Palo Alto Salaries
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- madirish0
glad to help any way i can. i know exactly what you mean about the costs of items there and those being 'problems' to the move. while i do not know amounts exactly, i could see day care running thta much pretty easily. on the contrary, I know there are solutions for child care that would not be this much, and could be more communal, depending on what part of the bay area you live in. in the berkley/oakland area, i know community co-op child care is becoming more popular, for example.
re: experientia- no, i do not know them, but their background and work is very similar to mine and i always am fascinated by those in the experience design arena. there are not many who have been at it this long. i would very much like to be in contact with them, however.
re: your portfolio- i kind of thought that might be the situation. ;) it would be sweet to see what you have been doing lately. i might email you if you are interested. funny enough, it looks like i am going through a very similar situation and may be joining something of a startup again here. we will see.
all the best and let me know if you would like any more assistance about the bay area. oh, and one of my good friends from Israel moved to Autin, TX but might be moving again to cali. :)
- laurus0
Thanks madirish,
This was very helpful.
I've never heard of experientia, looking in their web site I gathered that their director of R&D is Israeli (as am I). Do you know them? I see quite a few collaborators from Israel working with them, including one that worked for me 15 years ago.
The portfolio on m site only represents a period of 2.5 years in which I had my own studio. Most of my work before is interaction/web and after web 2.0 companies/application interfaces.
The problem with the Palo Alto thing is that I gathered that daycare there costs something like 3K, so unless my wife is going to work (which is tricky, since I'll be the one getting the permit), she'll have to stay home with our baby daughter for the next few years, which is not something that we would want.
- madirish0
ha! no shit.
well, i hope it has been cool, nonetheless. there is also another dude on NT who did a lot of design work for you guys as a freelance i think. know him?
- ewirtz0
Thanks madirish!
Haa haa. I was pretty much given the job here from my old boss. Bastard moved my family to Baltimore and 8 months later left to go work as a Senior VP at Bank of America.
Hoping that sometime in the next year to get back to San Diego.
- same0
Sr Creative Director at a small company 150ish
Large company 200+
- madirish0
you have some really great work in your book, ewirtz.
i almost aplied for that senior AD position at Fila a couple years back.... :)
- ewirtz0
How about San Diego?
My family and I are looking to move back there from Baltimore after 2 years here.
- material-10
only been away from cali for a year and my perspective is all jacked
- material-10
not sure what a senior CD makes here but houses don't cost a mil around here either...
Opps I take that back
- madirish0
good info, subversve.
i ask only because i may have an opportunity to do some work for a group there and was looking for more of a reason to possibly market myself to other agencies there. i know there is somewhat of a left vs. right coast mentality (subtle) but wanted to get some insights.
i do quite a bit of UI work as well, so maybe it could work out?
- madirish0
160,000 +
material
(Apr 2 07, 09:24)just like boulder...
sorry, i know that is not funny.
- subversve0
off hand, do you find a lot of people needing design help look to locals, or remote is cool with them?
madirish
(Apr 2 07, 08:58)not sure about AD. i have a few clients outside the bay area, but it's UI work. most of my clients in the bay area don't have a problem with me working from my own office, but they do like me to come in from time to time.
then again, i don't have much experience with freelance art directors. mostly dealing with large corporations who have (or contract) their own directors and stake-holders.
- e-pill0
i love this thread...it describes realistic salaries for that level position and its area.
i hate the double standard ttoward NYC Design Salary trhreads when we post up these same numbers people here are always trying to figure out why they arent getting those numbers and then rant and complain that those numbers must be fake.
good for you Cali Designers, i tip my hat to you and your great salaries with must come from all your hard work.
:)
- material-10
yep sorry that was kinda low.
160,000 +
- madirish0
good point, subversive. i also think it has much to do with what is being defined as the the 'bay area'. SJ to Oakland is much more pricey than say, Pittsburgh (even that is considered bay area now) or say way south of SJ into Morgan hill, etc.
off hand, do you find a lot of people needing design help look to locals, or remote is cool with them? i grew up there but have focused my efforts on east coast agencies. i would be interested to see if anyone needs/wants help w/ a remote AD.
- subversve0
well then, shows you what i know ;)
2 startups have approached me in the past, each offering around 100k + stock. i guess it depends on how well funded they are. on a side note, the freelancing around here is insane. you can make a bit more than you're being offered (not counting options), so it's a way to suplement your income if you find you need more. honestly though, i think people overestimate how expensive the bay area is. you can live well on 150k...
- madirish0
i would say the 150 range + equity is what you will find to be common, especially if there is external funding as part of the venture; thus the equity valuation rises.
the rent there is very high- much higher than you will think is sane. salaries however, will be lower respectivly that in NYC for similar position/role/interest. the payoff though is literally in the 'payoff'- you cash in and what they are valuating your position based off.
also (and unrelated); have you ever worked with Experientia in Torino before, laurus? you have a very well-balanced portfolio as well.
- laurus0
It's a well funded web 2.0 startup - they already offered more than 150 and equity.
Sounds a little low for the bay area and the role to me, but the only place I worked in in the US before was NYC. I hear rent is very high there + you have to have two cars if you have a family.
- subversve0
it varies a lot over here in the bay area. at a well established tech company, you could assume those salary ranges, but at a startup you wouldn't get anything close to that (but they might try to compensate with stock). i imagine you'd be hard pressed to get 150k+ out of a design firm (unless you're talking about ideo), but i'm not certain about that. all in all, there isn't a straight forward answer to your question without more specifics.
- smielke0
If I had to guess I'd say 140-150. Thats about what it is down here in the OC.
The cost of living is more up there than it is here as well.