Stay in Niche? 2

[Swi]

Right now I am in a specialized industry (Direct Marketing). The problem is long hours and everyone wants to pay salary. I have interviewed with another company in the industry and it seems like a good fit and they pay overtime after 50 hours worked and weekend work (this job would require a move, relocation paid for by the company). I also have another interview at the end of this week for a vb developer position (would not require a move but would be an hour commute). The money would probably be about 10K more for the direct marketing job but my thought is that I will have a higher salary cap and more advancement opportunities if I take the developer opportunity. Anyone have any thoughts?

Swi

 

[amillia]

A vb developer in our area with 2 or 3 years experience makes 65,000 a year.

 

[MasterRacker]

I am living in the wrong area.... <shakes his head>

[purple]Jeff
It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day

 

[lespaul]

me too Jeff!!!! My jaw dropped when I saw LaurenNichole's post!!!

Leslie

 

[Corran007]

It depends on where you are. on the upper east coast of the united states, i could see that. Places with a lower cost of living dont have to pay nearly as much. I live in houston, tx and i see people with 2-3 years of vb.net with offers of 40-60+ or so. Alot depends on what else they can do besides just program in Vb.net such as how much database interatcion they have, how much design ect

 

[Swi]

Salary for VB developer would be between 50-52K. The direct marketing programming position would put me somewhere between 60-65K. VB developer position is in MD and direct marketing job is in NJ. I would be considered senior level in the direct marketing job and junior/mid level in the VB developer job.

Swi

 

[crystalized]

You may want to look into the employment law where you live. Most people do not know their rights and therefore often get shafted (not necessarily on purpose either because the employer may legitimately not know the correct rules about their obligations).

For example, where I live many people are paid a "salary" but according to our employment laws that only entitles the employer to 40 hours a week. Beyond that (salary or hourly) they have to pay you overtime. Although there are some arrangements where it can be done on a 4 week averaging period (basically the totals must average out to no more than 40 hours per week over 4 weeks or they have to start paying you overtime). This is a slight simplification of the rules but it is something many people do not know - they assume that if they are on "salary" the employer can expect any number of hours from them.

So my best advice is to educate yourself on the employment laws of your location.

Crystal
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Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.

-Oscar Wilde

 

[Swi]

Thanks for the information. Do you mind me asking what city and state you work in?

Swi

 

[crystalized]

I live in Saskatchewan Canada. From the Employment Law class I took, the legislation in all the provinces differ to some degree but they basically all have limitations on the number of hours that can be worked before triggering overtime. There is no statement in the legislation in any province, that I know of, that indicates special treatment because you are on salary vs hourly pay.

My guess is that many states would have some sort of similar legislation - but I really know a lot more about Canadian law than US law.

I would look to your state government to see if there is some sort of agency that provides information about employment etc.

At least once you know the rules in your state you can be armed with that knowledge when it is time to negotiate your raise, conditions of employment etc.

I hope this helps!

Crystal
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Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.

-Oscar Wilde

 

[benlinkknilneb]

Well, since you're considering both positions, swi, money must not be your primary motivation. If you can live off either income, ask yourself this: If I weren't getting paid for this, which would I rather do? That's your answer... find something that makes you happy, THEN find someone to pay you for it ;-)

Ben

There's no place like 127.0.0.1.

 

[Swi]

Thanks for another point of view Ben. We get so caught up in $$$$ sometimes that we forget the obvious.

Swi