Wherein I mock the neuroses of others.

[theweaselking]

Yeah, so a certain person has been stressing over being unemployed since her previous contract ended, and she's ecstatic about being re-employed.

But what she neglects to mention is that she's turned down *a dozen* job offers in the mean time because they weren't good enough, and that she's in such demand that when she did, the people offering her the jobs *apologised* and tried to find something better so they could still have her in the organisation. Leading, eventually, to this.

Holy shit, when she's on a long-term contract and tells the headhunters she's not looking she still gets one or two job offers every WEEK.

Sheesh.

Comments

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

Why can't that be my life? *sighs*

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

yeah i'm cranky because i have an interview tuesday for $47/hr. do they take me for a fool? we shall see!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

$47, I might consider (and she might SQUEE over and accept immediately, that's not the point). But offer me less than $70K/year, and I don't CARE what the job is, I'm not going to consider it.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It has something to do with being Mega Ultimate Super OfficeManagerWoman in a government town, I think. *I* don't get job offers like that - although, about once a week a get a guy calling me personally looking to try to place a replacement for me. I usually laugh at those.

[flemco.livejournal.com]

O_o

Dude.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

What?

I've seen you rant about your job. As in, I've seen what you say you do.

Are you telling me you get paid less than $70K/yr?

(I have to pay my own bills and handle my own insurance and taxes, so I demand significantly more than that. And I like working for myself so much that it would take a significant pay UPGRADE for me to consider stopping.)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Put another way: If you offer me $50/hr I will absolutely listen to you and consider your offer. If you offer me less than $35 our conversation is over and I'm not going to waste my time. Everything in between is negotiable depending on the job and the benefits.

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

I haven't talked about it much, beyond "I need a job", but I've been searching forever, I have a 4 year degree, but no experience. And sitting at home alone all day is just killing me..

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

You appear to be in Tallahassee.

Translated to American terms, we're in Washington DC. Which means there's a huge pool of constantly-refreshing government jobs. It's a pain getting *permanent* employment, but temp agencies bloody well *love* people.

That being said: A temp agency may be your key to getting the experience you need to command higher prices. And, hey, an endless series of temp jobs is not the worst of fates.

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

$70k/yr? Gah, I haven't made that little in almost a decade now. Get out of Canadia, eh.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

As I said, bare minimum for me to even listen to you.

At $70k/yr, I make my monthly expenses in 3 days. And I consider that *low*.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_jeremiad/]

This is me too.

It's fucking depresing.

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'm in Atlanta now. I had a lab job in Tallahassee, but I ended up being so miserable there, it was very bad for my mental health, if you know what I mean... I'm not even trying for permanent, if I got ANYTHING in the biological fields I'd be ok for now. I was working full time for 8.60/hr, OPS (temp and no benefits). *sigh* As of now, I'm applying to anything that I could be qualified for, bio or not. I applied for "appt setter" and "filer" and I applied to 6 openings at 3 different Petcos... I'm afraid I'll end up at a fast food joint... Perhaps I shouldn't have high standards, but I believe I've already lowered them.. But I DO need the money..

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

Since MS released thousands locally yesterday, I won't get many interviews after this one, as competition rises at all price points.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

My current rate is $50/hr, off from $54 in '07. I think I offered $49 this week. I recently refused to go higher even when offered. I like the idea of accepting interesting work even at a lower price, but the reality is that wage relates to resources and respect.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

Do you mean you pay your own medical insurance? Because I do, and yet cannot deduct them.

[kakita-tsuna.livejournal.com]

I live with less than 10k/yr. I can't complain either, not the best, yet it's fair enough for a single man in here.

Worlds apart.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I am Canadian, meaning 99% of my medical expenses are covered by the province of Ontario, but I am self-employed, meaning I pay for any supplemental insurance (to cover glasses, dental, prescription drgus, transportation back to Ontario if I get injured in Outer Mongolia, etc) myself - but that's about $80/mo, it's INCREDIBLY overpriced for me because I am a lone person and not a group, and it's 100% tax-deductible.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

I can't even find work that will pay me more than $800 per month, and you won't consider any job offer which offers less than $70k per year?? You clearly have the education/experience for which I am still searching and cannot seem to acquire.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

BTW, I have like the résumé of DOOM, and am overqualified most of the time for the jobs I end up taking (because they actually interviewed and hired me). I have experience in a huge number of areas as well as a BSc.

If you have contacts in Toronto, I can e-mail you my résumé. :) Maybe you could help me out.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

I could break even with $10k/year. I wouldn't get ahead on debt or be able to enjoy life, but my bills would be covered and we'd have food and such.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I don't have a lot of contacts in Toronto. Sorry.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I'm a geek with an engineering degree and years of tech experience. I'm very, very good at what I do, and my skill set is relatively rare.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

If I get paid 1099, rather than W2, then I can deduct. Some years I do, some not. Stupid. However, I can deduct medical savings, just not premiums, so I save the legal limit each year, which hopefully eliminates insurers from my medical decisions. It's a stupid system Americans prefer. "Let's tie our medical insurance to our employer so we can get trapped at jobs we hate for risk of death!" "Ok, cool!"

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

That would do it. I keep getting scored in career things that I'd be awesome as an engineer. Two problems: 1. I don't know what they do, 2. I can't afford to return to university and 3. my math SUCKS BIG TIME.

Next year I turn 30. I'm not exactly in a good time to start from scratch. :/ Not because of age, but more b/c of finances. I would much rather go back once my current debts are gone.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

Hey, it was worth asking. :) For now, I'm hoping that maybe Service Canada will fund an A+ certification course/exam for me. I hear there's still a lot of openings for that sort of work.