Sometimes, it is all about salary...

In reality, it is often all about salary, isn’t it?  

For all our talk about culture, professional challenge and other factors most of us need to earn a certain amount of money to feed our families, crack habits etc.

There was an interesting job advert thread on Forensic Focus recently.  The original advert is for a pure forensics role working for the Met Police in SE London paying about £40k (with allowances).

Some people on the forum, along with others I have discussed it with since – and whose opinions I respect -  feel that this salary is way too low for the skills/experience required.   I find it hard to agree.  During the last two years, unless it has been a Team Leader role I certainly can’t recall any pure forensics roles in the private or public sector paying much more than this salary, with the exception of the odd financial institution.  

When I speak to computer forensics professionals I sometimes think there is a lack of realism on the question of salary.  In the current market here in the UK, my experience is that salaries for computer forensics professionals are facing pretty strong downward pressures.  For example, I know one excellent analyst with over five years law enforcement experience combined with three years in the private sector who moved to another private sector company just this month for £38k.  Two years ago I reckon he could have been looking at a basic salary £8k-£10k higher.  

What do you need to do if you really need to significantly increase your salary?

Well, if this is how you feel then the options are quite simple – get promoted to a management role (easy huh!) or go and work in Electronic Disclosure where the salaries are considerably higher.   However, before you do either of these things, stop and think whether this is really what you want?  For example, if you talk to somebody about the reality of daily life as an ED Manager at Big Four as opposed to a pure forensics role at the Met Police I imagine you will hear that both the salary and career development is excellent, but the quality of work...well, it is certainly very different to a pure forensics role working for the Met Police....

I guess I am also a little bias as I have a really soft spot for the Met Police.  We have recruited for them in the past and almost every person I have met who works in their forensics team at Newlands Park has struck me as a thoroughly committed person doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances.   Moreover, the forensics professionals I speak to at the Met tend to love the work they do, manage to obtain excellent developmental training and speak very highly about the competency of their colleagues.  I reckon it sounds a pretty good place to work, don’t you?

However, as I said at the start of this blog, sometimes it really is all about salary.  Isn’t it?

Libby Baugher

When I speak to new graduates looking for their first position in the area I always advise them to start a blog to differentiate themselves and to showcase what they have to offer potential employers.  Libby Baugher graduated from Champlain College in 2010 with a degree in Computer Forensics and Digital Investigations and she has just started to write a very personal blog which is an excellent read.  Catch up with Libby's progress here:

http://computerforensicgraduate.wordpress.com

How much does salary really matter?

I woke up in Ipswich marina this morning.

Not literally in the water of course - it was a big night but not that big - but in the beautiful Salthouse Harbour Hotel (pictured - http://www.salthouseharbour.co.uk/) with a major headache.  Not just the headache from the party the night before celebrating the brief return of my pal Frosty - currently exiled in Hong Kong - but also pondering how to save a deal I am currently involved in which is falling down on salary.

This deal has made me focus on just how important basic salary really is to people.  It sounds obvious of course but, in reality, just how important is basic salary to you at this stage of your career?

In the specific case I am working on the Computer Forensics professional wants a higher - but not unreasonable - salary (and has been clear about this all along) whilst the employer feels that a lower salary with extensive training and other benefits is sufficient.  This balance is made even more tricky in an area such as computer forensics as, well, let's just say that not all employers are as keen to offer outstanding training and so it is a massive incentive to join a company with a genuine commitment to training and personal development.

On reflection, I think the real issue here is all about understanding what is important to people at different stages of their careers.  Generally, people at the early stages of their career tend to be driven by base salary as this is key for renting/buying houses and instant quality of life whereas in the later stages of a career areas such as pension, shares, and health insurance become more important.

On the subject of salaries, in previous blogs I have talked of my frustration at jobseekers with unrealistic salary expectations.  This week I spoke to one very strong Computer Forensics professional currently working in Law Enforcement, based north of Birmingham and earning £35/40k or so.  When I asked what he would need to earn to work in Central London his reply was £60k as he would need to rent a flat during the week and had other expenses to cover.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry but astoundingly (to me anyway) these wildly unrealistic salary expectations are more common than you may think.  What this chap didn't appreciate is that there are numerous people at his level of experience within commutable distance of London who would take the role for £40k.  Why would any employer pay an extra £25k just because he would have to move to take the job?

In my experience people tend not to get a salary increase higher than 20% of their current basic salary when they change jobs (although, of course, there are exceptions).  Not everyone agrees with this basic view and some argue that what you are currently earning is absolutely irrelevant as you should turn each interview into a discussion about how much money you can make/save an organisation and negotiate salary from there.

I like the theory but then again I think that world peace is a great idea too.  My advice is always to keep the 20% figure in mind!

Finally, I did laugh at this article (http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/12/tom-baldwin-miliband-labour) describing Ed Milliband's new spin doctor as a cross between Alastair Campbell, Hunter S Thompson and Rasputin - just imagine that!