RE: Results of STC India 2005 Salary Survey

["Kathleen" <keamac -at- cox -dot- net>]

Ahhhh, statistics, surveys and results, and money, what great hot-button
issues

I'm astounded by some of the figures people are flinging about for
Indian tech writers, but I also have reservations about the STC finding
cited [Entry-level TW salary in the US is $43K (according to STC's 2003
survey], starting with questions about whether this is a mean, median,
or mode; range of salaries; the standard error; number of responses;
industry breakdowns; whether it reflects a trend, etc. I wonder the same
about the Indian findings. I imagine all that information is readily
available, but I don't really think it bears on the current discussion
(or people's current salaries).

What I think has the most bearing on salaries is the industry where a
person works, experience and skills (not necessarily writing), and the
economy (local or global). For example, a tech writer who is also an
engineer and/or manager in a rapidly developing field would probably be
at the upper end of the scale, compared to a heavy equipment operator
doing technical writing (viz. a recent post about $13/hour for heavy
equip. ops to do tech writing). I've also seen lots of ads (and there've
been recent discussions about) for very low-paying technical writing
posts that were a combination of editing and low-level
administrative/clerical work. 

Further, someone who receives x amount after 10 years experience is not
necessarily receiving that amount in the same company.  Perhaps some of
the highest salaries are for tech writers who've started their own
company? 

Kathleen

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike O.
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 8:53 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Results of STC India 2005 Salary Survey


--- Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> > Try getting that kind of a raise in the US!! Here, once you
> approach 2X
> > entry-level salary, you become layoff bait.
> 
> Not true in all cases, Mike. Only in companies that don't care about 
> their employees (and why would you work in such an environment 
> anyway).

Then those Indian companies must really, really care about their
employees. To match salary progression of the India survey, salary after
10 years would have to be > $200K in the US. 

Entry-level TW salary in the US is $43K (according to STC's 2003
survey). In my experience, not many salaried TWs make more than that
twice that, although I'm sure there are some at the margins. Once you
approach six figures, you begin to attract the attention of the
bean-counters ("We're paying a TECH WRITER how much??"). That's why
contracting is so attractive for senior TWs. 

I don't have access to the full US STC survey...If any STC members would
like to do the comparable math I'd appreciate hearing it (10yr salary =
what multiple of entry level salary?)

Mike O.




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