How much are we worth?

[Silentfort]

Hello all,

Have you ever wondered if your boss is shanking you? :confused:
Well I went to salary.com and wanted to find out how much a Digital Imaging Specialist is worth nowadays. Unfortunately no such titles is listed on thier site and all the other techs I know are at my company (international publisher).
So for those out there similiar to myself, seven years experience in color correction, retouching, restoration, and general manipulation, how much are you making?

Keep in mind that this is specifically to those who are working in the media/publishing industry and work primarily in photoshop making ugly things look good.

Thanks everybody.

[The Repro Kid]

I've seen a salary.com type of web site and it didn't seem too useful.

Discovering the average pay for retouchers in your area involves more than just your skills and experience. The other, and what I consider to be the greatest, factor is your geographical location.

For instance, as I hunt for jobs close to downtown L.A., Wetside L.A. and the Valley, I can ask for a fairly good sized amount of money without anyone batting any eyelashes. However, if I'm hunting closer to home, in the beach suburbs, it can be difficult to find anyone willing to pay what they would pay me up in L.A. The difference can be as much as 10 dollars per hour, and remember, we're talking a difference of only fifteen to thirty miles, geographically. (Which, when broken down into L.A. terms, is an additional 1 to 2.5 hours driving time -- 15-30 of the longest miles you'll ever experience!) I go to great lengths to find a job close to home willing to pay top dollar. This, for me, means it takes time. I continually see the same jobs cropping up locally because the local employers want to pay two year experience salaries to experienced professionals, and the employers get what they pay for, so these same jobs crop up again and again.

So, here's how I find the rates for my local situation. It's not easy, but I scour the newspapers, MonsterBoard, and craigslist.com for jobs within thirty miles of my area and make a note of what everyone is offering for pay. There are low numbers and there are high numbers, but if I look long enough I discover a pattern and can draw conclusions as to an average of what everyone else is being paid.

This will clue you in to what your area will support for pay, and what everybody else (besides your boss) is paying. MonsterBoard and craigslist.com are better sources than my local newspapers because they have more jobs and show the pay-scale more often. If you have to, you can respond to ads and ask what pay they are offering.

I don't know what area you're in, but I would check the numbers on craigslist.com first, then monsterboard, and then the newspapers. That's the most useful order for my area, but yours could be different.

[AdobeAce]

Hi Silentfort,

"Location, Location, Location" is not just for real estate. New York and LA seem to be where the biggest money is.

But to take it even further -- If you're in New York or LA doing Photoshop work for an ad agency, your pay is probably higher than someone with exactly the same skills working at an inhouse corporate studio or in publishing.

Also you have to consider the kinds of clients you're doing work for even within a particular location or business. If you're doing critical Photoshop work for the cosmetics industry, chances are your skills and experience are in higher demand, so you're probably making more money.

Specialists, in general, are in more demand even though sometimes it makes absolutely no sense. If you're the greatest retoucher in the world and have no experience in Pharmaceuticals, try getting a job in a Pharmaceutical ad agency. Someone with less talent but with years of Pharmaceutical experience is more likely to get the job. Why? He's a pharmaceutical specialist. Makes no sense but it happens all the time.

A whole other piece of this is that most people doing the hiring are totally clueless about computer graphics or print production. Just look through the want ads and count how many times QuarXPress is mispelled.

Ace