Salary Questions
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- traut
Assistant Art Director for a Weekly Free Paper ?
Any Ideas ? Was offered a position for 30,000 . They pay for insurance / and I start with 1 week paid vacation and theres a bunch of freebies associated w/ the paper.
- canuck0
Seems like jr. pay, even then a bit low even at that. I suppose it depends where located might be hard to live on.
- lvl_130
not really sure that i've even heard the term "Assistant Art Director" but $30k?! that is REALLY LOW.
- robotron3k0
I don't think you want that job unless there is a personal reason why you think you should be compensated so little for your skills/education/experience
- traut0
well currently my salary is aroun 36,000 for some bogus design job, w/ paid vacation but all my insurance comes out of that so end of year im bringing home 30 k approx, so when i was offered 30k w/ all insurance and stuff paid i didnt think it was that bad + all the freebie perks wont hurt, also its like 1/3 the distance of my other job so my gas $ + mileage will drop... i did some research and it seems low even what im paid now is low but the market here in columbus ohio unless you get into a huge firm doesnt pay too high.
- abba_cadaver0
Have you tried getting in a "huge firm"?
- ETM0
Sounds like you have already made up your mind then :)
Good Luck!
- contia10
I'm embarrased to say, how much I make being in the field 5 yrs.
*Hides head in shame*
- rson0
man that is really low. I would keep on looking or ask for more. If you start that low in 10 years you will not even be making 40k. Plus that job title seems kind of fake. most likely they made that position up so they do not have to pay you AD cash. GL
- visualplane_0
Have you considered moving out of Columbus?
- edd-e0
traut-
at the end of the day your current salary is roughly 30K after insurance and all that, but with this job at the end of the day your salary is more like 24k after taxes and we didnt even start to pay for things like food or clothing or taxes or anything like that.
dont take steps backwards like that, with life inflation going always up with everything in our lives alweays being more and more each new day, so should your salary.
so dont take this gig as in the end of the day you will have to constantly bust your ass at this gig to just make more cash to get to where you were with your current job.
30k really seems tiny and small. you dont have just "entry level" experience, so why take a salary at that "entry level"???
try for the most, or ask for more money...can it hurt you to ask for double that number??
- traut0
thx for the advice fellows
- Mick0
30K is what I would expect from a FREE weekly newspaper in Columbus. The "assistant art director" title is what the company came up with to make the job more appealing to you because they know they can't afford all that much.
It's sown to job satisfaction - is it something you really want to do? You can probably get better pay working in the corporate (or agency) world.
If you're unsure, ask them for more $. How much would you want them to pay for you to accept the job?
- visualplane_0
I remember when I use to live in Columbus, and the market was really dry. I pretty much took whatever I could get, but it's a totally different story compared to NYC.
- Mick0
Oh and use Salary.com to negotiate with them...
- traut0
well ive spoke to them about the "title" its basically an art directors position without total control, its a tightly run ship only 3 people total one of them is leaving and i would be taking there place. i think the job would be more confortable then where im at now, i'm going to talk to them about more $ and see what they can do.
- radiculture0
really depends on what you want, or what you're looking for. but *trust me* you can make a lot more money than that in columbus, ohio. i'm not bragging, but i've had Sr. Designer titles in this city for the past 3 yrs or so making more than twice that amount. interactive work, not print.
- agcreative0
its all about asking yourself these two questions! How much am I worth? and How much do I need, sometimes your worth more money but you have to think about your needs.
- OSFA0
I am making insane amounts of money being a male gigolo.
-just wanted to share that..
- material-10
freelance:
you could make 4 times that with the perks of working in your undies all day
- Arvizu0
Assistant Art Director isn't that unusual a title, I've heard it before. It's all about heirarchy and however they wish to label it, but don't be thrown off because you think the company you're interested in invented that title just to lure you in-they didn't, it's a real title. Also, I work in the midwest too, (missouri) and the cost of living is so unbelievbly low that starting at 30k isn't that bad. If you were offered that salary on the coast--yeah, it would be unthinkable. What's most important though is that you love the job, no amount of money is worth office place dejection...good luck with your decision!