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Subject:Re: Reality Check II - salaries in the new world From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 18 Jan 2002 11:28:49 -0800 (PST)
Not to disagree with those who have pointed out that the employment market is
more of a buyer's market than a seller's market these days, but there can be
another reason for a position with a "higher" title being offered at a lower
than expected salary.
I've had similar experiences, and I have yet to get through the interview
process when it becomes apparent that money will be an issue. In each of the
cases, I was able to determine that they were really looking for a junior or
entry level person. They didn't care what the title was, the pay grade, job
duties, and expected experience levels were basically slanted toward entry
level.
It turned out that they had always hired at that level. Often the job was
really a secretarial/administrative assistant job for which the job title had
been changed (probably at someone's request who held the position) but the
essential duties, and the pay had not changed. Essentially, that was what they
knew about "technical writing," and that was what they paid for a "senior
technical writer."
Anymore, I take salary range as a strong clue in that direction, and I ask
straight out about the specific duties required. If we're having a good
interview, I might try to raise their expectation levels for TWs, but usually,
it's more of a "Thanks for your time, but I'm not really interested in the
position."
A possibility worth considering in addition to the job market take on this.
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