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Thanks to everyone for your wise counsel. Most of you wrote to say even
brand new writers are worth more than that, which is hopeful news.
Unfortunately, most of the recruiters I've been talking to say nothing has
come across their desks for TWs of any kind, much less brand newbies, for a
long time.
Many of you also warned that to start at such a low pay level may eventually
damage my trajectory. I'm certainly sensitive to that. I managed to haggle
the recruiter up to $12/hr before I went to the interview, and since I'll
have to pay for my benefits on top of that, I'm actually making less here
(Atlanta) than I was in Lexington, KY a year ago.
But after a month and a half of burning through savings, money is money, at
least in the short term.
I asked many probing questions about the nature of the work, the possibility
of extension, etc. It's not admin assist. work, which is nice, and it seems
like it would involve interesting work and experience. What I found was (and
perhaps my experience is like others' in the current market):
They want someone to help set up a more streamlined RFP system (creating an
archive of stock content, working out templates, style issues, etc.) NOW
while the market is slow enough to handle it--but the slow market means they
can pay less than they'd otherwise want/have to in order to get good talent.
One month contract translates to a trial period, with no guarantee of a
permanent job--that is, the job will exist, but they want to try anyone they
hire out. Fair enough, as long as they know I'm trying them out, too, and
will be actively
pursuing other options.
Given their flat market right now, they aren't even able to guarantee that
I'd EVER be brought on as a permanent employee of their company, as opposed
to being a "permanent temp." I feel that is a bum steer, because even though
lots of temp agencies are getting better about bennies, etc., it's usually
something YOU pay for, and takes a lot longer to kick in, and isn't nearly
as good overall as what the regular employees you're working alongside are
getting. Plus I think its unethical on some more nebulous level. If you need
a person in the position, HIRE them!
Upshot: I'm probably going to take it for one month and regard it as a Tech
Writer temp job. At least it's resume fodder, and I have the benefit of
being able to play much harder ball at the end of the month if I want to
stay. If after proving how valuable the project is, and how valuable I am,
the still won't pay me what I'm worth, I'm gone. I could make that much
money doing other temp work, likely without a 60-mile round-trip (albeit
reverse) commute in Atlanta traffic each day. I think I won't have much
trouble spinning the low pay in future negotiations--I've been reading lots
about that.
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