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The short answer is, please first see my answer to the question,
would you consider full-time employment?
The long answer is,
I do not have a one-size-fits-all salary
for all markets, all employers, all states, all
positions, and all job descriptions.
My salary depends on what 'kind'
of work it is, 'where' the job is, and 'who'
the client is. My salary is negotiable
depending on current market rates,
expenses, location, and position. I'm
aware of what the current rates are
nationwide, and expect offers within
those market rates for the area. I will
negotiate with you on most items. But,
negotiate does not mean 'give away'!
I no longer disclose my salary requirements in advance.
When I disclosed that information in advance, I
gave up my negotiating leverage. It's
never a good idea to give up negotiating leverage.
When I did that, I ended up earning 'less'
than guys working next to me, doing the same work
as I was doing!
The salary is right whenever I receive my contract rate
over 10 months as salary.
I use a 10-month rule, because 12 months, minus
one (1) month for vacation, sick leave, and benefits,
minus one (1) month for risk, equals 10 months.
To figure my salary requirement, I use a simple formula.
If my long-term contract rate for the client's
area is [$X/hr], then I will need [$X/hr] * 170 hrs * 10 mo
What is your benefit?
You will receive approx. $30,000.00 cash, upon hiring,
in return for little or no work!
Why? Because recruiters are given a percentage
of my starting salary! Thus, it's in your
best interest to negotiate the highest possible
salary. This percentage fee sounds like a lot, but many
companies are willing to pay it to save the cost
of reviewing thousands of "wrong" resumes,
and spending hundreds of management hours meeting
with the "wrong" candidates.
According to "Engineers' Salaries: Special
Industries Report 1996, Engineering
Workforce Commission of the AAES, 1996,
pp. 20-22", engineers in
"permanent" non-supervisory
positions with doctorate degrees, and 10
years experience after getting their
bachelor's degrees made $80,000 per year.
According to the same source, in the same year, the
same engineers in "permanent" supervisory positions
made $103,000 per year.
What if a "permanent" opportunity
meets my per annum requirements of 85K/yr?
Sometimes my level of interest is still low.
Why? Because when I look beyond claims of
"once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and "the fastest
growing company in the southwest",
I can see high risk and low return. Low
return, because a weekly take home
pay of ($85K per 52 wks minus 30% tax=) $1,144 is low.
As a contract engineer, with all my PD and OT money,
I can easily net $2,188 per week, i.e. twice as much.
High risk, because not only I will
have to burn up several days of my life, per
client, every client, without any compensation, but,
also, in addition, I will have to give up to six
face-to-face interviews per prospective client,
without any compensation.
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