. I spoke to HR about the salary and benefits of my new perm job at the bank, where I've been doing contract writing for the past 9 months.
I'll be making $80,000 with benefits. 
I'm not eligible for a bonus. 
I'm very happy. As a contractor, I had been making the hourly equivalent of $73,000 and my contractor friend repeatedly warned me that the bank makes contractorss take a paycut when and if they go perm. I not only didn't have to take a pay cut, I got a $7,000 bump up.
I haven't earned anything approaching this since 2009, five years ago.
I nudged a little to see if I could go higher, but the HR person said the job originally was set at $78,000 but that my boss really pushed for more, so they increased it by $2,000 but that that was as far as they could go.
I was completely prepared to push hard and had all my arguments lined up and my research on what other banks pay their writers, but I had been expecting them to offer something in the 70s. Honestly, I am quite happy with this salary and it will feel like even more since I have paid off my mortgage. I'll also be saving roughly $2,000 a year on the cheaper but very good Cigna health plan the bank offers, compared to what I'm paying now for an Aetna plan offered by the agency.
Tomorrow I will get an email where I need to electronically accept the job offer and then they will run a background check on me and send me a phone number I'll need to call to schedule a fingerprinting. Sometimes they let you provide the fingerprints electronically, which makes the process go faster. So I will be perm, she said, at the latest by July 21st or so.
The benefits include 22 PTO days that I can use for whatever I want. They'll be pro-rated this year, which I think means I earn them as I go, so if I am perm as of Aug. 1, for instance, then I would be able to get 9 days off for the rest of 2014? Can someone confirm that? Then when I started in 2015, I would get the full 22 days, but am wondering if I have to rack up the time before I can use them.
I have so many plans for the extra money. I need to create a new monthly savings plan, for retirement, of course, but I also want to ramp up some deferred home improvement/maintenance stuff. I'm thinking generator and new kitchen. And maybe restarting my Netflix.
At the same time, I want to rein in what I see as wasteful spending. It is just too easy to go down to the cafe at lobby level for an easy lunch, and I've gotten a little too used to Chinese takeout on Friday nights, so my dining out expenses have approached $100 monthly. Well, that included a $30 lunch when I took my boss out to lunch for her birthday. Money well spent, I'd say! But otherwise, I really need to tone down the eating out; it makes me go off my vegan diet and put on weight.
I'm so happy to have gotten this news during my furlough week off. NOw I can really enjoy it!!!
My new salary!
July 2nd, 2014 at 11:54 pm
July 3rd, 2014 at 12:07 am 1404342429
July 3rd, 2014 at 12:09 am 1404342588
July 3rd, 2014 at 12:16 am 1404342992
July 3rd, 2014 at 12:20 am 1404343203
Are you sure you want to undertake a big kitchen remodel? If you talk to those of us who lived in our home while the work was underway you might re-consider. Update, upgrade, appliances, paint and floor are just messy but a remodel has potential to uncover issues that lead to problems that require expensive remediation and a year later the tradesmen are still trooping through the door and making hash of savings . If you are still considering selling and buying a condo, I hope you'll talk to an experienced realtor about cost recovery for any plan.
Happy holiday, enjoy all the celebrations your community offers
July 3rd, 2014 at 12:38 am 1404344313
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July 3rd, 2014 at 03:22 am 1404354123
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July 3rd, 2014 at 07:28 am 1404368923
Congratulations!
July 3rd, 2014 at 01:25 pm 1404390311
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July 4th, 2014 at 02:56 am 1404438962
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July 4th, 2014 at 06:12 pm 1404493964
July 4th, 2014 at 09:49 pm 1404506946
The PTO at my job is accrued monthly--- I get 17 days per year or 1.21 per month. So, after each month, I accrue 1.21 days which I can then use as early as the following month.
July 5th, 2014 at 02:55 am 1404525330
July 5th, 2014 at 01:39 pm 1404563976
Yes, it really has been a long, strange trip. Those 5 years have taught me to truly respect a dollar and to appreciate paid work when I have it.
So thanks again for being such a loyal cheerleading team.
July 12th, 2014 at 03:06 pm 1405173986
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