Cost Of Life in USA and salary for flash developper

[xxlm]

Hello mates.
Ok, the thing is I could perhaps (lots of conditionnal lol) go to USA, working there.
The guy I'll work for, is asking me a "price" for my knowledge (in fact what I claim for salary).
The fact is I dunno the cost of the life there.
And I dunno the market, so I dunno what salary I could ask for.
So if you could gimme the min, average, max of salary for a flash developper, I could then have an idea of "how much I cost"...

Thx a lot.

Hope to get quick answer.
I have to answer by tomorrow night (for me, so in 20 hours)

[CyanBlue]

Hm... Where in the US??? It goes city by city... ;)

I'm in VA and the minimum that I've got on an interview was 35k, which I walked away with my tongue tied, and the max that I've heard of was 80k, which I'd love to get... :D

But then, it all depends on... ;)

[stealthelephant]

Hm... Where in the US??? It goes city by city... ;)

I'm in VA and the minimum that I've got on an interview was 35k, which I walked away with my tongue tied, and the max that I've heard of was 80k, which I'd love to get... :D

But then, it all depends on... ;)

35k?? :eek: :eek: :eek:
entry level is in and around 70k in NYC

[CyanBlue]

That's why I said tongue tied... :D
70k to start in NYC for the entry level position??? Dang... :(

[petefs]

cost of living in VA is also more than considerably lower in VA :O

plus there's less of a lower/middle market there, so the entry level salary for a flash developer is inflated in a city known to be one of the mecca's for flash developers.

[xxlm]

Ok, it's in the Minnessota, near by Minneapolis (the city name is Bursville).
So any idea then.
oh btw you're talking about $35k, doing $35000 per year doing $2916 per month? Rite
For the max $80k is doing $80000 per year so $6667 per month? Rite too?

wow! Salary are really high there. But I think it's cause you're saving money for medical cover and so on rite?

Could you pls tell me more about how your managing your money during a month there.
I really wanna know what I have to pay (like insurance, rent, ...). Just to have an idea
Gimme the BIG line pls... (or thiner if you can)

Thx a lot... :)

[CyanBlue]

Well... The bottom line, I think, is that you usually get what you are worth... :)

What you said all are right... Those are all annual salary... before tax of course... Think about the big tax you have to pay each month and the annual tax you have to take care of...

Here is a general idea on where money goes... (I ain't really saying this is my case...)

(depending on where you live, of course)
Rent $700
Health Insurance $300
Auto Insurance $100
Gas $100
Tax $500
Utilities(Electricity/Gas/Water/Phone/Cable) $300

Um... Can't think of any other thing at the moment... except the money to eat/drink/smoke which you probably know how much it is going to be... ;)

Hope that helps... ;)

[petefs]

heh, most people in Europe can't fathom what it costs to drink and smoke here : ) We have a pretty heavy sin-tax, and even though you can get cigarettes for ~2.50 in the tobacco-states, they cost 4.50 in most metropolitan areas up to 8+ in, say, NYC : )

As far as drinking, count on the following:

Ultra Cheap:
Beer - natty ice, beast: not sure, to tell the truth :b
Wine: $5
Liquor: 7-8 for ~75+ proof 750ml

Medium (the cheapest I'll drink):
Beer - yuengling, rolling rock, etc: $6 for 6 bottles, $9 for 12
Wine: your basic drink-able wine: $10-$12
Liquor: 11-15 for 'premiums'. absolut, JD, etc..

Good:
Beer - boddingtons, grolsch, quality american micro-brews etc...: $9-$11 6 bottles
Wine: $15
Liquor: $30

etc...
yeah, sorry, been drinking and smoking too much tonight to not give you a general idea of how much it costs in the states ; ) Those are suburban prices in your average area, it should be about right for a Minneapolis suburb. Hopefully you don't drink and smoke as much as I do, however ^_^

remember that it gets cooooold in that neck of the woods, so if you like it toasty your power bill's gunna be a bit higher ^_^

pete -- drinkin Cottonwood IPA & smokin' the marlboro milds :b

[xxlm]

Oh thx cyan.
really it helps a LOT.
I can now have a little idea of the life there.
Do you think that $45k for a flash developper, knowing php, mysql, xml, css, c++, delphi, illustrator, photoshop, ... and for 2 years and a half on the market is good? or too much? too low?

Thx ... :)

[xxlm]

petefs> I'm not drinking, nor smoking. So no pb for me... :) :) héhéhé
Yeah I know it's kinda cold there, but I like cold weather.

Anyway, I really wanna move. There or AUS but I wanna move. The first job I'll find I think will be the good one (if salary is ok of course :) )

C ya

[petefs]

I would have no problems asking for 45k in that area with that skill-set, but with 2.5 years experience I would make sure that your portfolio really shows off your ability to combine those skills -- unless of course you've already been offered a salary at 45k ^_^ In that case just make sure you're not working for a company like EA that thinks salary means you work 18 hours a day ; )

(like some jobs I know : > [ i hope nobody i know is reading this :b ])

[xxlm]

In fact my website is down for long now, and I don't have the time to redo it.
Too much work to do.

No don't have any salary offers. But a job one yeah. The guy asked me how much I pretend. That's why asking this. But seems that around $45k is what I could ask. Not so much but enought to live with.

[CyanBlue]

I personally think that you worth whole lot more than 45k, but I am sure there is a part where the company will need to shed out for your visa status, make sure you get that one straight if it is not on the conversation list, so they owe you abit more... But if you do a good job and they honor what you are doing, they will give you good amount of raise in no time... That's what I think... :)

Three things for you to do...
#1. Go to Salary.com if you not done so yet, and fiddle with different job positions in that area to know what the possible salary might be... Put youself in to a college graduate to cover some of your disadvantages and search around... You should be able to get good baseline with it...
#2. Fix your site... You never know what's going to happen...
#3. Browse around the area on the Internet to see if you need a car there or not... It might make big difference in calcualtion...

:)

[petefs]

If only we got paid for helping people on AS.org... : )

I think you could get more than 45k if you shopped around, too! : ) Keep in mind that it's almost always better to ask for more money rather than less money -- if you undercut yourself they'll ask to pick you up in a second...if you over-charge then they'll most likely tell you what their budget is if they're really interested ^_^

[xxlm]

Thx for the advices mates.
Yes cyanblue, I'll try to fix my website asap. But I'm sad to say it will be by january next year (2005).
I will go to on salary.com (dunno this website).

Thx... :) :)

[CyanBlue]

If they get you, when do they want you to start??? :)

[xxlm]

By january of febuary.
But I dunno yet.
Seems that they want me at a really low rate.
We will see...

[BadBadNeil]

45K does seem a bit low for your skillset but, it's not a managerial position, you have 2 years exp, and it's not an ultra big city. Even if you started at 45K, I don't think you'd be there or at that level for very long, especially with a growing portfolio and adding years of exp. In a few years I wouldn't be surprised if you were in a more senior position making $70K.

[xxlm]

I hope someone will hear you :) :)
yeah.
That's why I wanna move. cause on my island mate, noone take care of a flash dev, and the salary isn't better if you have flash skills.

So...

[CyanBlue]

The only problem is that he probablly will be in the limit of the visa that holds him as a hostage to the company... He cannot really move to another company when he wants unless the visa problem is solved and any other legal stuff that he might need to sort out... It sure sounds like a good opportunity but you've got to be extra careful, xxlm... :)

[xxlm]

Thx cyan. I am.
Really carefull. I already know that moving in another country you dunno is hard.
So all have to be good and well done.

So I'll wait for the good opportunity.
But perhaps this one will be the good one.

Anyway, I having mailing list from lots of job career website, for usa and aus.
I will start writting and send my resume, cause my job will end at the end of 2004...

C ya

[CyanBlue]

Yup... Keep searching for one, and you shall get one... :)

[xxlm]

I hope mate.
Moreover I can go everywhere. Just need someone to know there to help me. That's all. :) :)

[geniegmu]

Are you planning to come to work in VA? Depending on the company I would say $45 for 2 years EXP is low. At least, if you're coming to work in the DC area with web development experience then I think it is. By the way, rent up here is getting pricey, unless you don't mind paying $500 a month to share with at least 3 other people. Think more like $600-$700 a month if you're in a 2 bedroom and if you want a 1 bedroom or studio apartment expect to pay at least $900-1000 a month for a crappy place. And I'm not kidding about those numbers.

Electricity is pricey too, when I lived in a 2 bedroom our bill per month ranged between $90->$180 (no gas, all electric), internet from cox (cable) is $56 basic no extras, water $20, gas for the car depends on how many hours you like to sit in traffic (unlike NYC we have morons who don't support any good public transportation around here so expect to drive nearly everywhere)

My first offer out of college in this area and the one I took was $50k. Albeit it was a bit high, for the job and company I worked at it was only about $5k over normal entry level positions there. It really all depends on who you work for and sell your soul to around here :)

[xxlm]

Ok ok...
Thx for those infos. :)