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Subject:Re: Would you be angry? From:Gwen Barnes <gwen -dot- barnes -at- MUSTANG -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:08:16 GMT
To: TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
-> When my salary review was due June 7, I did a little research and
-> found out that I'm approximately 30% behind what my peers make as
-> technical writers. I provided an extensive justification for an increase
-> in salary -- just to scale mind you -- and included a copy of the
-> STC salary survey. My department manager said that it looked good and he'd
-> get the paperwork completed immediately. Needless to say, I felt like
-> *maybe* this company viewed me as a halfway important part of a team.
Your employer can probably justify paying according to local market
conditions, regardless of what any salary surveys might say. After all,
how many people are completely honest about their salary, their gas
mileage, or their sex lives? Draw your conclusions about the validity of
the STC survey from that.
Think about what the STC survey is attempting to "prove" -- that
techwriters are intrinsically "worth" a certain salary based on STC
criteria of age, education, experience, industry and location. If the
survey suggested that most tech writers are overpaid, who would continue
to support it? Where is the STC getting their data for this survey?
Probably not from the employers. Undoubtedly not from the IRS.
Your real worth to your employer is "how much would it cost to replace
this person today, to do this job to our satisfaction?" and take it from
there. And don't be too surprised if their idea of satisfaction differs
considerably from yours. THey may be right, they may be wrong, but
they're the ones signing the paychecks.
For instance: techwriters in LA probably do make more money than tech
writers in Bakersfield, CA. And they get to pay many times more than I
do on housing (my mortgage payment is $302 a month, total) and they
probably get to commute an hour or more each way. And, they have to
live in LA and I don't. Just try to put a cash value on that :)
There are plenty of jobs, and professions, that pay better than tech
writing, and even more that pay a lot worse. I know people who can't
make ends meet on $100,000 a year, and other people who support their
families on minimum wage. If money was the most important thing in my
life, I'd be doing something else.
