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YNOT
05-31-2005, 09:33 AM
I'm wondering if people here might be able to help me out a bit. Without me saying what I actually make, can anyone give me an idea of what they think I should approximately be making per year as a Senior Graphic Designer.

The reason I'm wondering is, my wife's job is slowing down and I need to make more money. I love the place I am at and the job is very secure. I've got a great 401k, good health benefits, my Directors and Supervisors think very highly of me, so really I have no reason to switch jobs aside from just needing more money. I've already gotten two 7% raises this year, but it's just not helping quite enough. I know 7% is good, but as I tell my wife...7% of crap is crap...lol.

I can't bellyache too bad because I have no degree, and honestly I feel I've done fairly well for myself thus far with no degree.

I guess the bottom line is, with what I'm making currently, I'm wondering if I'm paid rather well where I am or if I could really benefit from switching companies.

Anyway, I have no degree in Graphic Design, but I do have 14+ years of experience in design. I'm a hard working employee who exceeds expectations on all of my reviews and always gets good raises, but I'm just wondering if I could be making more somewhere else.

Can anyone maybe tell me what they think I could/should be making so I can determine if I should consider switching companies. I realize that location has a lot to do with salaries, but any help/advice you can offer would be great.

I'm waiting on my freelance biz to pick up, but in the meantime I feel I'm getting further in debt. I'm not afraid to roll up my sleeves and bust my a$$, I do it every day...I just want to get paid what I'm worth and wonder if I should expect something more, or if I should be content making what I'm making.

Thanks in advance for all of your input. I hope my sleepless 3:00 AM post is making sense.

benjo
05-31-2005, 01:07 PM
Try the salary calculator. http://www.designsalaries.com/calculator.asp

defjoe
05-31-2005, 01:17 PM
salary.com is good as well.

based on where you live it is giving me a low end of $44K, middle of $50K and high end of $58K.

also don't fret about the degree. If you look over a ton of threads in here you will find that alot of us value real world experience. you have enough of that to get you through.

hope this helps.

GreenThumb
06-03-2005, 05:33 PM
Hey,

Dont fret the degree issue at all. In fact, I think advertising and design are one of the very few fields where no one cares what your GPA in college was (or that you went to one for that matter).

Some extremely well placed friends of mine dont have degrees--just amazingly good portfolios. As for the salary issue, it all depends on who you are working for. In a mid sized agency, I would be happy with a salary between 45-55k.