Advice on a job offer

That's very true. At my last full-time job, I worked for a publisher who didn't know anything about journalism or business, but he sure knew all about that bottom line!
I agree, going through this revolving door process isn't practical. In my interview, I told them that, if offered the position, I would want to stick around for a while but I assumed they would offer me a little more to make me want to stick around.

 

Hey Mustang,
Thanks for all the good advice. And thanks to all who have posted their thoughts on this! I know a lot of you have been in situations similar to this, so I knew I would get some good responses.
Mustang, I sent the GM a counter offer letter about an hour ago, so we'll see what she says. I tried to follow some of your tips and the info I received from online resources. I think it came out well, so we'll see. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

 

I wonder why they didn't offer salary figures up front because they were so low?

 

Re: Madison

I went to UW there and still hold deep roots in the journalism business to that fine city.

Why is pay so low in Madison? Because the stations and papers know every 20-something wants to move there. They can offer 22k-25k and know somebody talented will take it.

Six years ago, I had an offer from one of the stations there for 33k. Couldn't be the breadwinner on that salary.

You may have already mentioned it earlier and - if so - I apologize. If it's just "you", you can live in Madison, but you'd have to be in off-campus student housing or a flat near the Capitol for $400 or month and then you'd drive all over. However, parking IS expensive downtown - $100 a month.

If you're out in Verona/FItchburg/Oregon, you can find a place for $600-700 a month but, for any "social", you'd have to go downtown. There's always Allied Drive and Section 8.

For real estate, it's even more difficult. We couldn't find an affordable house in 2004 closer than New Glarus (38 miles from Madison). That's why I turned it down.

EDIT to add: To "slightly" add insult to this... in Madison, I made $16 an hour delivering pizzas in college. In 1994 dollars. Money is made in that city. Just not in journalism, print or TV.

 

That wage is doable with a roommate or if you're living with your parents. Otherwise, it's a slow trap to, as mustang so well put it, slowly but surely losing money every month. It ain't all about the money but, at the end of the day, you've got to be able to eat without going deep into debt.

My biggest regret about my last newsie job was that I didn't bite the bullet and move in with a roommate. Not that we should have to take these terrible, terrible wages, of course. But the business is what it is. Ask for something better. If they've given you an offer, they'll generally at least talk about it.

 

It's a shame when you have to have a roommate to get by and not live like an adult because newspapers won't pay a livable wage.

 

I've turned down several offers because the money was poor...but not that poor. Ultimately, it's your choice, but that sounds like you'd need a second job to make ends meet unless you're living with your parents or something.

 

My goodnewss. Now, I started at 20,000 a year in the Northeast, and I don't make much more than $30,000 right, but how the heck can any paper offer 9.75 an hour? It's insulting, and I would tell them so.

The way they pay journalists is abhorrent. These are skilled positions. I think everyone should stop "doing what they love" and tell these jokers to F off.

I will never EVER take a low salary again to get in the door. That's BS.

 

Just got the go ahead to hire an intern to help with the workload this summer. Intern gets $11 per hour. Whaatt??? I made $7 bucks an hour during my internship. And that was as a contract worker so I got hammered on taxes.

 

Hey everyone,
First off, I just wanted to thank all of you for the advice. I truly considered everyone's opinion on this and took it to heart. I wanted to give everyone an update on what's happened.
Well, I sent the GM a counter offer letter yesterday afternoon. Maybe I should have just called her, but I thought the letter was very professional and I believe I stated my case well. At the best, I was thinking they would show a little flexibility and up the wage a buck or two. At the worst, I thought she would get back to me and say, 'I respect your request, but this is our offer, take it or leave it.'
Believe me, this was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I know that you can't live in Dane County for a salary like that, but after crunching some numbers and realizing that I could still do freelance work, I thought maybe I could pull it off. I also just had an interview today for a part-time position and it went really well. After finding out that they have an office in Madison, I was thinking that it would probably be in my best interest to accept the full-time job, even though I would probably be working my tail off for a while, juggling at least two jobs.
So I check my email after I get back from my interview and find out that the GM did get back to me. Well, they didn't budge on the salary at all, they're not offering to help with moving expenses and she basically said that while she appreciates my interest in the position, they are moving on! I guess I should have been prepared for that after sending the counter offer, but I was thinking she would have at least said, 'This is it, take it or leave it because we have other candidates who are available.' She did say that they'll keep me in mind should something open up with a higher salary.
I tried calling her to talk to her about it, but I wasn't able to get a hold of her. I'm assuming they've already offered it to someone else, so I guess that's that. Maybe I'm making a mistake by not taking it, but maybe it is for the best. From people I've talked to, the company actually seems pretty solid (despite the low salary) so I really don't want to burn any bridges in case something better would open up. I guess I was just surprise with the response.
But from most of the responses I've read on here, not accepting it was probably a good idea. It's just difficult because I do really want to get back into it full-time, and obviously, I need a full-time job. If the salary would have been two bucks higher, I honestly wouldn't have thought twice, but damn $9.75 is low.
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

 

If that's the response you got, wis, you are better not working there. That, to say the very least, is disappointing from a company standpoint. There was nothing wrong with what you did.

Continued good luck in your search. Hopefully something better presents itself anyway.

 

Dude,

Would you sweat not getting a job as a french fry technician at McDonald's? Then I wouldn't sweat this.

You are better off getting something full time and freelancing.