Re: Flame on low-ball job offers

While reading Jacob's flame, and nodding my head vigorously in agreement, I was prepared to answer (with tongue in cheek) "This must be a position at a law firm or an investment bank" knowing both have reputations for paying sub-standard wages. However, after reading David's article and realizing that there are probably other Informix professionals in the same boat, and then reading Cathy's message, I don't think that would be justified. I whole-heartedly agree with Jake's position, but also feel Cathy made some extremely valid points. While Cathy tries to put a "personal" spin on Jake's ad, I don't think that is appropriate. There have been MANY ads of this ilk, and it is doubtful that all are as legitimate as Cathy's person may be. So, taking the personal aspect out of Cathy's response, the valid points are that the ad was placed by a recruiter who may only know the salary. This ad says nothing about benefits packages, retirement packages, entitlements, or any other perks offered by the hiring company. Truthfully, I would consider that salary a "slap in the face" (as David so eloquently put it :-}), as a programmer with similar experience AND as a DBA! However, if the company offered a dental and/or optical plan along with Medical; 4 weeks (or more) vacation time; share of company stock; 30%+ yearly bonus; and/or 401(K) with 50% matching benefit, I would definitely have to reconsider laughing at the offer! Those types of benefits are hard to find anywhere, and they help to offset the lower straight salary. I have found recently that going for "the money" is not always the best course of action. I did just that and gave up 2 weeks vacation time and a great 401(K) package. These two issues will probably be addressed around review time! Michael Hoffman In <3352C37E.4DB1@bigfoot.com> article, Daniel Wright mentioned that: : Is 50-55K really outrageously low for an Informix DBA w/ only 3 years : experience? : As a programmer with twice the experience, should I also consider 50-55K : to be a slap in the face? : : Jacob Salomon wrote: : > : > Last year, Lars Eric Nelson, a columnist in the NY Daily news, wrote an : > article about this practice. I believe what we have here is a company : > looking for an excuse to import foreign nationals and pay them half (or : > less) what it would pay a US citizen for these skills, squeezing the : > salary of the US market in computer skills. : > : > By placing an ad with enormous skill requirements (3 years DBA : > experience, database design, data warehousing, OLAP.. WOW!!)and an : > insulting salary offer, the company can tell INS "Hey, we can't fill the : > job req with US skills; nobody answered our ad. You must now allow us to : > bring in foreign help." Of course, any foreign national who they *do* : > import has the same living expenses we do but by then, hey! He's here : > already! And it's rather doubtful that they will find a single person : > of ANY nationality with ALL those skills, so the skills of the whatever : > person they do import could have been easily found domestically. : > : > Besides squeezing our salaries, this exploits the imported engineers, : > who should command pretty much what we do for this work. : > : > I did some consulting at an insurance company that was paying its : > actuaries $30,000/year with 9 or 10 exams plus Russian "Candidate" : > degrees, the equivalent of PHD here. : > : > If anyone thinks the 50-55k salary is a low ball, you have company. : > : > Ron Scott & Associates wrote: : > > : > > Requires 3 years DBA experience, at least 1 year of which must be as : > > an Informix DBA in a UNIX environment. Also requires both physical : > > and logical applications experience, and database design experience. : > > : > > Preferred skills include: HP-UX systems administration, data : > > warehousing, and OLAP tools. : > > : > > Exciting position that involves building a data warehouse, : > > implementing Universal Server, and a state-of-the-art environment. : > > : > > Salary $50-55k. : > > : > > Our firm specializes in recruiting computer professionals for both : > > permanent and contract positions. We have many openings across : > > a wide range of software platforms. For consideration, please either : > > attach your resume (as a separate MS Word or Wordperfect file) to : > > an email message, or you can fax your resume to us (in fine resolution mode) : > > at the number below. All inquiries are treated as strictly confidential. : > > : > > Also see our web site at: http://www.mindspring.com/~ronscott. This : > > is a clickable link if your newsreader supports it. : > > : > > -- : > > : > > Ron Scott & Associates : > > 10040 W. 32nd Ave. : > > Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 : > > Phone: 303-232-4015 Fax: 303-232-4094 : > > Email: ronscott@mindspring.com : > > Website: http://www.mindspring.com/~ronscott : > : > -- : > -- Jake (With a huge reserve of steam)