Ok - I'm about to jump into the job hunt here in NYC and need to have a good sense a proper range for a salary request. Of course, I'd prefer not to undercut myself or throw a number out there that's unreasonably high. So, if any of you guys have some input, I would really appreciate it. I'll give you some specifics:
6 years experience with medium to large scale projects, last project was 600k sf multifamily development.
Project Designer, unlicensed, LEED AP
UT-Austin first professional degree.
Now, based on what I was making in Austin (where I had my 6 years of experience), and plugging that into this cost of living indexer - http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=55000&city1=54805000&city2=53651000 - I'm told that the equivalent salary in NYC should be in the $80k - $85k, heh, which seems optimistic at best. I had friend who used to work here and told me I should expect in the $70k range.
At any rate, I just wanted to toss this out to the architect community and see what information I could glean from you guys.
If you use any other conversion calculator the figure I get is $55k=$104. Damn!
I guess Texas is a bit of a third world country.
Of all the architects I know in NYC that have remained gainfully employed during the recession, every single one has either been on a pay freeze, or has taken a pay cut. 12 years experience down to $50k? You betcha!
I'd ask for $70-ish. It's reasonable, and you can live like an existentialist king in NYC on that kind of coin. Problem is firms can afford to lowball, so they do. Supply and demand. And you are part of massive oversupply.
Greg Walker, in one of the threads below, has the latest AIA survey and had kindly posted some excerpt of it, but the link's broken. I'm sure he'll fix it.
le - from the aia survey, the pertinent #'s for you are (i'm pegging you between an unlicensed design staff 1 and 2. If you were licensed, you'd be an Arch 1 or Arch 2)
NYC, not the metro area. the City itself
to read the numbers below, the 3 categories are: median; lowest quartile average, highest quartile average. doesn't take into account firm size.
UnLicensed architect 1: 58k; 52.5k; 63.8k
Arch 1 - 67.5k; 55k; 77.6k
Unlicensed arch 2 - 72.3k; 68k; 73.4k
Arch 2 - 81.7k; 70.4k; 97k.
so, some huge variations, probably depending on the firm, their stature, their needs and their profitability. also, a huge difference in where you'd actually 'fall' on this scale - if you can argue for D2, it's worth an extra 10k+ for you.
I sent some ranges to lecorybusier earlier.. they're generally in agreement with what Gregory put down, except that 97k is more what an Arch III and even some associates make at the corporates.
Thanks for posting that Greg. One number set that really jumps out is D2. That's a very narrow range of salaries ($68-73) and is completely in line from my own experience and others I knew in NYC. Low $70's seemed to be a pay ceiling for unregistered designers (bit higher for corporate interior shops).
Finish up your exams kids. That's the lesson here.
Ranges should be narrow at the lower experience grades, Rusty. People typically only spend 2-3 years at each grade. But a more realistic range for A/D2 is probably 55-80.
Based on what some recruiters have told me 80-85 is maybe a bit much. 70 is more realistic for 6 year experience but in this job climate all rules are out of the window. That said, not sure how can one survive in NYC with salary below 70K
post a fake job ad on craigslist nyc, describing your own attributes as the ideal candidate, be somewhat vague yet in some ways specific about the "company" it is for, and ask for people to send their desired salary range. tell them its a full time position with benefits.
Expected Salary Question - NYC
Ok - I'm about to jump into the job hunt here in NYC and need to have a good sense a proper range for a salary request. Of course, I'd prefer not to undercut myself or throw a number out there that's unreasonably high. So, if any of you guys have some input, I would really appreciate it. I'll give you some specifics:
6 years experience with medium to large scale projects, last project was 600k sf multifamily development.
Project Designer, unlicensed, LEED AP
UT-Austin first professional degree.
Now, based on what I was making in Austin (where I had my 6 years of experience), and plugging that into this cost of living indexer - http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=55000&city1=54805000&city2=53651000 - I'm told that the equivalent salary in NYC should be in the $80k - $85k, heh, which seems optimistic at best. I had friend who used to work here and told me I should expect in the $70k range.
At any rate, I just wanted to toss this out to the architect community and see what information I could glean from you guys.
Thanks!
If you use any other conversion calculator the figure I get is $55k=$104. Damn!
I guess Texas is a bit of a third world country.
Of all the architects I know in NYC that have remained gainfully employed during the recession, every single one has either been on a pay freeze, or has taken a pay cut. 12 years experience down to $50k? You betcha!
I'd ask for $70-ish. It's reasonable, and you can live like an existentialist king in NYC on that kind of coin. Problem is firms can afford to lowball, so they do. Supply and demand. And you are part of massive oversupply.
Also, don't accept any offers under $27k. $26k is not enough!
Greg Walker, in one of the threads below, has the latest AIA survey and had kindly posted some excerpt of it, but the link's broken. I'm sure he'll fix it.
http://archinect.com/forum/thread/15297363/aia-compensation-survey-2011-the-results-are-in
How long would it take you to get licensed?
Yeah, I saw that post. Hopefully it'll get updated soon.
And I'll need to find employment before I could get licensed. I haven't taken any of the tests yet, and still lack CA and office management IDP hours.
I'm happy to email you some general ranges for NY.. I'd rather not post them here. Anybody know how to send private mail to a profile name here?
Urbanist - I'm not sure how to do that either, but you could contact me privately at my architect username @yahoo.com - Thanks.
Just sent it.
urbanist - yeah... i'll fix the link on the other thread. forgot my flickr account's not public...
le - from the aia survey, the pertinent #'s for you are (i'm pegging you between an unlicensed design staff 1 and 2. If you were licensed, you'd be an Arch 1 or Arch 2)
NYC, not the metro area. the City itself
to read the numbers below, the 3 categories are: median; lowest quartile average, highest quartile average. doesn't take into account firm size.
UnLicensed architect 1: 58k; 52.5k; 63.8k
Arch 1 - 67.5k; 55k; 77.6k
Unlicensed arch 2 - 72.3k; 68k; 73.4k
Arch 2 - 81.7k; 70.4k; 97k.
so, some huge variations, probably depending on the firm, their stature, their needs and their profitability. also, a huge difference in where you'd actually 'fall' on this scale - if you can argue for D2, it's worth an extra 10k+ for you.
good luck.
I sent some ranges to lecorybusier earlier.. they're generally in agreement with what Gregory put down, except that 97k is more what an Arch III and even some associates make at the corporates.
Thanks for posting that Greg. One number set that really jumps out is D2. That's a very narrow range of salaries ($68-73) and is completely in line from my own experience and others I knew in NYC. Low $70's seemed to be a pay ceiling for unregistered designers (bit higher for corporate interior shops).
Finish up your exams kids. That's the lesson here.
Ranges should be narrow at the lower experience grades, Rusty. People typically only spend 2-3 years at each grade. But a more realistic range for A/D2 is probably 55-80.
Based on what some recruiters have told me 80-85 is maybe a bit much. 70 is more realistic for 6 year experience but in this job climate all rules are out of the window. That said, not sure how can one survive in NYC with salary below 70K
FYI, the median household income in NYC is $48,631, so evidently people do...
The very best way to find out:
post a fake job ad on craigslist nyc, describing your own attributes as the ideal candidate, be somewhat vague yet in some ways specific about the "company" it is for, and ask for people to send their desired salary range. tell them its a full time position with benefits.
I know this is an old thread, but I'm hoping to get in touch with you Bilbobobo. I'm new to the site and can't seem to figure out a way to PM you.
Anyway, I'd like to know how successful you were in finding work in NYC coming from Austin, amongst other things. Hope you get this.
Thanks
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.