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Topic: Salary Increase
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| Author | Message |
| Mr. Complex Adaptive Systems | Posted – 1/24/2005 8:23:50 PM | show profile Hi - I graduated college three years ago and am working as a full-time editor and only make 60k a year. Can someone suggest a type of editing job that will pay better? I'd like to make 100k or more by next year if possible. Thanks. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 1/24/2005 9:44:54 PM | show profile Give me a break. |
| Jen480 | Posted – 1/24/2005 10:17:52 PM | show profile Oy vey! Stop complaining... |
| roja93 | Posted – 1/25/2005 1:00:34 PM | show profile This post is fake. Any editor at that level wouldn't be asking this question...he/she would know what was possible and what to do. Don't fall for this. |
| Deadliner | Posted – 1/25/2005 1:03:18 PM | show profile Consider yourself lucky to be making $60K three years out of college. I know some amazingly talented editors still making that after 20+ years on the job. If you got into this career for the money, then you are in the wrong career. If you have three years experience and are deserving for $100k in your fourth year on the market, you must be The Golden Child of editing. If you think you're worth $100K, and you have to rely on others on this board how to make that $40K jump, then maybe you you should consider that aren't worth such a hefty increase. |
| PoweRmvr | Posted – 1/25/2005 1:30:28 PM | show profile is this guy for real? ------ muddin has changed her sn due to popular demand |
| brianvan0711 | Posted – 1/25/2005 2:12:57 PM | show profile | email poster You can make that extra 40K/year by becoming the office ''guy''... you know, like whenever someone's out on the town with a model, and they need some cocaine on-the-spot or else that hot date's gonna go cold quickly, then they'll say ''Wait, I know this guy...'' and you can help them out for a tidy profit. No, it's not legal, and you'll most likely end up dead by gunfire, but just think of your investment portfolio... |
| brainfry | Posted – 1/25/2005 2:53:28 PM | show profile What about freelancing on the side? If you have some time nights and weekends, you may be able to supplement your income with some freelance work on the side. Good luck! ------ Author of "Boomerang Nation: How to Survive Living with Your Parents...the Second Time Around" (Fireside, May 2005) |
| MCM | Posted – 1/25/2005 4:49:17 PM | show profile Why don't you do what Armstrong Williams did. He was a columnist that received $240,000 from the Bush administration to write wonderful things about the president's No Child Left Behind program. Oh that's right. He got fired. But at least he got to keep the money. |
| Mr. Complex Adaptive Systems | Posted – 1/25/2005 6:31:12 PM | show profile Actually, I was hoping an editor who makes over 100k would respond. I'm thinking a technical editor for say, Lockheed Martin, or someplace like that, would be paid well. And I'm not sure why people would give me a hard time for not being content with 60k a year. I believe the average salary for a recent college grad is now close to 50k. |
| writerandeditor | Posted – 1/25/2005 6:35:24 PM | show profile Not in editorial it isn't. |
| Jen480 | Posted – 1/25/2005 6:40:12 PM | show profile >>And I'm not sure why people would give me a hard time for not being content with 60k a year. I believe the average salary for a recent college grad is now close to 50k. If you knew anything about the journalism world, you'd know that entry-levelers are lucky if they make a salary in the upper 20s. Yeah, maybe their friends who majored in accounting or something are making more, but not journalists! The 50K you mentioned is ALL college grads rolled into one! Go to ed2010.com, under salary report, & be enlightened...Geesh, can't even believe why I'm wasting my time... |
| Mr. Complex Adaptive Systems | Posted – 1/25/2005 6:53:16 PM | show profile So I guess I must be doing pretty good for myself. I know that I'm talented and deserve to be paid what I'm making, so I can't really consider myself lucky. It seems strange to me that people would continue working in journalism after 20 years if they were only making 60k a year. Liking your job is one thing, but struggling to get by and save for retirement is just wrong. If I get to the point where I can't make a decent wage in my profession, I'll switch careers into something that I enjoy but pays better. |
| writerandeditor | Posted – 1/25/2005 7:13:38 PM | show profile Hat -- Just out of curiosity -- what kind of of publication do work at? Consumer? Trade? Medical? |
| whosays | Posted – 1/25/2005 9:24:50 PM | show profile Crack me up! |
| Marie | Posted – 1/25/2005 10:57:19 PM | show profile this post is not real--why are you even indulging this person? |
| Mr. Complex Adaptive Systems | Posted – 1/26/2005 9:29:54 AM | show profile I work for Time Warner. |
| Editor1 | Posted – 1/26/2005 11:48:42 AM | show profile Hat, Assuming you're being honest, but being naive, there are numerous talented writers, editors, production folks, artists, photographers and more who are very high up in the field, but not making much money. A few companies (and I've heard Time Warner is one) pay decent wages, but many don't. That's with 10-20 years in the business. So you should consider yourself lucky, which is why many people here consider this a joke post. As someone that posts job listings, I sometimes receive a flood of resumes for a given position. Sometimes people don't get the job because they simply don't have the specific experience required, even though they are highly qualified and talented otherwise. There's enough competition among good candidates that these people have a tough time commanding high salaries. There are numeous jobs out there where someone of your experience level is making $30-$40,000. |
| brianvan0711 | Posted – 1/26/2005 12:03:14 PM | show profile | email poster Someone working at Time Warner for a higher-than-average salary is complaining about their pay. Utterly bizarre. |
| lvanderkam | Posted – 1/26/2005 1:08:48 PM | show profile Strange responses I'm a bit puzzled by the responses on this one. TW was paying its reporters $35k/year I believe in 2000, so editors at $60k is certainly plausible. If this post were a joke, the cited salary would be way out of whack ($600k for an EA). And there's nothing bad about wanting to earn six figures a few years out of school. Chelsea Clinton got hired at McKinsey for $110k or so a few years ago. HatFM: Corporate/technical/medical editing might get you a higher base salary if you've got specialized skills/credentials, but if you don't have an advanced degree in tech or med, you might have more trouble convincing companies on that one. My suggestion for upping your income is to take on some side editing projects. I once edited a corporate book for about $5k for a week's time. Or aim to write or co-write a book. That's boosted my income every year. I went freelance because I could earn more that way; it's higher risk, of course, but upside is higher too, because you control how much time you devote to each project. |
| roja93 | Posted – 1/26/2005 1:35:35 PM | show profile I questioned the credibility of this post not because somebody making $60K was complaining, but that somebody making that much would be so naive as to not know how to get his/her salary up to 6 figures and was posting here. |
| Mr. Complex Adaptive Systems | Posted – 1/26/2005 1:50:56 PM | show profile maybe I'm naive because I've only been out of school for 3 years. I simply have no idea what editing jobs pay over 100k a year besides the top jobs at massive media companies. |
| Jen480 | Posted – 1/26/2005 2:18:15 PM | show profile >>Chelsea Clinton got hired at McKinsey for $110k or so a few years ago. Yeah, but Chelsea is also in a completely different career field! |
| brianvan0711 | Posted – 1/26/2005 2:34:58 PM | show profile | email poster Well, that's the thing. This is a low-paying industry. I don't know what the salary ranges are exactly, but it seems unheard-of for anyone working midlevel jobs in most of the major publishing categories to top $70k/year. That's actually the upper end. Freelance writers and editorial staff often make $40-50k, and they're often working their butts off. Again, it's just what I think I've been seeing, and I'm sure some other source can verify these numbers or provide better ones. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 1/26/2005 2:50:09 PM | show profile ''And there's nothing bad about wanting to earn six figures a few years out of school. Chelsea Clinton got hired at McKinsey for $110k or so a few years ago.'' Reality check. It's not ''bad' but it's pretty unrealistic in journalism, outside of top TV jobs or very senior editorial jobs in print -- unlikely for anyone to get after a few years out of school. Clinton had an Ivy degree, then Oxford then McKinsey. That's a swift climb through/to the stratosphere of the elite, both professionally and financially, for someone that age without a degree in law, medicine or an MBA. The most credentialed 26-year-old in journalism -- who is? -- might get $60k, but not likely to flip it to $100k, no matter how badly they want it. The poster is right to understand the need to jump to another field or career that will prove a lot more lucrative and in quicker order. There are very senior staffers at major dailies or monthlies who consider themselves damn fortunate to pull in $80-100k a year -- a salary it may take 15-20 years, if ever, to achieve. You can make a lot more money doing many other things. ------ Freelance writer Caitlin Kelly, has written for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and other publications. You can read samples from her new book at blownawaythebook.com |
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