposure that you get is really great and it’s possibly not common in other organizations where you are part of a wider team,” Magro said.