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> I can't speak for the entire country, but any time I hired a writer
> during the past 10 years in Silicon Valley the salary/rate that had to
> be paid to secure the desired candidate lined up pretty well with what
> the STC survey was saying about the area, and was consistently 10-15%
> higher than what government and commercially provided salary data said
> should be "prevailing." Perhaps writers in the valley were just digging
> in their heels and not settling for less than their STC survey told them
> was the going rate, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but even
> during the worst of the dot-bomb the rate for a top-notch candidate
> didn't appreciably dip; the number of less-than-optimum applicants for
> every opening just skyrocketed.
Rick O'Sullivan, a statistician, has been working with STC on the new,
improved salary survey. Previous versions were not considered
statistically accurate because people could say whatever they wanted
with regards to their rate.
The new survey uses BLS figures (as stated before), and HR departments
consider them much more statistically accurate.
STC Members will be able to receive a version of the salary survey as
part of their membership. There will also be a more detailed version
available for a fee. (This falls under the part of the strategic plan
where STC tries to increase non-dues revenue.) In addition, STC will
be holding a Live Web Seminar in early December on the salary survey,
and attendees will receive the more detailed version as part of it. I
can get the details tomorrow, but something should be posted to the
STC website within the next couple of days.
Char James-Tanny ~ JTF Associates, Inc. ~ http://www.helpstuff.com
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Contact me directly (CharJT at helpstuff dot com) with business inquiries.
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2006-2007 Microsoft Help MVP
Find a Help Authoring Tool at HAT-Matrix.com ~ http://hat-matrix.com
Co-author of "Managing Virtual Teams" ~ http://www.wordware.com/wiki
AuthorIT Certified Consultant, Development, and Training
STC Secretary, 2006-2008
Web site Hosting and Design ~ http://www.jtfhosting.com
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