I would be interested in what some benefit packages really are...? For instance, what generally does retirement give? 1/2 your salary + health insurance? If you have to work on the cheap, what do you get when your done? David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044 ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- From: "Horace Greeley" <hgreeley at stanford.edu> To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org> Received: 8/16/2006 7:34:59 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] FW: Univ. of Tenn. Job Opening for Piano Technician >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
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