[CAUT] FW: Univ. of Tenn. Job Opening for Piano Technician

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Wim,

At 06:36 AM 8/16/2006, you wrote:


>Unfortunately, once UT hires someone at $16 ph, giving that person
>raises comensurate with his or her growth will be not happen. After 5
>years, I finally got a "real" raise this year, but not until I made a
>very strong plea.

Yup.

Most of the "strong plea"s I have made over the years have happened 
along the lines of:  "Well...gee, too bad this doesn't seem to be 
working...guess it's time for me to move on."  That is a real roll of 
the dice.  Sometimes you win, sometimes not.  You have to be prepared 
to move on.

Also, I think it is important to know for whom you are working.  It 
really is unreasonable to expect that institutions (however 
well-meaning they might be) will pay anywhere close to "market" rate 
in any given market.  That's a pretty broad statement; and much will 
depend on in which part of the country you are working.  In the SF 
Bay Area, the official poverty level for a family of four is ~ $52K 
per year.  Most of the schools in the area use contract tuners at 
varying rates.  The one exception of which I know is SF State, which 
historically has split the bulk of the work between two positions.

The trade-off is, of course, primarily whatever benefit packages are 
available.  None of these are as good as they once were; but they are 
often better than nothing.  I have only late in life learned to pay 
myself first, so, for me, whatever benefits there might be are more 
important than they might be to someone who has the business side of 
the act better together.  I know technicians who have come into the 
profession having either retired from something else and/or having 
made reasonably good investments, can afford to make the change.

Underlying all of this, though, is a point which I think Ed Foote has 
noted to the effect that, if you really have your technical chops 
together and functioning, your work and reputation will speak for 
themselves, and you will, over time, have plenty to do...with or 
without an institution behind you.

Best.

Horace