In our first-ever salary survey, Ed got the scoop on the skeletons in your paycheck…
Most of you are making $31,000-$39,000 a year—and 70% of you think you deserve more. Over 300 Edsters took the survey: the average is 23, female, working entry-level jobs in New York, and graduated in 2006 sans j-school. And until you get promoted, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything you can do about it.
An HR representative at a major publishing company (who requested anonymity) does not think entry level is in any place to negotiate. “A lot of kids are dying to get this position. Provided that the salary is in the range that they’ve heard, they should be happy about that opportunity,” she says. “Most of the time the salaries are fixed.”
As if that’s not enough to get you excited for a Happy Hour, 29% of you did not negotiate your salary when you received the offer and regretted it and 70% had no idea you could negotiate for a better title, more vacation time, or better benefits.
Tara Cox, who handles hiring as Managing Editor for Everyday with Rachael Ray, agrees that there’s not much room for entry-level salary negotiation. “Magazine jobs are notoriously low-paying. When we hire entry-level, we never ask for someone’s range,” she says.
But she does believe you can negotiate for your next job as an Associate or higher.
Her words of advice:
1) Ask if there’s overtime. “That can make a huge difference in salary,” she explains.
2) Know your company’s limits. “Benefits are not very negotiable either. Vacation time is more flexible.”
3) Get the agreements in writing. “If you do negotiate something, get it in writing, even by sending an email. I’ve heard cases where the person they spoke with left to another job and there was no written record of what was negotiated.”
4) Make the most of the perks. “You kind of know that in this magazine you’re going to start making nothing. We have food here all the time, so I don’t always have to pay for lunch. Other people get invited to parties, where dinner and drinks are provided. There are other perks at other entry-level jobs.”
Since 80% of you do not get overtime and 40% never asked for (and never got) a raise in the last year, living in NYC can be less than glamorous. Emily Hendricks, now an Associate Editor at All You magazine (and Ed’s City Chapters Director), remembers the days when, for one, she had to buy six-packs of beer instead of spending money going out when she was an EA.
“I lived in Brooklyn with a roommate. We didn’t have cable. I bought clothes at Old Navy, Forever 21, and H&M. My parents paid my cell phone bill and student loans the first year,” she explains.
But the low salary doesn’t last forever. Meredith Bodgas, an Associate Editor at Parenting (and Ed’s Web Associate), says, “Your salary goes way up in two jobs, like around $15,000. Even if you’re making $30,000 your first year, it’s only temporary.” Ed can toast to that!
—Yelena Shuster
