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Topic: salary for online producer?
| Author | Message |
| bradb | Posted – 7/13/2007 10:36:46 PM | show profile I'm up for an online producer position at a major daily. I'm plenty qualified. Please share your ideas on the salary I should receive. Thank you! |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/15/2007 9:41:57 AM | show profile How many years experience do you have (especially in online) and can you give us an idea of how big the site is? |
| bradb | Posted – 7/15/2007 11:06:45 AM | show profile re: ? 5 yrs relevant exp, one of top sites in country. |
| Marie | Posted – 7/15/2007 11:39:33 AM | show profile Is it in New York? I'd say no less than $75,000/year, if it's a major news organization. But avoid mentioning a salary. Get them to give you a range. When they ask, just ask what range they have in mind for the position. Most will not play games with you and give you an idea of what they've budgeted the position for. Simply nod at whatever answer is given. And don't deal with salary again until they make an offer. Then negotiate for a little more. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/15/2007 4:08:06 PM | show profile I would say your looking at $65K in NYC for a straight producer sted. senior producer position at something like the Post or the Daily News. You can probably negotiate for $70K if you're savvy though. You can get a bit of a bump, too, if you have previous online experience. |
| Marie | Posted – 7/15/2007 6:26:29 PM | show profile I would seriously try for the 70s. If they offer you $65K, bump up to $72K and settle for $70. It's very easy to negotiate an $5,000 when you're beyond entry level. These jobs are grueling, and you need to get the maximum. |
| newyorker | Posted – 7/15/2007 8:48:10 PM | show profile what would the salary be for a similar job with 1-3 years experience? |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/15/2007 11:16:04 PM | show profile Three years of Web experience will easily get you $60K, $65 is probably yours for the asking. I think over $70 is optimistic. That's just my experience, though. Any other Web producers wanna weigh in? |
| Marie | Posted – 7/15/2007 11:35:44 PM | show profile I have this job, and I make in the mid 70s, if that's any help. And I negotiated up $5,000K from the initial offer. No big deal. Wish I'd negotiated higher. Probably could have. And it's a horrible job, so get the maximum, so that you have the money to find happiness and fulfillment elsewhere in your life. Because you surely won't find it at this job. There, I've said it. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/16/2007 3:27:09 AM | show profile Here are some salary negotiation tips for people in the early stages of their careers in Web news, but not for first jobs: --Delay talking about money as long as you can in the interviewing process. We work in a competitive market and the more mentally committed they are to hiring you, the more leeway you will have in negotiation. --Try to talk money with the person who makes the ultimate decision on your salary. Recruiters will often ask your current and desired salary in pre-screening before you get to talk to the boss. You pretty much have to answer these. Don't give them a hard number, just a range. Don't lie about your old salary (you could be fired later for that), and don't be afraid if your new salary range is a significant step up. After all, you want to benefit from your experience. New media jobs definitely aren't plug-and-play, but Web skills still have a bit of a premium on them because the market is new. Don't sell yourself short. --Know your absolute bottom line before you go in. Make a commitment to that number. If they end up offering less, you MUST walk away. You gotta pay the rent, and if your job is a squeeze financially, you will inevitably be unhappy and that is bad for both you and your employer. --Now, come up with a number that you think is fair. Be pragmatic. This number should be about how much a decent wage for the position is. If you can identify a comparable salary range, this number would be in the bottom half of that range. --Next, come up with a number that you would be very happy to get, but be realistic. --Try to get them to make the first offer. This is their obligation, but if they absolutely insist, throw out your high number. --After they make their offer, ask for more. If you went first, tacitly let them know that you are willing to negotiate, but they must make the next move. --If they balk at your number, remind them why you think you are qualified for the position. Balking can be a shakedown tactic. Keep your tone positive. --Don't suggest a number in between the two; let them do that. As managers, they probably have plenty of experience hiring and making offers, so just politely wait for them to make a second offer. Keep things in perspective: They are offering YOU a job, not vice-versa. --If they come back low, come back with a counteroffer that is closer to your number than their (supposing you are somewhere in the same ballpark). Don't be afraid to go back and forth a couple times, if you need to. Just be firm and dignified. --When you settle on a number, don't accept right away. Ask them for a day to think about it. --Remember: You can negotiate on more things than salary. Negotiation is something journalists are often not comfortable with -- I know I'm not -- but it absolutely OK to stand your ground. Good hiring managers respect that. Give yourself a good pep talk before you go in. I think Stewart Smalley said it best: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, gosh darn it, people like me." Good luck. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/16/2007 3:30:05 AM | show profile Check out the book "How to Argue and Win Every Time" by Jerry Spence. It's not really about arguing per se, but more about how to effectively communicate. It has some good insights into the psychology of negotiation. |
| Marie | Posted – 7/16/2007 11:47:23 AM | show profile They really do expect you to negotiate. It's key to stay calm, firm and polite throughout the negotiation. No one expects you to accept an offer on the spot. |
| foodlit | Posted – 7/16/2007 12:08:24 PM | show profile Very good tips for negotiating. I'd just add that sometimes when they can't budge upward on salary because of internal equity or budgets, or whatever, there might be more wiggle room with other things, such as getting an additional week of vacation time or a sign on bonus. The only danger with a signon bonus is that it means any year end bonus will be based on your base salary not including the signon, but that might not be a big deal if the signon makes up for a salary shortfall. |
| sauerkel | Posted – 7/24/2007 2:01:50 PM | show profile | email poster Online producer Bradb, I've been trying to become an online producer. Do you have any advice what the best ways are getting my foot in the door and what skills do you need to have? |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 7/24/2007 2:31:00 PM | show profile marie: what's so bad about the job? it sounds like this person might be up for the nytimes producer job, and it sounds like interesting work to me. |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/25/2007 12:20:15 AM | show profile to Webtastic--- You CANNOT be fired for lying about a past salary. There is basically no LEGAL way for them to find out how much you used to make. Besides, that has NO bearing on what THEY are paying you. When a potential employer calls an old employer, most companies today only offer your dates of employment and verify that you used to work there. Period. They can make themselves liable for a suit if they offer more info than that. |
| Marie | Posted – 7/25/2007 12:36:11 AM | show profile Actually, they can give out your salary, and you can be fired for giving false information on an application. Contact the part of your company that handles employment verification (actually, it's often outsourced) and ask specifically what information they give out. Salary is a fact, just like job title and dates of employment, and giving it out would constitute no grounds for a lawsuit. There's nothing subjective about it. It's a fact. They can give it out. Find out what your company's policy is before you go lying about it on an application. I just leave it blank. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 7/27/2007 12:26:47 AM | show profile marie: again, i'm curious to hear what is bad about being an online news producer. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/27/2007 6:29:03 AM | show profile Many news Web sites are not seen as being as important as their parent brand, and companies, therefore, don't dedicate the kind of resources to them that they need. Producers often wear many hats -- producer, writer, editor -- all at the same time, which is invigorating, but it's easy to be a jack of all trades, master of none. Senior editors invariably have long backgrounds in other forms of journalism and insist on doing everything the same way as they always have. They may also be a bit out of touch with their younger, more tech-savvy readers and employees and be resistant to new ideas and innovation. Competition for traffic with sites like blogs with lower standards for sourcing and sensationalism can put strains editorial judgment. Producing can be fun and action-filled in breaking situations, but oftentimes it can feel like you are just a professional copy-and-paster. You stare at a computer screen for nine hours straight and never get to hit the bricks to get a story. You do a lot of reporting on other people's reporting. Just to name a few problems. I still love it though? |
| sauerkel | Posted – 7/27/2007 4:17:30 PM | show profile | email poster salary for online producer? webtastic- how did you break into the webside or did you always work as a web producer? I'm curious cause I've worked for print magazines as an editor and wanted to transition to the web. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/29/2007 3:32:05 AM | show profile I got my start as an unpaid newspaper columnist, but my paid professional experience has been exclusively online. I got an internship during college and parlayed that into a job. You should start by setting up a portfolio Web site for yourself. If you can't program, pay someone $500 to do it for you. A well-designed site is a good way to establish your online presence. Lots of Web editors come from the print world, so you experience will probably serve you in good stead. Getting online clips is a good way to start, but if you really want to get Web editors' attention, pitch them interactive things. CNN's obesity map -- http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/ -- is not particularly complicated if you think about it, but it really adds a sexy, new media dimension to their reporting. Try to think of things that editors can reuse. Hook up with a Web code guru -- if you have a well-thought out idea you wouldn't have to pay a freelancer too much (you would probably have to do your first project on spec). Most sites can easily incorporate Flash into their sites, so that's a safe way to go. Innovation is really what Web people like to see. Other than that, I would just suggest you find people that work in online and ask them about opportunities. |
| sauerkel | Posted – 7/30/2007 4:30:54 PM | show profile Thanks for the advice. How difficult are the online publishing tools, like Vingette Story Server to use? Also, what would be more effective a website or a blog to show or is either fine? I would buy the URL for the blog. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 7/30/2007 6:42:37 PM | show profile webtastic: i never understand why online editors make it sound like it's some difficult thing to do or break into. it's not a complicated job at all, and any hiring manager who knows what they're doing knows they can train any print editor to do this kind of work in a week. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 7/30/2007 7:38:44 PM | show profile Agreed, Bleak Spouse It's ALL about the writing and the editing. I'll take an experienced writer who's never seen a computer over one of these computer whiz kids who can't write. It's worlds easier teaching a real WRITER (or editor) the technology than teaching someone who's an expert in the technology how to WRITE and EDIT. |
| webtastic | Posted – 7/30/2007 9:33:23 PM | show profile | email poster I never said it was difficult to break into; someone asked for advice on how to break in, and I obliged. I would say that news judgement is the most important quality in an online producer, followed by editing skills and then writing skills. Producing a Web site is more about presentation of content than generation of content. If we are all using the same AP copy, why should readers come to me instead of another site? And if the original content is lacklucker, there's not a lot -- although there's somethings -- I can do about it through editing or rewriting by the time a senior editor sends it my way to get it up live. Good help is hard to find, as the saying goes, and I think you are a bit optimistic on training an online producer in a week, btw. But it's really not about whiz kids vs. coders; it's about finding talented, passionate journalists. As far as CMS tools go, they are pretty easy to learn. As far as establishing an online presence, there's nothing wrong with using blogging software to make a more or less static Web site. I use Wordpress myself. If you plan to blog, use blogging software, though. Redesigning pages manually is a big pain. sauerkel, PM me if you want to know more. |
