Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with salary

Can you determine my worth?

Eicats — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:36:36 -0800

I work as a graphic designer/layout/print production person, and this particular job classification has always been a problem at my company— they are deliberately comparing those of us with this position to other job titles with a lower pay scale. Can you help me determine an appropriate wage comparison? I am particularly interested in any input from HR professionals with access to salary data, but any and all help is appreciated.

I was hired for my position 13 years ago (which was advertised as a "desktop layout specialist"), and the position's job classification was already an issue with the current employees then. At that time, we were classified as "marketing specialists", even though marketing positions are usually much different than graphic design or layout positions. So there was a push to get us reclassified as graphic designers—that would be an accurate title for our education, skill-set, and job duties. Although our titles were eventually changed to graphics specialist I or II we were told they would not use the graphic design salary data for review/comparison because it is too high. (!) At least they were honest, I guess?

To skip over a long story, currently, the graphic designers in my company are not all located within the same workgroup and there have been a lot of changes to HR, position classifications, salary, etc. in the last decade. I recently had a performance/salary review under yet another new system with a different supervisor than other coworkers with the same position as mine, and I was informed that my position was being compared to a field tech for salary comparison. I was appalled and am still pretty upset about this.
_{The field tech position in my company requires no education or experience; it's something a high-schooler can be and has been hired to do. It's probably one of the lowest paid positions in the company.}

If not unethical, this seems down-right skeevy, but it's an at-will employment state and I guess they can do whatever they want and if I don't like it, I can leave, right? Yes, I know it's probably a losing battle, but I would at least like to try to compile some data to present before my next review in order to get this fixed.

If it was just a matter of looking up the average wage of graphic designers, I could do that. But I live in an upper-midwest state, so I understand that the wage of a graphic designer in Minneapolis or Chicago is not going to be equivalent to what I could expect. Does anyone out there have the data and know-how to provide me some definitive comparisons of what my salary should be on par with, considering where I live and also considering that I now have 13 years of experience and receive rave reviews? The last part is important—I don't want to just present average starting salary for my position, I really need to know an average calculation for someone in my position that exceeds performance expectations for this length of time.

Top secret: my potential future salary

harujion — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:15:39 -0800

Is it common to keep the salary of a position under wraps until the job is offered to a candidate? I have had an interview with an interesting company for a relatively junior position. When the post was listed, there was no mention of salary, so I asked about it during the "do you have any questions for us" part of the interview. My interviewers claimed they didn't know what the exact salary scale was, and referred me to HR.

Afterwards, I sent off a thank you email to HR, and included a short question about work hours and salary. I received an answer with the first bit of information, and then an apology for not being able to give out salary details at this stage. This has left me a bit puzzled, and I guess what I really want to know is whether this is a common thing? I am weighing several potential future jobs against each other at the moment, and barring offers from somewhere that will pay me to read Metafilter all day, salary is one of the things I am quite keen on actually knowing so that I can make an informed decision. I don't suppose there is any diplomatic way of getting even very vague ballpark figures from HR unless they contact me to offer me the position?

How much am i really worth?

emptythought — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:54:53 -0800

After a few years at the same gig, my first serious tech job out of college, i'm finally being considered for a serious raise. The problem is they want me to figure out what it should be, with a few caveats. which is to say... pile of snowflake details inside. Pretty much, they told me to go out and ask "some of my friends or people i know" what they're getting paid for comparable jobs... but i don't know anyone who has a job like this although i have friends in the field. I googled around, but once again it's a pretty all encompassing job compared to most of what i could find.

I read stuff like this, but although a bit similar it doesn't seem comparable. The path to that guys job is similar to mine, including how it creeped in to encompassing more and more til i was doing everything, but it just doesn't seem quite like the same situation.

I'm trying to not get too specific here, because although they openly told me to ask around, i still think it would be weird if i was directly identified. Not enough to anon post, but still, i like to keep a somewhat low profile.

* I'm the only IT person at a medium sized company that has both an office and retail stores. i manage about 5 locations.

* I do everything. Helpdesk, software support, point of sale systems management, networking and VPN, managing servers/backups. I order, configure, and install all the equipment including climbing around on a ladder and running cables through holes in the wall type stuff. Maintaining spares, disaster recovery plans, everything you can think of an IT department doing at a medium sized company entirely falls on me. The only thing i'm not 100% saddled with is employee training.

* They are in no way the "how does IT make money" types, they completely understand it's a cost of doing business hing, and that it's mission critical. They know that they need these systems to make money.

* I'm on call 24/7/365, and since i'm the only person this means i'm *really* on call those hours. There's contractors i can possibly call if i'm on vacation and something blows up, but they don't have the response time that i can provide/they sometimes need. I definitely think a big point here is that this is, and always has been a take home job. This has been really harsh/trying sometimes, but i'm young and aware this is fairly common in this field.

* We heavily use several pieces of unusual/obscure software and hardware that i'm now very familiar with maintaining and knowing all of the bugs/quirks and general ins and outs. For all of these things, the only other option is to call a $$$$ contractor, or the dev/manufacturer who also charges major $$$ for support and often requires a contract to even pick up the phone and say more than "sign a support contract, sorry". I know how hard it is to find someone else to do this stuff, because i've had to track down someone to cover me when i was out of town, or needed more than one set of eyes and hands.(or had a really obscure problem, this is pretty google-proof stuff)

* On that note, they've said several times when i was offered or interviewed for another job(which was lower level stuff, but on a run of a ladder instead of a shelf), that they would definitely want to hire me on as a contractor if i left for any reason. There is definitely a desire to have specifically me doing this job.

* It's a manager level/"senior" position(and they refer to it as such), but no one reports to me. What i mean by this is that i attend the major meetings between all the management staff and speak at them in that fashion, report to only the most senior "managing the managers" type top people, etc.

* To knock out all the "important info" mentioned in the previous thread needed to answer this question, i'll just reiterate some of it but all in once place. this is in the seattle area. My title is just a generic "Systems administrator". This is retail/food service company. I've been here for a bit more than 2 years, as i said below i didn't finish my college degree and have no certs, but i have a lot of on the job experience both with and outside of this place, mostly as a contractor for very small(like 5 employees) or home offices that i networked my way in to nabbing gigs at.

I currently make about 22k a year(and it's hourly, so $20 an hour). I also only work about 20 hours a week, but that's what everyone involved agrees gets the job done. This is not, by any means a 40 hour a week job. Defining that is a bit awkward though since it's also on call. I think it makes more sense to define my yearly pay based on it being those hours consistently, as it has been for 2+ years, not as some hypothetical full time pay rate that will never happen. I definitely do a full time jobs worth of work especially when you factor in maintenance that can only be done outside of business hours, periodic systems upgrades at odd hours, etc. I often feel a bit shafted on this since on paper it's not a ton of hours, but the footprint it leaves on my life is pretty large.

Both me and them agree this is way below what it should be, so fortunately that isn't the issue. But it started out at that level because i was straight out of school and it was my first job that didn't involve making coffee or flipping burgers.

The problem, and why i even made this post is that i can't find anyone with a comparable job. Everyone who manages these types of systems(point of sale client/server stuff, mostly) is a contractor, or has years of experience(and i mean, 10+ years, not 2) working for the vendor(s) of the equipment or software and makes $$$$$ because they manage the systems for an entire large chain. The contractors who work on these types of systems charge >$100 an hour, but are also dealing with being contractors and often having their own office, travel time, etc. Plus, there's a lot more to this job than just managing those specific systems.

It's also worth noting that i really really love this job. Both without any real context, and seeing the type of jobs my friends are doing in the same field and what downsides/restrictions/limitations they have even if they're making more money. Everyone i work with is awesome, there's great perks, i don't have any set hours and can come and go as i please as long as stuff is dealt with, the location is awesome and i have my own extremely isolated office/workspace, my commute is under 10 minutes on foot, i'm allowed to use the office/facilities for projects or contract work not related to the company, i could go on. I have very little interest in looking for another job simply because i love this one so much.

I don't think i should take any huge hit because i love the place, but i would definitely rather have this job with these perks than another one that paid a bit more. It's just that i know people who are doing part time night server monitoring 4-5 days a week and making close to 50k.

I've also been working on making some time to finish my network engineering degree and get some certs though, as i was on the path to do that when i got hired...

So what should i say/do here? I know i'm going to get shafted if i don't present "my side" of this like i was asked to. But i'm pretty much floating in the middle of the ocean with no paddle.

Should I mention salary discussions in an interview thank you note?

shoesietart — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:07:26 -0800

Yesterday, I had a third interview with the same company and I want to send a followup note today. The interview went well until we got to salary discussions. I was caught off guard and did not respond as well as I should have. I already know I should have had her give me numbers first, but like I said, I was caught off guard when she asked me how much I was expecting. I told her what I made in my last position, which was in a very expensive city and now I’m in a small Midwestern city. I knew as the number was coming out of my mouth that I was saying the wrong thing. I backtracked a little and said my research indicated a range of B to D, a $20K range. (This range was much less than the number that popped out of my mouth of its own volition.) She then said she was expecting to pay between A and B, a $10K range, where B is her ceiling and my floor. The range I quoted is a little on the high side and hers a little on the low side.

I felt she wasn't as warm after we talked money. I also know that there are a number of other candidates. However, three interviews would indicate a decent degree of interest in me. She asked if I was still interested and I said that I was. I really am excited about the position. (I also want the most money possible.)

Now I need to send a follow up email to express my continued interest and thank her for meeting with me. An offer has not been made and we’re not in negotiation so I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I feel like I should somehow address it. So, should I mention the salary, and if so, what do I say? Or do I ignore salary for now and just let my thank you note be sufficient to get across that I still want the job?

Did I box myself in with a low salary?

Two Stranger — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:00:12 -0800

I just had my first phone interview for a prospective software engineering job, which was a ten minute phone call with an in-house recruiter. I wasn't expecting the topic of salary to come up this early in the process, which I grant was maybe naïve, but they asked me and I gave a lowball offer. Now I'm wondering whether I've screwed myself here. Basically, I wasn't entirely prepared and gave an offer that, now that I've done the research, I see is a good 20% lower than the salary range that Glassdoor reports for that company and that position. Am I going to be able to negotiate upwards later? This feels very early in the game, but I don't have that much interviewing experience.

Possibly relevant background:
1. I'm currently employed.
2. I would be relocating for this job.
3. It's at a mid-stage startup.
4. This short call went well, so I've got a phone interview coming up with the actual department lead tomorrow.
5. I'm just beginning the process of looking for new jobs in the last few weeks, with the hope that I'll have something in hand by August, and, while you never know with these things, I'm fairly confident that I'll get an offer at some point in the next few months, not to mention that if worst comes to worst I don't need to leave my current position. All that is to say that I don't have much to lose in negotiations.
6. I live in an area with a really low cost of living, and this job is in an area with a really high cost of living. As a consequence, that salary range from Glassdoor that I mentioned above is twice what I make in my current position. I told the recruiter my current salary, rounded up to the next thousands place.

So, what do you think? Am I locked in, or can I still negotiate freely without harming my chances of getting the job?

What is my college degree really worth?

chaiminda — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 05:25:36 -0800

I saw this comment on a post yesterday, and I'm baffled. The idea that even a recent liberal arts grad averages $36,000 a year seems inconceivable to me. I got curious: is there any job that I'm qualified for that pays anywhere near that much? I'm guessing this applies more to people who majored in something that directly relates to their job, but I really don't know many people who made this kind of money right out of college. My major was completely useless (Classical Studies). I knew by the time I graduated that I wasn't cut out for an academic life, and by now I'm not even qualified to teach basic Latin or Greek.

I graduated in '07 and I have worked mostly at various office jobs since then, with three years in the Peace Corps teaching ESL. The highest paid jobs I can find now are ESL jobs, but the pay is well under $30,000 a year because I can't get that many hours. I also freelance write, which pays great but also doesn't give a lot of hours. I'm planning to get a masters in social work in 2014, and it seems that once I have that I may be able to find a job with decent pay, but I would like to be able to save up before grad school makes me poor again. Are there any jobs I should look into that would pay more than $30,000 a year?

Does not compute

whistle pig — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:28:20 -0800

How do people survive on $12 an hour? I'm looking to get a job in this pay range, and I can't reconcile it with my budget. I live unlavishly. My own monthly budget within. I've determined that working 40 hours a week at $12 an hour will end up being about $1450 a month net. Here are my expenses:

500--rent (I share a $1000/mo apartment)
150--utilities
100--pet food and bills (we own four geriatric cats, on prescriptions and special diets--this figure might actually be low)
50--small charitable donation (consider it my tithing)
150--car (gas and insurance--no worthwhile public transportation in my city, physical limitations mean I can't bike)
40--internet bill
20--phone bill
230--student loans (still owe $20,000 on these so paying off in advance is not an option)

Which leaves me with...$220 or so a month for everything else, including food, clothing, entertainment, savings, skydiving lessons, etc. I suppose I could make this work, but eek, seems like things could head south the first time I need major car repairs or whatever. I also am not factoring in health insurance.

I guess I could cut out the $50 charitable donation, but at the very least should I be putting that towards savings?

Twelve dollars an hour seems like a not-ungenerous salary in today's shitty job market, so I'm wondering how people with, like, kids make this work!? (I do not have kids, nor do I want to.)

(I am currently employed at a higher salary but am looking to leave that job for one that I want more.)

What do you think of these work benefits? And tips for negotiation?

bluelight — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:44:32 -0800

Fresh architecture grad getting into the job market. Want to know if you can help break down these job benefits so I can better wrap my head around them and tips you might have for negotiation. I have undergraduate degree in architecture and am residing in Maryland.

The salary is ranging in the mid 30k to low 40k.

Benefits:

- Health Insurance: Arch. firm will pay 75% of the basic plan premium plan (for individual emp. only) and the rest is deducted pre-tax on a semi-monthly basis.

- Dental: $2.53 per pay deducted from employee, pre-tax and the firm also pays the balance or 75% of premium. There is a $50.00 annual deductible for basic and major services.

- Long Term Disability and Life Insurance premiums are paid by firm

- Leave with Pay: Employees accrue 5.666 hours per pay (136 hours per year)

- Paid holidays (2013): 8

- IRA Simple Plan: Firm contributes 2% of employee’s salary. Employee has a contribution limit of $11,500 pretax dollars.

- Flexible Spending Account (optional): Premium, determined by employee, is deducted from employee’s pay, pre-tax for various out of pocket medical expenses

So far, I know I'll want to ask which types of health care plans I can choose from as well as more information on the dental plan. But does anything else stick out that I should ask about? And how does everything sound to you? I'd appreciate help breaking this down since I don't really have anyone in my family to turn to to ask about this.

Also, are there any benefits that you suggest trying to negotiate for? Should I even negotiate? And do you have any tips or suggestions on how to negotiate successfully, whether it be for salary or benefits?

Additional Information: Single female in mid 20s. No kids. Renting an apartment in MD. No car (will likely walk to work, approx. 35 min) and will take the bus when the weather is bad out. I'm entry level so I know I won't have much bargaining power, but I figure as long as I'm not aggressive about it it shouldn't hurt to try!

Thanks!

How do I respond to resume rejection because of high salary expectations

Snackpants — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:24:25 -0800

I sent my resume for a job that I am very qualified for but just received a message that my expectations are above the scope. They did not provide a range, just a requirement to include expected salary in the cover letter. I stated my salary and said that it is negotiable. I have plenty of wiggle room, I am in a new market that is a bit lower than others I've been in (I did lower it from past compensation, but not enough apparently). What can I say to convey I still want to be considered & am willing to take up to $15k less without sounding desperate? I am worth every penny that I asked for, and that is not just my opinion. I am very very good at what I do but again, I realize it is a new, different market so I am ok with lower...

Jobfilter: From contract (via agency) to full time. How much to accept?

wongcorgi — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:37:46 -0800

I am an contractor through an agency (W2 employee). The company I am working at wants me to go full time. The pay rate is around 33% lower. I've gone through all the benefits that contractors don't get and the full time pay is still around 16% higher. Is this reasonable, or should I ask for more?

Here is the list of benefits that full-time employees get, am I missing anything?

- Paid Vacation, Sick days/Personal days
- Paid Holidays
- Less expensive medical/dental/vision/etc premiums
- 401k match

What are standard raises and procedures for live out nannies?

PetiePal — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:51:27 -0800

My girlfriend nannies for three girls and has concerns about tax season, raises, bonuses and general treatment. My girlfriend is 28 years old and has been with her current family for 3.5 years. (Sept '09) She gets paid $650 a week (about $16/hour) from the start with no raises each year. She receives a small bonus yearly, which basically is a paid week off of Christmas. (So an extra $650 a year, which is like a maybe 1.5-2% bonus)

-She's never received a raise in the time she's worked for the family, not even a Cost of Living raise
-During tax season they tend to wait until the very last minute, which causes her a lot of undue stress and she worries about being audited.
-She tends to work 50-54 hours a week, which falls under overtime for the Fair Labor Standards act. That states she should get time and a half for anything over 40 hours at the minimum wage rate. (It can be hourly or a lump payment of the 10 hours time and a half from what I've read, but in NJ you MUST get time and a half for OT past 40 hours)
-She gets paid half cash and half check, (which means they're trying to skirt tax law by only claiming half of the payment as traceable) And according to her in 2012 they only gave her one check...the rest was cash.

Questions:

1. Should she receive a yearly cost of living raise at the least? (We live in an expensive state, and the bonus she gets is a one time thing, and not a raise) COLA for 2013 is 1.8%, which would factor to about $548 a year. Bonuses are then at the discretion of the employer.
2. She often works much overtime without any extra compensation. The hours are erratic as they tell her they'll be home at a certain time etc, and then may keep her for 2-3 hours past that. It would probably be fine if she were compensated. It's state law in NJ for her to get time and a half past 40 hours even if it's based on minumum wage.
3. What's the procedure during tax season? They're basically paying her under the table, and they really need to be filling a W-2 For her. Seems like they're trying to claim less on their taxes.

Any advice or input would be really helpful.

Living in Luxembourg on less than 3000 euro a month

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:22:59 -0800

I received a job offer in Luxembourg. Is 45,000 Euros per year (gross) enough of a salary to have a decent lifestyle in Luxembourg city? Would it be isolating for a single person in their late 20s? More details: the job offer also includes a one-time payment for moving overseas that would fully cover the costs.
The job itself and the people seem great, but after researching the cost of living online (haven't actually been there yet) I'm not sure that the salary of 50,000 euros will be enough. I think it will be a little less than 3000 euros net after taxes etc.

Currently I am feeling very isolated in the place I'm living, and my work environment is extremely toxic (ongoing harassment, no chance for promotion). I hoped for the chance to go to a new place, but the salary is less than I hoped. I have already tried to negotiate, but this is their offer.

I am also worried that I would be jumping from one kind of isolation to another. From what I can see, most of the expats living there are married with children. I am single, but hoping the move would be a chance to make many new friends. I am also looking to "settle down" sometime in the next few years.

My requirements for a decent lifestyle are a cozy home (with no bugs plz), a gym membership, salon cut and coloring every other month, and at least a couple of chances to travel per year. Considering these factors, would a salary of 45,000 euro be enough for someone in my situation?

Submitting anonymously because my posting history would give me away, but I can be contacted at the throwaway account droplemon8@gmail.com

How much do I pay a new hire?

citybuddha — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:39:23 -0800

I am looking to expand my business in a new way and and would like to know what salary to offer for the position. This is a new experience for me so I have no idea what to offer. Is there a resource that could calculate the job with the market and give me an idea where to start with a figure?

How do I respond to an extreme low ball salary offer?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:45:04 -0800

I am a casual employee who has been offered a permanent position, but the proposed salary is well below what I was expecting, and I am unsure how to respond. I have a casual job that I enjoy for a variety of reasons, chiefly because it is fairly low stress and affords me a great dea of flexibility. Lets say it is weighing widgets. I drive my own car to various locations to weigh the widgets, and then send this information to another individual who converts it into a form that is presented to the client. I charge my employer on a job by job basis, depending on the size of the widget. There are a few people employed by my organisation on a casual basis to do this job, and one person employed full time. I am not reimbursed for travel costs or for job related material expenses, nor do I get sick leave or holiday pay.

The job pays ok, and I currently work around 20 - 30 hours a week doing it. I took this job in part to get away from being in front of a computer and I also love that I do not have to go into the office much, which is a bonus because the office is in an inconvenient location on the edge of the city, with no parking. During busy months I can bill them quite a bit, but this is balanced by the slow months where I might make a couple of hundred dollars total. I am ok with this.

My employer offered me a permanent position, which I was interested in for the added security. To take the offer I would need to agree to a 36 hour 4 day week, and travel in to the office every day to take over some of the computer based administrative tasks that I am not currently responsible for.

They sent the salary offer through by email yesterday evening, and it is really low. Insultingly low. Barely more than minimum wage and about two thirds what I would currently bill them for around 20 hours of work. I would get holiday and sick leave. They would also pay me a travel allowance, but this would not cover travel to and from the office itself and would amount to maybe an extra $100 a week, most of which would go on petrol anyway.

I just do not know how to respond to this, beyond my initial reaction which is "hahahahaha, NO". My fear is that if I turn down the offer I will be out of a job anyway, and also that if I go into negotiations with my current (hoppingly mad) mindset I will completely sour the relationship I have with my employer. I just don't know where to start when a counter offer with what I think is reasonable is so far above what was offered it is going to look like a joke.

I have no idea if this salary is based on what they are currently paying the full time employee, but I suspect it is. I get that they are running a business and from their perspective they could in theory train a student to do what I do in about 2 weeks. They may think they pay me way too much, but hey, they did agree to my rates when they hired me. I also get that they need me to take over some of the administrative work, which I am happy to do but I would like to be fairly compensated for my time.

The obvious answer is get another job, and I will be looking. However I would like a chance to come up with a solution that works for both of us. Help?

Whose salary depends on him/her not understanding something?

underwater — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:17:22 -0800

Can anyone point me to a video demonstrating the Upton Sinclair quote, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it"--but in a non-political context? I'm teaching a course on critical thinking for first-year students and want to show them a short (<5 min) video, probably an interview, that demonstrates this quote. I tried showing them an example from a political interview but that totally distracted from the point as students started arguing about whether the video was fair to one party or another. So I want an example that will be less controversial. The class is about science and pseudoscience, so controversy in that realm is ok. Thanks!

Timeline of a counterofffer

Big Chief Little Pants — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:22:55 -0800

How long must you wait before making a counteroffer during salary negotiations? Let's say you've been offered the job. Then, during the same conversation, you are told the salary. Is there any reason to not begin negotiations right then? Most information I've read states to take a couple of days and then respond with a counteroffer. But, if you've already done all of your research, know the market, know their range from the HR website, know how much the last person made, know your number, etc., is there any harm in immediately negotiating?

Ideally, what should I be earning to live "comfortably" in Portland, OR?

Young Kullervo — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:31:36 -0800

Hello, people of Portland! Is $50,000 a year enough to live on comfortably in your city? I know, rather specific number, yes? I've been itching (like many people in their mid 20s to mid 30s) to make the pilgrimage to Portland, OR for a change of scenery and a boost in general inspiration. I've been searching the area for jobs in my field (research analyst) which generally pay around $50 to $55 grand a year with the added benefit of subsidized health insurance. That sounds like a nice number to ME, however, I currently live in a city that has a cost of living that is well below the national average (although this is changing given it is becoming the "next Portland" according to some...).

Currently I earn around $41 a year and I am able to save money each month. I checked a few websites that compare cities based on their cost-of-living averages and I believe that to keep my current standard of living I would need to earn between $48-53,000 a year in Portland, but that doesn't really tell me much. I just know everything is far more expensive.

To define comfortable: To be able to rent an nice apartment/house/condo in an area that is not "dodgy" and to be able to afford staples (food/transportation/utilities/Internet/health care, etc.) while squirreling away a bit for clothes, entertainment and maybe savings.

I know, you can't know how much my personal expenses are currently or what they will be in the future, so I wager what salary a person needs depends entirely on what they shill out every month for health care expenses, debts, etc. I don't live "high on the hog" but I also don't live paycheck to paycheck. I don't take any regular medications, I don't have cable, don't drink or smoke, I tend to be very frugal with food, but I do have student loans that will eventually need repaying (maybe $400 a month?). I also like to splurge on "nice" things every so often, like dining out, clothes, coffee or what not, but never anything I would define as extravagant. I do not own a car, but I share one with my partner.

I suppose my general question is, is it even a good idea to consider a move to Portland for a job that pays $50-55,000? Would I be just scraping by on that amount or would I be able to stay afloat and maybe actually ENJOY living there?

Thanks in advance!

Contract programming position questions.

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:06:36 -0800

I interviewed for a remote programming gig recently, and they requested a trial contract before making a final offer. I'd be hired as a long-term remote contractor (year+, 100% telecommuting), not an employee. I have some questions: 1. What multiplier should I apply to my current salary, at a job with great benefits, to calculate the break even point? The contractor position would not include any benefits, and I'm in good ol' USA, so I will need to purchase healthcare. My thought is current salary +30% to +40% would be a break even point considering the length and stability of the contract. If it were less than a year minimum, I would need to use a higher multiple. Is that about right?

2. The short term trial is at the same hourly wage as the long-term position, which is less than I charge for shorter projects. This short trial is hugely in their benefit, as it should greatly reduce the odds of my being a poor fit for the company. I get a somewhat similar benefit, but I think my risks are much lower. If we decide we're not right for each other, they've dodged a bullet for a pittance while I've lost a week of time for pretty poor compensation. It's not a huge imbalance, but it's there.

I am not concerned at all about the money, but I do not want to be a passive participant who sends signals that I can be taken advantage of. I'm more worried about positioning myself than anything else. I don't have sufficient experience to read the smoke signals and tell how "So, my usual hourly rate is $65 per hour. Could you bump up the short-term rate to match?" might go over. I am very interested in the position and do not want to poison the well.

Also, is this sort of short-term contract request unusual? It seems reasonable to me, but I have no experience with it.

3. What warning signs should I be looking for in the company? What danger signals should scream out, "Get away from these guys!"?

Independent contractor - quandary re: asking for/demanding higher fee

faraasha — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:24:33 -0800

I'm technically an independent contractor but essentially an employee without benefits for a small company. How do I renegotiate a higher fee when I've gone over hours on projects these past 6 months ? I am underpaid for the services I provide - my fault for not being more savvy at the start. I've been doing work for a small distributed company as an independent contractor for 2.5 years now. I'm basically an employee without benefits. Always had a steady stream of assignments and am considered part of the inner circle.

In the beginning I provided just a couple of services but now provide more. I know this company is happy to have me and my skills. According to my research, freelancers providing these services on average charge 40 USD/hr to start, whereas right now I get 30 USD (which I got raised from 25 USD a year into the 'job'). Some of the 'external' contractors may be earning more than me doing some of the same work I do.

I'd like to request 40$/hour but after doing the math on some of my recent projects, I realize I've gone over hours (it was a hectic period). This doesn't appear to be a problem because my 'boss' has never said anything to me and I get kudos on my work from the team. I also wonder if even though *I've* gone over hours, if my thorough work has not saved $ further down the line. Still, I'm not pleased with myself and now have no argument to defend raising my rates except this is 'what professionals who do what I do earn'.

Is that good enough?

At this point I am thinking of renegotiating my fee to just 35$/hr and finding myself another, better-paying client or two.

MeFi, do you think my plan is good? Or should I be crazy and ask for 40$, which would be a low yet fair rate for the breadth of professional services I provide?

Any other tips for the independent contractor who's really an employee without benefits?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom. And I've already read this thread.

What's the salary of a rural doctor in the National Health Service Corp?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:24:11 -0800

Sorry for the anonymous post. I am a pediatrician finishing my residency in July. I am interested in doing the National Health Service Corp in a rural area. I have looked at dozens of job posts on the NHSC website, but none of them list their salary. Instead they only mention that it is "competitive." It is frustrating because I don't know what the industry range for "competitive" salaries is. What is a "competitive" salary for a young pediatrician working in a rural area? $60k? $100k? $150k? Thank you so much for your help!

Career ladder positions in the Federal system.

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:20:29 -0800

I am in a career ladder position in the Federal government. I'm approaching the end of my first year on the job. I have heard from colleagues/friends in government, that going up to the next GS-level in the ladder is almost automatic (requires sign-off from supervisor). Is this true? How do I request this increase from my supervisor? Also, can you help me find documents online which show that one is eligible to go up a grade after one year? To clarify, I am not talking about step increases, but grade increases. For example, if somebody is a GS-9 on a 9-11-12 ladder, I am under the impression that that person is eligible to go from a GS-9 to a GS-11 after a year (and then from GS-11 to GS-12 the year after that), assuming great/outstanding performance. I have many friends in Federal government, and for them it has all worked like this.

I am on a similar ladder, and my performance is outstanding. What paperwork or documentation do I bring my supervisor when I ask her to increase my GS level?

I normally would assume that this would just happen, but my agency is a bit odd about things sometimes and I will feel more comfortable approaching my supervisor about this with documentation that this is a thing.

Any other advice would also be great. I am super nervous about this whole process (and also do not want to fall into the "women are bad at asking for promotions" trap). This is important to me, and I would not have accepted this job 11 months ago without the assumption that I would go up a grade after a year. I'm concerned that some sort of red tape will prevent this from happening (internal politics are rampant at my organization!) and that I will have to start looking for a different job. I do not want to do that, because I love my job and my colleagues.

Salary range for business intelligence/reporting analysts in NC

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:56:03 -0800

What is a reasonable salary range for a business intelligence/reporting analyst? Every site I have reviewed seems to indicate that the pay range is much higher than the reactions I receive when quoting my salary requirements seems to indicate. Business intelligence/reporting analysts design reporting and analytics, usually from a data warehouse through a business intelligence tool like MicroStrategy, to assist in management decision and oversight of business functions. I include that brief description so that people who do not know that exact title may know the job under a different name.

I am looking at jobs in the cities in central and western NC. I have more than five years of experience in reporting design, deployment and analysis, a relevant business graduate degree, and have always received lavish praise from bosses and peers for my work. I am not a programmer, although I can build SQL queries well enough and understand relational db structure. My current job uses a MicroStrategy reporting tool, and I am the sole reporting analyst tasked with using MicroStrategy to design queries and extract data for analysis and reporting, which I design and implement along with reporting based on data generated outside of that environment. I am female.

I have researched all the online tools that offer salary ranges for jobs similar to mine. They all begin at about 45k and go up from there, but the median I've seen is generally about 60k in this area. Based on my skill set and experience, I have been quoting the mid fifties to mid sixties in interviews, but invariably the recruiter lets a long pause build, then doubtfully asks if I'm able to be flexible. I know that you're supposed to play the game with them and not give them a range, but I've not had any luck with it.

Is this simply a game they play because they want to knock down my price, or are my requirements actually unreasonable? What is reasonable?

salary requirement for administrative work

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:35:16 -0800

I have been working as a temp in a university staff /admin support position for several months. I make $12 an hour as a temp. They're finally about to hire me, thank goodness, but I have until tomorrow to give them my "salary requirements". What the heck am I supposed to ask for? The details:

- HR lists my job class as being low-20k salary for total beginner, to mid-30k for midpoint, seasoned performer. I've been temping for several months so I feel that I'm not a total beginner... I have learned and independently done all the major tasks of my job at this point.

- From diplomatically asking my boss, I gather that I will probably get offered in the mid-20k range, and they will probably simply offer me the lower amount if I ask for more than that.

- My boss does not directly determine my hiring rate.. the overarching school of the dept. I work for does.

-I have a Master's degree and on paper am "overeducated" for this job. I have some but not a ton of past administrative experience.

- All of the people I work for in this position really like me, which is why I'm getting hired from temp position (ie, they're not interviewing anyone else)

-This is a large university, and I don't know if that means there's not really any wiggle room here or if I should bother negotiating, do the powers that be in universities simply give out a blanket starting salary?

I am tempted to ask for about $28-30k, but I don't want to look greedy and I especially don't want that to somehow mean they decide not to hire me after all. I need this job and will work for less than that, but I don't want to low-ball myself and am not used to what I'm supposed to ask for. If I ask for 25k, which is what my boss seems to think they'll offer, will they then try to offer less than that? Do I need to "prove" that I think I'm worth the money? I hate this dance.

Guess what normal is: household income edition

stuck on an island — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 08:03:56 -0800

Were you in a single-income doctor's family in the US during the 1990s? Help me reconstruct what lifestyle and education my siblings and I might have enjoyed if my mother hadn't been a pathologically miserly narcissist. Many, many details inside. I've known for some years that my estranged mother is a severe narcissist under deep cover, but it wasn't until I read this post on the blue, and specifically this comment by a Mefite with a high-earning single mother about their lifestyle growing up, that I realized that anything other than strict financial necessity might have been at work in the environment of grudging, Spartan, sanctimonious frugality in which my siblings and I were raised.

The backstory:

While my older brother and sister and I were growing up, and particularly after my parents divorced in 1988 or so, my mother was extremely frugal -- pouring generic soap and shampoo into brand-name bottles and eking them out with water to make them go further; wearing two pairs of one-legged pantyhose rather than throwing away a pair with a run; driving the cheapest and most fuel-efficient cars on the market; vacationing only in campsites and youth hostels; obsessively monitoring the household's energy consumption; subscribing to endless personal finance magazines and newsletters like The Tightwad Gazette. As a family, we had almost none of the trappings of affluence: no fancy house, no fancy car, no satellite dish, no swimming pool, no boat, no summer home, no private lessons, no heaps of toys, no swanky clothes, no big-screen or cable TV, no stereo system. The only signs my mother wasn't, say, a Mennonite on a paralegal's salary was that we had a live-in housekeeper/nanny who functioned as her stay-at-home wife, and that she occasionally went on Caribbean cruises with me and/or the housekeeper for company.

None of these economies would have felt like deprivation if they had been undertaken for our sake or in an emotionally generous atmosphere, but my mother was also very good at claiming the moral high ground as sole breadwinner and making us children feel like selfish, greedy, materialistic, lazy, sponging, expensive and bothersome drains on her hard-earned finances. Even basics like new clothes or warm winter coats had to be groveled for as special favors -- throughout my teens and twenties I dressed almost exclusively in thrift-store clothing and shoes, and cut my own hair with sewing shears -- and we were shamed out of asking for things I realize in retrospect were fairly innocent and normal expectations in middle-class American kids: Barbie's Dream House, cars to drive in our teens, financial contributions to our weddings.

The most upsetting aspect of my mother's stinginess was that it extended to a staunch unwillingness to spend money on our education. I was "the family genius" with effortless straight As, blisteringly high test scores and a passion for learning; my brother had emotional and behavioral difficulties if not a learning disability; my sister was an average student. All three of us floundered, bored out of our minds or struggling without help, through mediocre public schools, and were then brainwashed and guilted into choosing colleges solely on the basis of their cheapness. I would have given a limb to go to an Ivy League, but my mother steered me firmly away from aspirations like these, depicting them as total pipe dreams, and I wound up applying to only one school, a SUNY. (When I found out in my late 20s about things like need-blind admissions programs, I cried and cried.) We were also expected to work throughout college in order to lighten the financial burden on her.

I grew up believing money was tight and feeling cripplingly guilty for always needing more of it. It wasn't until my mother took early retirement and started buying featherbeds and Persian rugs and taking her friends on cruises regularly that I began to realize what all those years of scrimping and saving might really have been for.

After reading the MeFi FPP, I did a little research on how much US anesthesiologists make. They make a lot. Then I looked at the salaries offered in job ads for specialists at the hospital where my mother worked. The anesthesiologist ads were salary on application, but an otolaryngologist position was advertised with a baseline salary of $440,000.

That's the point at which I started to feel sick. How could a fully employed anesthesiologist, even one with three kids to raise and $100k in ex-husband debts to pay off, really have been as hard-pressed to make ends meet as my mother made out? What could she really have afforded if she'd had our best interests at heart? How badly did we get scammed? What might my life and opportunities have been like if she hadn't been a narcissist?

TL;DR: Were you a doctor, or the child of a doctor, in a single-income household during the 1990s? What was your family's lifestyle and education like?

Escaping the Mommy Track

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:45:40 -0800

Due to a crazy series of events, I think that (on Thursday) I'm going to get an offer that is a huge step forward in my career. Help me not screw this up. There is a lot of missing background here, but long story short: after laboring away as an assistant/admin for many years, then getting a two year position where I was doing nothing but Really Cool Job but worked for a totally crazy person and was denied any appropriate title or credit, then got fired, and am now working again as an office manager, I find myself in the position of being a finalist for a job with the word "director" in the title. I'm a little stunned -- the job is a big step up in my career and perfect fit for me. But I'm second guessing myself right, left, and center, so I need your help with a bunch of questions:

1) I've had a phone interview, an in person interview with the person who would be my boss, and an in person interview with her boss. Today they spoke with all my references, and emailed me asking to meet with my (prospective) boss, the area admin (who I haven't met yet, and who I would supervise), and a related VP on Thursday. Is it your opinion that they're going to make me an offer on Thursday? If so, why not call or email me the offer - why make me find another excuse to leave my current job and come in? I'm assuming that I should go in expecting this to be another interview - is this assumption correct?

2) Assuming they make me an offer on Thursday afternoon, how do I graciously say "I'd like some time to think this over" without sounding ungrateful?

2a) For complex reasons, I'd like to give my current employer a chance to match this dream offer before I accept it. I don't think they'll be able to make me a competitive offer (taking into account both money and title/responsibilities) but the flip side is that I'm actually doing a big portion of This Type of Work for my current employer, just without the title or the pay (that sounds bad, but it really isn't so bad -- it's more like a situation where they never realized what the benefits of having someone to do The Work would be, so they never had anyone. I've been doing The Work for them in small doses as a way to sort of audition myself for a "I'm someone you never knew you needed but now can't live without" sort of role) and I feel I owe it to them to at least give them a shot at keeping me. I've been at my current job almost exactly a year.

Can you map out for me how I should frame this conversation? (I'm currently thinking an email that starts "I wanted to let you know that I've been offered Big Damn Job, but have not yet accepted their offer." but then I don't know what to say.)

3) (Bonus!) A few years ago, I left a job a lot like the one I'm in now for a lot of the same reasons (more money, skills underutilized, needed more of a professional challenge), and ended up working for an utterly crazy control freak. I lasted two years before she fired me. It was an amazing experience, and I'm glad I did it, but I want to avoid it ever happening again. What kind of questions should I ask to help insure this is a good fit for me? The job has been vacant for a little while (maybe a month?) and I actually have a connection to the person who held it last. (I've also met her a couple of times in passing.) How weird would it be to reach out to her via Linked In and ask for her impressions of the job and the work environment? I do get the impression that she left under amicable circumstances.

Thank you for your help in getting myself un-Mommy Tracked!