The Inaugural Slick Deals Career Thoughts and Compensation Thread

ziptree:

can i ask a ? actually I would prefer to pm u, if that is ok. Thanks!

Quote from ziptree : ^^ Very cool. Gender: Male. Age: 26. Location: TX. Occupation: Associate dentist. Education: D.D.S. 2010 Compensation: $180,000. Future Salary Projection: Negotiated a 8.5% salary increase for the 2011 year -- ~$195,300 for this coming year. Benefits: Continuing education courses are paid for by my employer. They amount to ~$1,000 a year or so. What's the job like? I fix teeth. What more is there? The majority of my patients are fee-for-service (pay for their own dental care) or have dental insurance. Medicaid patients amount to less than 15-20% of my patient pool. Hours are usually 8:00am-6:00pm daily with extended hours on Thursday evenings until 9:30pm or so. Would you recommend the career to others? Most definitely -- except if you live in California or New York. Great career, multiple opportunities for advancement if you're not afraid of assuming the role of owner of a dental office. Very little, if any, overtime depending on what you want out of life. I'm working as hard as I can now to build up liquid assets in order to acquire some rental property and to plan for the future. In a few years, I imagine I'll scale back my hours once I'm able to buy a dental practice for myself.

Quote from ziptree : Would you recommend the career to others? Most definitely -- except if you live in California or New York. Great career, multiple opportunities for advancement if you're not afraid of assuming the role of owner of a dental office. Very little, if any, overtime depending on what you want out of life. I'm working as hard as I can now to build up liquid assets in order to acquire some rental property and to plan for the future. In a few years, I imagine I'll scale back my hours once I'm able to buy a dental practice for myself.

Just curious, why not in CA or NY?

Quote from sd99 : Just curious, why not in CA or NY?

Those two states are over saturated with dentists. California alone has six dental schools graduates more than 700 dentists a year. It's a dog eat dog world over there and with such a high supply of dentists, the compensation we receive for our services isn't enough to pay off our loans. I used to live in California and had to move to Texas to make a decent living. My friend who stayed there hasn't broken the $90,000 salary mark, which sounds greedy, but when you're considering: 1) the cost of living there, 2) $320,000 in school debt, and 3) an aggregate tax percentage of around 35-40% which includes both state and federal taxes, it's tough.

Although I haven't lived in New York, I've heard similar stories, but only in the larger cities in the state. Maybe I was making an unfair blanket statement since I haven't had any personal or even anecdotal evidence about other cities there. At the very least, I'll confine the statement to New York City instead.

ok, i'm kinda late to the party, but will try

Gender: Male.

Age: late 20s

Location: TX.

Occupation: Test Engineer

Education: MS EE

2010 Compensation: avg 70 (pay increase in H2 2010).

Future Salary Projection: upper 70s for this year, no more increases after that except 7-10% year-end bonus

Benefits: Kick-ass medical (rare), avg dental, vision, 6% company match, 3-wk vacation

What's the job like?
Supposed to work 40-hr wk but end up working 50-60hr wk in regular weeks and 70-80hr wk in busy weeks (which is more often that not)
Like the job but don't like the sweat shop

Would you recommend the career to others?
yes, rewarding, but pay with a MS EE can be as low as $50k and as high as close to $100k within the first 5 years...requires 4-7 years of school

Thanks and question for you: 1099 or W2?

Quote from ziptree : ^^ Very cool. Gender: Male. Age: 26. Location: TX. Occupation: Associate dentist. Education: D.D.S. 2010 Compensation: $180,000. Future Salary Projection: Negotiated a 8.5% salary increase for the 2011 year -- ~$195,300 for this coming year. Benefits: Continuing education courses are paid for by my employer. They amount to ~$1,000 a year or so. What's the job like? I fix teeth. What more is there? The majority of my patients are fee-for-service (pay for their own dental care) or have dental insurance. Medicaid patients amount to less than 15-20% of my patient pool. Hours are usually 8:00am-6:00pm daily with extended hours on Thursday evenings until 9:30pm or so. Would you recommend the career to others? Most definitely -- except if you live in California or New York. Great career, multiple opportunities for advancement if you're not afraid of assuming the role of owner of a dental office. Very little, if any, overtime depending on what you want out of life. I'm working as hard as I can now to build up liquid assets in order to acquire some rental property and to plan for the future. In a few years, I imagine I'll scale back my hours once I'm able to buy a dental practice for myself.

I'm an employee and receive a W2.

Gender: Male.

Age: 25.

Location: CA.

Occupation: Facilities Operator Oil/Gas Industry

Education: None

2010 Compensation: $103,000.

Future Salary Projection: +3%

Benefits: 75% Education paid for. Company contributed 80,000 for 2010 in "benefits" (health, 401k etc..)

What's the job like?

Awesome. It's not a dirty job like most people seem to think of the entire oil/gas industry. Mentally challenging at times. Our moto is "90% of the time you are waiting for stuff to happen but the 10% time something 'wrong' happens that is why they pay so well"

Would you recommend the career to others?

If you are in a oil/gas producing part of the world I would highly suggest any move into this industry. It's fun, fast paced at times and provides great financial stability along with job security if you get locked in with a big oil company.

Quote from nuhhht : Gender: Male. Age: 25. Location: CA. Occupation: Facilities Operator Oil/Gas Industry Education: None 2010 Compensation: $103,000. Future Salary Projection: +3% Benefits: 75% Education paid for. Company contributed 80,000 for 2010 in "benefits" (health, 401k etc..) What's the job like? Awesome. It's not a dirty job like most people seem to think of the entire oil/gas industry. Mentally challenging at times. Our moto is "90% of the time you are waiting for stuff to happen but the 10% time something 'wrong' happens that is why they pay so well" Would you recommend the career to others? If you are in a oil/gas producing part of the world I would highly suggest any move into this industry. It's fun, fast paced at times and provides great financial stability along with job security if you get locked in with a big oil company.

Well FML. I have a masters and only make half of that!

I'm 30 with a Masters degree and am a "tech guy" at a school. I'm thinking I need to find a place to make more $$$

Quote from J3ff : Well FML. I have a masters and only make half of that! I'm 30 with a Masters degree and am a "tech guy" at a school. I'm thinking I need to find a place to make more $$$

I'm very blessed sir and I do not take it for granted.

Yeah, no doubt. I'm just tired of hearing "well someday all your schooling will pay off" and there are more than a few ppl in this thread who are younger and making a LOT more than I am.. and I'm in a wealthy area where cost of living blows!

Quote from J3ff : Yeah, no doubt. I'm just tired of hearing "well someday all your schooling will pay off" and there are more than a few ppl in this thread who are younger and making a LOT more than I am.. and I'm in a wealthy area where cost of living blows!

What was your master's in? If it was a soft science or liberal arts... well... yeah...

Technology

Hey, I'll bite. Mine is a bit weird, though.

Gender: Female

Age: 27

Location: Japan (until July) normally SoCal

Occupation: Assistant English Teacher

Education: B.A in Anthropology, Minor in Creative Writing / A.A. / A.S.

2010 Compensation: Approximately $45,000 after the yen strengthened.

Future Salary Projection: Contract ends in July, income will drop to $0 immediately. Salary for my program is fixed, with extra money/reimbursement only given for business travel.

Benefits: Job security during contract period, medical insurance through National Health Insurance, international experience, lots of vacation time, not required to pay either Japanese or US taxes.

What's the job like?

I travel between 3 high schools, teaching 3 classes a day on average at each one. I teach with a Japanese teacher, and the experience with each class can vary widely because of both teacher and students. I have an incredible amount of downtime, and during school breaks, I still have to go to work (unless vacation days are used) and basically sit at my desk for 8 hours playing on the computer/reading my Kindle. It all depends on placement, though, I know some in the same program that are running their tails off from the minute they get there to whenever they actually get to leave. YMMV is definitely how it goes here.

Would you recommend the career to others?

If you have a Bachelors (or higher) and are completely stumped for a job or wish to live in Japan for a year+, this might be what you are looking for. Most people that aren't me (too much internet shopping) manage to travel or save large amounts of money while on the program, and many like the job security. The program I'm on is ostensibly referred to as a "youth exchange," and thusly, required that you be under the age of 40 when you enter the program. I would not recommend it with children unless you are prepared to uproot them; I know there is a few who enter with kids every year, but they've done their research. Be aware that if you are married and your spouse isn't in the program with you, more than likely they will be unable to work in Japan due to strict visa laws. I know several housewives and househusbands here among the foreigners.

I've enjoyed my time here, but I'm returning to CA this summer, and my crazy credit card and student loan payments will push me into finding a job almost immediately (I have about a month's worth of bill money in an ING account) and honestly, I have no idea what I want to do. An office job would be preferable, but if I have to go sell HV sewing machines again or go sub teach for a bit until that happens, I guess that's what I'll have to do. I've considered returning to school, but I simply don't have the money, and I honestly don't know what I would want to study.

I'm hoping a lightning bolt of motivation hits me soon!

Gender: Male.

Age: 25.

Location: NJ.

Occupation: Healthcare Consulting

Education: B.S. Bus. Admin w/ Concentration in Finance

2010 Compensation: $75,000

Future Salary Projection: ~90,000

Benefits: Medical, dental

What's the job like?

Significant amount of travel, learn all about the hospital sector. I like not being in the same office every day. A lot of data mining, research and negotiations. Small business, owner micromanages. Often told something (re: travel reimbursement, incentives, etc) and it never happens. If you ask about it, you're in the cellar for weeks on end. Not that lenient with time off - an hour doctors appointment in the morning means you have to take the entire day off. Not a lot of training or education.

Would you recommend the career to others?

Yes, but obviously at the right company. I just got engaged so I'm trying to maintain local clients, as opposed to others who are constantly out of state. Great field to be in if you like to switch it up every day, meet new people, and are good at learning on your own.