No, the 27.63 is if you are paid hourly. The salary requirement is $455 a week or 24k.

I should note you are partially correct if an employee is paid on hourly basis, they must be at $27 an hour and are still exempt from overtime pay. However they would still be paid straight time for hours worked over.

From: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17e_computer.htm

To qualify for the computer employee exemption, the following tests must be met:

        * The employee must be compensated either on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $455 per week or, if compensated on an hourly basis, at a rate not less than $27.63 an hour;
        * The employee must be employed as a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer or other similarly skilled worker in the computer field performing the duties described below;
        * The employeeâ(TM)s primary duty must consist of:
                  1. The application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications;
                  2. The design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications;
                  3. The design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems; or
                  4. A combination of the aforementioned duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills.

US Federal law dictates a minimum pay of $455 a week or just shy of 24k. http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/main.htm There are also some specific references to computer related exemptions in the link above.

Your post is correct with the exception of the 80k part, salary exemption by law starts at 24k. That's the easy part to meet, the other stuff is harder for employee to prove. That being said there is an exemption for highly technical individuals that employers sometimes try to hide behind.

I would disagree slightly here. I am an IT Manager that has a dozen or so remote sites in Afghanistan and Iraq. I would not consider the internet and call centers plentiful. We are often forced to use VSAT to get any connection at all. When there is a military provided connection it is usually a SIPRNET or NIPRnet. Use of VoIP and personal communications on these networks is usually prohibited. We do have good luck with Skype and even Vonage when there is an internet connection, though it is often heavily delayed (think 800 - 1200ms delays).

We use the highest mountain peeks from our state. Baxter is the SQL server and Chimney is the Exchange server. We have considered moving to functional names but I am not sure it makes any more sense. The good news is with virtualization there is a lot less worry over functional names. We can always just provision a new server and take the old one down.

I was hired as a IT Technician with my current company after working as a Production Controller / Aircraft Mechanic. Within a year I was promoted to the IT/IS Manager posistion. I did not have a degree, any technical certifications, and my last work experience was for my high school 6 years prior. I was able to show an aptitude and gained the neccesary knowledge on my own time. I have since received an Associate's degree in Information Technology. My theory has always been the degree will help get past HR and maybe an interview, experience is the rest. With the lack of a degree try to use networking to find a job where a friend can recommend you.