One month ago I started looking for a job, I have been using careerbuilder and monster. At first, I got very few responses and failed to follow up (we latin americans tend to be more on the passive side when job hunting).

After having someone review my resume and getting to "work" on it using the knock 'em dead series of books, I landed my first phone interview. I feel very confident on the results, the guy who would be my boss was very nice. We talked for almost an hour and everything was excellent until he caught me off guard with the salary expectations question. According to the f*king book, they would ask me that later in the process, so I didnt do the research for the specific sector I was applying. I gave him the last number I had seen that was 50,000 dollars for a quality engineer with a BS. in a manufacturing company. When I realized that I may be screwing up, I told him that there are several websites that provide salary averages by cities, sector, education and experience background, that I would accept a fair salary according to the standards for this city and state, not idaho nor oklahoma. He laughed and said that the remark was perfectly stated and understood (or something like that).

Ok, after the conversation, I checked on salaryengineer.com and it has salaries going from 62,000 to 72,000 dollars for that position, sector and metro city. My question is, how do I fix the 50,000 dollars as an expected salary? Is it possible? Are these salary websites (careerbuilder and monster have them too) reliable?

Thanks a lot, and best luck to all the job hunters!

Jess

In my phone interview I went 10,000 under what I ended up with. I just heightened my expectations, especially after my 3rd interview when I noticed they were dead sure about wanting to hire me!

good luck!

I am an engineer too and i put at least $50,000 also as my expected salary, i think that would be fair enough for a legal immigrant that is starting a career in USA. I have talked to a recruiter and she said that most company gives salary based on your experience, so if they think that your expereince is worth more than $50,000 they will give it to you.

You give me hope Anna! Congrats for having the courage of asking for more money! You sure give me hope

Spidergirl, I keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully, 15 yrs experience will count for them! If not, it will be a good start, from there to the stars!!!

Best luck to all

Jess

they're not going to not hire you for saying your salary expectation is lower than what the maret currently pays! Besides, that $62,000 is probably what someone who has been working for some time is making, not an entry level position.

I wouldn't sweat it at all.

I am still in learning mode here. I thought an entry level position would be for someone that is right out of college, e.g. 0 job experience.

The 62 figure is for someone with 0 experience for the specific position, in the specific sector. The 72 figure is for someone with 15 years experience for the specific position in the specific sector.

BTW, my previous question remains unanswered. Are these salary websites reliable?

Thanks for your input Reba.

Jess

Who knows if they are reliable? I don't go into a job interview with salary.com printed out, but it's a fair source to go off of. I wouldn't quote them in a research paper, but it seems to be pretty fair (salaries tend to be way lower for my area than up north, follow the general patterns that they should, etc).

They won't hire you for way lower than the average, most companies have pay scales for certain jobs. For example, if I'd said 25,000 for my current job, it wouldn't have mattered - company starts hiring at 27,000. Obviously this is way lower than what you'll be making, but regardless, your income won't be anything to laugh at - 50,000 or 62,000, the bills will be paid My husband had limited education because of his situation (father brought him here for a visit when he was 17, then f-ed up his visa by not sending him back to Peru in time to get a student visa, so he was stuck here with his parents or stuck there without a mother or father) - he makes a little over 20,000 a year presently and has companies offering him 7.50 an hour like he should be grateful for it. (Obviously his situation=way different than yours, and he's 16 years younger as well.)

Often, the sad song of an immigrant (especially South American, it seems - seems no matter how much education, etc, you have, you're still seen as lesser to someone of Europe - I've even heard people saying that people from England aren't "real" immigrants-buh? They're more American or something? I don't get it) is that you have to start out lower than an American counterpart would. I hope you get the 62,000 and I'm not saying you have nothing to complain about, I'm just ranting in general.

What you can always do is ask how your salary will evolve. Say that for a start this is what you expect but that you also expect an evaluation after 90 days (it often happens anyway) and have your salary adjusted according to what you do.

When you are surprised with such a question, the best thing is to say: "I haven't had time to think about it, can I get back to you later?"
That's what I did when they asked me. Same as you I really didn't know what to answer because it was early in the job search.
Also ask what benefits come with it because that affects the type of salary you need.

You can also call back and say, after research and given the coast of life, I feel it would be better if it was ... or something like that.

Good luck.

Don't go by what those salary websites say the average person is making with such and such years of experience. Those websites are known to over inflate the numbers, sometimes by as much as 25%.

It depends if they take into account benefits or not. Health insurance or other benefits provided by the employer could be worth 25% of the salary.

Also the data on those sites don't take into account market conditions until after they start happening. There is a lag time between the market changing and that data filtering to the job sites. As of right now, several sectors, especially housing/mortgage related are laying off alot of people. If your looking for a job in those sectors, you will likely find that you cannot get as much even with experience due to more competition for the position. Its likely that the loss of jobs in the housing sector will eventually filter into other sectors. Since the people who lost their jobs will be buying fewer products and contributing to the economy.

Meow, even though I agree that starting lower than the american counterparts is sad, I think it is the smart thing to do. I am looking for a position which is 1 to 2 levels lower than what I have already done abroad. My husband wants to kill me for this, but I think that it is better for at least a year to understand how everything works here, especially jobs. If I was younger I would even go for a position in Mac Donalds, I could learn to do hamburgers!!!

About your hubby, I really hope that now that he has a GC, he enrolls in a college and get at least a 2 yrs degree.

Cecy, very good idea. I will write it down for the future. Thanks!

Jamie, if I take out 25% out of 62 that would be lower than what I originally asked, then it is not that bad huh?


There is something I learned over the years, when negotiating your compensation package, you always try to negotiate your salary first, then the side benefits. And, you always pursue several job options. I love this especific job opportunity, but boy I am not selling me cheap!

Thanks everybody and best luck!

Jess

According to salary.com, i should be making about 15K more than I am. The industry is not paying that. This is without the benefits added (base salary).

Jamie, you could be right. I was looking again on careerbuilder, not their salary calculator, but the job postings. I noticed some of them include the Base Pay range offered. I just found the same position I applied to, in other company of course, with the salary base in the range I found on engineersalary.com

Do a search in careerbuilder for your position in your city. Maybe other companies are willing to pay you more or maybe you will find that the salaries for your position are really below what the salary websites say. Who knows.

Best luck

Jess

$62K a year for a recent college grad is too darn good. I don't believe these numbers are accurate.

I agree with Dan & Gemvita on the insurance benefits side - yes, negotiate salary first, but oh boy - I was a temp at my present job for a while, and while the raise and the addition of benefits was wonderful, I would have been overjoyed just to have benefits and stay at the same salary. I went from a job paying a dollar less w/ benefits to a job paying more without benefits, and it was truly like taking a pay cut.

Depends on industry, and where you are located. $62,000 is possible in some fields. Though most start in the 40,000-50,000 range.

Show me the college they went to - I'll go there too. I'm a college grad, and I don't make 40K. And I live in an area where a 100K salary is the norm.

Maybe it's because I majored in History

Uh, yeah, that would probably be why.

And an engineer is going to make a lot more money than a history major, regardless.

My mom has a history degree and works for a dental insurance company. So you're comparing apples and oranges.

Being a collage grad doesn't guarantee you a good salary. My comment applies more to science, math and technology more than it does liberal arts.

History is not a bad choice, but it wont earn that much money, unless you can get a position as a collage professor. But for that you may need a Masters or PhD.

Wow San Jose, I would like to live there!!! Housing is too freakn expensive tho. I always joke I want to live in a city where I can have the wages of CA (and the outdoors!), the views of ID (or any national forest for that matter), the taxes of NV and the weather of NM... Please let me know if you find a city like that!

For my area, CA is the top payer (LA, silicon valley), CO the second (Denver-Aurora). Other metro cities pay very similar wages. Bigger cities, better salaries.

Sid, if I had a History degree I would be pursuing academia as a top priority, even tho you have to invest to get there (a post graduate degree is required). Second, I would try to get involved with magazines, volunteering articles or blogging. It is surprising how much money a blogger can make if keeping up an interesting blog. I bet you have interesting things to write about.

Remember, you will get where ever you think you can get.

Best luck

Jess

A college grad making $62K starting out is NOT the norm, but it does happen. Take for instance recent grads majoring in petroleum engineering. Some of them are starting out in the upper 50s to low 60s depending on who they sign on with.

I know it doesn't guarantee you a salary, but I kinda missed the point that we were talking about science grads here.

History wasn't my choice - it was mainly stupidity. I didn't care what to study when i went to college, so I went for something that I thought would be easy and won't distract me from hanging out. It turned out to be hard, boring, and I hated every second of it. I wanted to transfer and study chemistry, but a lot of people talked me out of it.

Actually, the whole reason I came to the U.S. to study, was to "fix" the history thing - I earned certificates in HR management and in project management here. It helped, but employers don't seem to be interested in my majors anyway - all they care about is experience.

I work as an admin assistant, and I'm planning to go for an MBA.


I'm Nancy. And I hate academia and whatever comes with it. I don't think I'm obligated to have a job related to my degree, and employers don't really care what my degree is in. I like administrative work, I do it really well, and I just want to keep moving up the ladder and make a manager someday.

As far as blogging and that kinda stuff - I don't like to write. A friend of mine (a hist grad also) has a great blog online - she can write really well, the blog is read by hundreds of people daily. Most of the folks that went to the University with me can write, and they work in the media, as researchers, editors, etc. They make good money. But it's just not something I'm interested in.


I wasn't even comparing anything. Dan + Gemvita's comment was more like - all college grads start at 40-50K/year. That's the way I took it. But not all of them do, actually.

I wish there was a city like that...

Nancy, sorry for having the names mixed up. Girl, get your MBA if that is what you want, and don't let anybody talk you out of it. It will certainly boost up your salary.

About academia, I tried it some years ago. Left it behind with the overcast sky of my native city to try luck in the Dominican Republic. Worked well for me.

Ok. The potential boss called again today. It seems they like me... or my below average salary expectations...
I have a face to face interview this week.

Wish me luck!

Jess

So how did the interview go?

It went great! 3.5 hrs interviewing with 4 people. Got the verbal offer next day for way up what I stated as expected. Went through a very extensive background check though. It took almost a month. I had to unearth contacts in jobs going 10 yrs back. I did a very close follow up on that, I was actually thinking if I don't get the job, boy I will open my own background check agency Oh! They DO have ways to check your experience. They DO call and/or fax previous employers and references no matter where they are or what language they speak.

I start working next month.

Thanks for asking. Was it you who said his wife was expecting a phone call from a job interview? Did she get it? I hope so

Best luck to all the job seekers.

Jess

Thanks for the update! Good luck! My wife has been told of unfortunate stories before she applied and some good ones hopefully will help encourage those who are applying still. Yes, she got the job and she recently experienced her first taste of American taxes.

Precisely the reason I went into Engineering, Mechanical and Production.

If I had tons of money lying around I'd be playing with history books all day and old documents, but you've got to make a living somehow and I realised that I'm neither teacher material(too impatient sometimes) nor would like to have to rely on writing books and them getting good placements in bookstores and ads(something that'd be beyond my control).