Undercut

**Tuckerman** · 03-05-2013, 06:16 AM

Just got under cut by another applicant. I talked to the owner of the company he said he liked me but all things being equal accept for the salary he had to go with the less expensive option. I think because I already have a job I'm not as desperate as some.

/blog

**Chugach001** · 03-05-2013, 08:34 AM

It's a tough world out there for sure and wages are not going up any time soon.

**nord** · 03-05-2013, 08:51 AM

Funny Thing is Salaries are good if you already are working. If you don'y thave a job its hard to get one and pay is low. If you're looking to change jobs, pay is good and opportunities are out there.

**stfu&gbtw** · 03-07-2013, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by nord

Funny Thing is Salaries are good if you already are working. If you don'y thave a job its hard to get one and pay is low. If you're looking to change jobs, pay is good and opportunities are out there.

Disagree. As recently as 2008, most of the jobs I'm qualified for paid $85K - $110K. Now, many of those jobs seem to hire in the $60K-$80K range. Just about everyone I know makes less money in jobs they've taken in the last 2 years than in jobs taken more than 5 years ago.

**grubbers** · 03-07-2013, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

Disagree. As recently as 2008, most of the jobs I'm qualified for paid $85K - $110K. Now, many of those jobs seem to hire in the $60K-$80K range. Just about everyone I know makes less money in jobs they've taken in the last 2 years than in jobs taken more than 5 years ago.

I wonder how CEO salaries have faired over that same period...

**systemoverblow'd** · 03-07-2013, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

Disagree. As recently as 2008, most of the jobs I'm qualified for paid $85K - $110K. Now, many of those jobs seem to hire in the $60K-$80K range. Just about everyone I know makes less money in jobs they've taken in the last 2 years than in jobs taken more than 5 years ago.

Was this all in the same geographic area? Just curious as in salary for certain jobs do fluctuate based on area (as you know) and those zones can change based on the economy in that area. Is that job available at high rates than 2008 elsewhere? For example for my expertise, rates have gone up significantly in the last 5 years in my area, while they have steadied or decreased in other areas.

**stfu&gbtw** · 03-08-2013, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd

Was this all in the same geographic area? Just curious as in salary for certain jobs do fluctuate based on area (as you know) and those zones can change based on the economy in that area. Is that job available at high rates than 2008 elsewhere? For example for my expertise, rates have gone up significantly in the last 5 years in my area, while they have steadied or decreased in other areas.

Both, but some of the regional effect definitely factors in. FWIW, my peers at my old company are more or less on the same (very good) salary track as when I left. I think they're all making >$200K at this point. But there's been a huge shift in the markets since I moved. Some of my old colleagues have gone through long periods of unemployment and taken jobs for a lot less than they'd made in ages. One guy in particular was out of the streets for over a year and finally took a job paying about $125K - about 50% of what he was making in he previous job.

Obviously, the pay in CO will never be what it was in NY or NJ or DC, but when I arrived here in '08, there were dozens of jobs paying ~$100K. There were days I sent 30 resumes and got 10 calls. Landed a good, fairly high paying job within 2 weeks of looking. I was just out testing the waters recently, and now there are a handful of those jobs paying ~$80K, more ~$65K, and not nearly as many jobs overall.

I see lots of development jobs in the Denver area these days, but all on the cheap. I don't know for sure, but I think a senior level Ruby or Cassandra guy might make $100K if he got lucky. More run of the mill stuff (asp.net, java, php) seems like $65K-$75K. And forget infrastructure management. Windows Server? $35/hr maybe?

Back in the day, those fancy developer jobs were all contracts at $1000+/day.

**Conundrum** · 03-12-2013, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

Some of my old colleagues have gone through long periods of unemployment and taken jobs for a lot less than they'd made in ages. One guy in particular was out of the streets for over a year and finally took a job paying about $125K - about 50% of what he was making in he previous job. .

Sounds brutal.

**stfu&gbtw** · 03-12-2013, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Conundrum

Sounds brutal.

What's brutal is trying to raise a family in nyc on that money.

**systemoverblow'd** · 03-12-2013, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

What's brutal is trying to raise a family in nyc on that money.

I would find it hard to live on that alone, never mind with a family in NYC. shiat.

**nickwm21** · 03-12-2013, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd

I would find it hard to live on that alone

Nice ego pump...

sent from the future using my mind powers

**systemoverblow'd** · 03-12-2013, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by nickwm21

Nice ego pump...

sent from the future using my mind powers

What? I don't make that. I said if I lived in NYC. It's an indictment of how crazy expensive it is to live there...

But color me surprised you didn't get that far into the sentence..

**stfu&gbtw** · 03-18-2013, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd

I would find it hard to live on that alone, never mind with a family in NYC. shiat.

That's actually pretty comfortable for a single person. Enough to fund a nice apt in a good neighborhood with money to eat out and do whatever. Match that up with a nice vacation package and you're pretty set. Before my wife and I had kids, we each made about that and had 6 weeks vacation/year. It didn't suck.

More than anything, it was the property taxes that made it hard to consider staying there. Even if you own a place outright, you can easily have a $2500/month tax bill. Factor that in on top of the mortgage on your $900,000 3 br house in Essex or Westchester and it becomes hard to see how to get ahead of the game.