I swear I'm not an intern!
September 1, 2011 10:59 AM Subscribe
Help me find a new job title and job description and defend my cause when asking for a raise at what is an undeniably screwed up organization. Many more details inside.
Roughly a year ago I left my full-time position as a case worker for a social service non-profit to start a full-time graduate program. When I left, they offered a part-time position with the title of "Program Evaluation Intern" described as largely data entry and some analysis. Normally this position was a short-term (<3 month) unpaid position filled by current college students on summer break. I accepted the position at a rate of $12/hour and roughly 15 hours/week. I didn't challenge the pay or the title, largely because I was planning to stay only for a few months until school became too busy.
Fast forward 1 year and I'm still here. I wound up being able to stay on and work around school commitments. It hasn't been easy, but I'm grateful to have some income (aka beer money). This summer I increased my hours (20-30) while maintaining a part-time unpaid internship in my new field. I plan to stay on in my part-time position for most of the school year, or even until I am able to find full time work after graduating in June.
Now for the question - after 1 year in this position I'm realizing that my responsibilities and qualifications have eclipsed those on the job description. The intern position is largely data entry, phone-based surveys, etc. I performed those tasks but have also managed my own projects (including project proposed by me), assisted others in data analysis for grant writing, created documents synthesizing our program data for external dissemination and more.
In strategizing how to move forward, I plan to draw up a list of tasks/responsibilities from the past year of work, as well as on-going projects and futures goals. I would like to develop a new title, job description and ask for a pay increase, that would more accurately reflect the work I am doing and have done to this point, my new skills and qualifications from graduate school (largely statistical which have been very important on the job), and responsibilities I'll have going forward.
What kind of job title would include those responsibilities? The smallest change I could think of was something like "Outcomes and Evaluation Specialist" or something with "analyst" in the title.
What is a fair pay increase to ask for? I currently make $12/hour and through some research have found data entry positions averaging $14/hour and data analysis positions closer to $17/hour. Also, my organization has advertised a part-time case manager position at $14.50/hour and I personally know a co-worker who is leaving a full time position for graduate school and was offered part time administrative work at $16.50 an hour.
Sorry for the long and drawn out explanation, but I'm really at a loss here.
Roughly a year ago I left my full-time position as a case worker for a social service non-profit to start a full-time graduate program. When I left, they offered a part-time position with the title of "Program Evaluation Intern" described as largely data entry and some analysis. Normally this position was a short-term (<3 month) unpaid position filled by current college students on summer break. I accepted the position at a rate of $12/hour and roughly 15 hours/week. I didn't challenge the pay or the title, largely because I was planning to stay only for a few months until school became too busy.
Fast forward 1 year and I'm still here. I wound up being able to stay on and work around school commitments. It hasn't been easy, but I'm grateful to have some income (aka beer money). This summer I increased my hours (20-30) while maintaining a part-time unpaid internship in my new field. I plan to stay on in my part-time position for most of the school year, or even until I am able to find full time work after graduating in June.
Now for the question - after 1 year in this position I'm realizing that my responsibilities and qualifications have eclipsed those on the job description. The intern position is largely data entry, phone-based surveys, etc. I performed those tasks but have also managed my own projects (including project proposed by me), assisted others in data analysis for grant writing, created documents synthesizing our program data for external dissemination and more.
In strategizing how to move forward, I plan to draw up a list of tasks/responsibilities from the past year of work, as well as on-going projects and futures goals. I would like to develop a new title, job description and ask for a pay increase, that would more accurately reflect the work I am doing and have done to this point, my new skills and qualifications from graduate school (largely statistical which have been very important on the job), and responsibilities I'll have going forward.
What kind of job title would include those responsibilities? The smallest change I could think of was something like "Outcomes and Evaluation Specialist" or something with "analyst" in the title.
What is a fair pay increase to ask for? I currently make $12/hour and through some research have found data entry positions averaging $14/hour and data analysis positions closer to $17/hour. Also, my organization has advertised a part-time case manager position at $14.50/hour and I personally know a co-worker who is leaving a full time position for graduate school and was offered part time administrative work at $16.50 an hour.
Sorry for the long and drawn out explanation, but I'm really at a loss here.
Don't worry about the title. People know that a job title rarely represents the entirety of a job. Also, if you're in school then no one will bat an eye at "intern" in the title. You scaled back from a full-time position to a part-time position so that you could take classes - sounds like a responsible and balanced decision to me.
I would work instead on being able to articulate your duties and (more importantly) your accomplishments in a positive, compelling light.
Then ask for more money. After you get more money you can get a title change.
posted by jander03 at 12:24 PM on September 1, 2011
I would work instead on being able to articulate your duties and (more importantly) your accomplishments in a positive, compelling light.
Then ask for more money. After you get more money you can get a title change.
posted by jander03 at 12:24 PM on September 1, 2011
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$16/hr.
It doesn't sound like you're at a loss, you know what you want to do, so go for it. Back up the salary request with the cites you've given us here. If the balk at the title change, I wouldn't worry about it too much, since anything like "program evaluation intern" or "outcome analyst" doesn't tell a future employer much about what you're actually doing anyway.
posted by craven_morhead at 11:13 AM on September 1, 2011