Re: Reality Check/Compensation -- Sunday Thoughts

["Backer, Corinne" <CBacker -at- GLHEC -dot- ORG>]

Susan says:
"In Minneapolis, housing is affordable to the max, AND salaries are
higher than anywhere around, so the house-buying dollar is effectively
greater than anywhere in the West Coast.  To afford a good house in a good
neighborhood, a slightly above average salary will do it.  (If you can
handle
the "cold inhospitables" (the winters) and the "hot uglies" (the summers),
this is the best place to be.)"

I want to issue a warning as someone who is currently trying to buy a house
in Minn/St. Paul - THIS IS NOT TRUE ANYMORE. The market in M/SP has gone
NUTS in the last several months, it's completely a seller's market. The
average time for a house being on the market is less than 2 weeks, people
are writing offers 20% over list and being countered or ignored, and several
realtors in the area were just busted for kickback-related conspiracies.

It's a great place to live, and the general cost of living IS lower here in
the Midwest, but don't expect your housing dollar to go far in the Twin
Cities area at the moment.

Corinne


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Ryan
> Sent: Sunday, June 20, 1999 10:51 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Reality Check/Compensation -- Sunday Thoughts
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
> My 25 years of experience in training and documentation, and
> self-employment
> and consulting, says that there are very few areas that will pay over $50K
> for a technical writer with limited writing experience, even shallower
> technical experience, and no desire to consult or travel.  There are only
> 3
> ways someone in technical writing can be fairly assured that she or he
> might
> expect to see $50K or more per year:
>
>         1.      Have a lot of add-ons.  Demonstrate a background in
> developing her own materials, designing her own classes, running her own
> projects.  Have experience with many different software packages,
> documentation areas, audiences, platforms.
>
>         2.      Travel/consult.  Consulting firms are always on the look
> out
> for people who are willing to "go the extra mile" (hey!  I like this
> one!),
> because, even if they hire someone who will travel at the beginning, that
> person will invariably want to slow down the airport time.
>
>         3.      Work for herself.  Whether as self-employed, or as a
> contractor, it is common to command $25-$60 an hour for contract work (I
> once
> asked, and got, $75/hr for an emergency project).  That's the up side.
> The
> down side is that if she's self-employed she will have to handle and pay
> her
> own taxes (watch another 7.5% leap out the door), manage her own "firm"
> finances, pay her own insurance, find her own projects, keep herself
> moving
> forward in the industry like a shark (no company-sponsored seminars for
> her),
> and generally be the self-appointed expert in the industry.  And there are
> no
> guarantees past the current project.  I, personally, did this for 10 years
> and I loved it.  Nothing like working till you drop and then NOT working
> --
> at anything -- until you say so.  Now I consult and I truly believe I've
> got
> the best of all worlds.  I've got variety like you wouldn't believe,
> travel,
> great pay, benefits, and colleagues (which I didn't have when I was
> totally
> self-employed).
>
> Finally, my own experience, and clearly the experience of the respondents,
> says that geography makes the paycheck.  Here are a few of extremes:
>
>         In San Diego, unemployment is falling (still falling) to below 3%,
> and as they like to say "you get paid in sunshine," so salaries are lower
> than they would be in a comparable market such as San Francisco.  And
> houses
> are VERY expensive.  So the house-buying dollar is effectively smaller
> than
> anywhere in the United States.  To afford a good house in a good
> neighborhood, you have to be at the very top of your geographic salary
> range,
> or have two people working and making above-average salaries.
>
>         In Minneapolis, housing is affordable to the max, AND salaries are
> higher than anywhere around, so the house-buying dollar is effectively
> greater than anywhere in the West Coast.  To afford a good house in a good
> neighborhood, a slightly above average salary will do it.  (If you can
> handle
> the "cold inhospitables" (the winters) and the "hot uglies" (the summers),
> this is the best place to be.)
>
>         In San Francisco, housing is mind-bogglingly expensive, salaries
> are
> VERY high (compared to the Midwest), so the house-buying dollar is really
> only a little smaller than other places.  To afford a good house in a good
> neighborhood, you have to be at the very top of your geographic salary
> range,
> but one person could do it -- or two people with above-average salaries.
>
>         In the South, housing is cheap, salaries are low, so they really
> compare to San Francisco in house-buying power.  To afford a good house in
> a
> good neighborhood, you have to be at the top of your geographic salary
> range,
> but one person could do it -- or two people with good salaries.
>
> Hope everyone had a great Father's Day.
>
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
> =
>


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