As a new-to-the-industry prospective employee with the question of what do i think i am worth? looming over me i thought i'd ask for a public consensis. I know it varies from country to country from depends alot on you experience but i still am not sure what kind of figure i should ask for when i apply for a level design position and if it gets to that stage (ie. i am offered the job).
A friend of mine started as a programmer (database systems in Delphi) and recieved only 25K per year for the first year (minimum wage) and is now on 35K per year gross.
As with this industry, employment is usually on a project to project base with no job security after any one project is done, i'd like to know afew things.
1. Is a salary (ie Per annum) still the term if a job has an end date less than a year?
2. do you talk in weekly wages or per project pay (ie fixed figure divided by the project period) or hourly rate?
3. is there a union for us game developers? (think not)
4. while overtime is expected to some degree (eg. crunch time near end of dev cycle) can you ask for more money if overtime becomes the 'norm' and if so is it taboo?
5. negotiable means you can ask for what you'd like to be paid and what you think your time and effort is worth, but can you neg. a new rate during a projects development?
These are just some questions i have on this topic. And the answers (if there are any black and white ones to be had) are relating to Australian dollars.
Good luck with the position, heres my understanding of the situation:
1. Yup.
2. Annual. ~$25K is what a junior should typically get. Ask for ~$32 though. [:)]
3. I'm not sure about a union... there are a few associations you should join. Anyone know?
4. You usually won't get paid for overtime. You should have worked harder!
5. That would be a bit rude. You might like to ask if you could work on their initial wage for a 3 month trial, after which they elevate your pay if they are happy with your work.
I'm new to this biz stuff, so everyone please correct my mistakes. [:)]
Scott.