Entry Level Web Design/Development Salaries?

Heartlash

Hey all,

I'm finishing up my degree and looking into a few full time web design/development positions. Some of the jobs ask for salary requirements. All the work I've done up to this point has either been freelance (usually $20-25 an hour) or volunteer (for charities). Most of the jobs require knowledge of html/css, PHP, sometimes backend UIs like ASP.net etc, Photoshop, etc.

So what should I be asking for? I've found information that suggests anywhere from 38k - 52k, but I don't want to ask for a ridiculous figure and thought I'd see what people here think.

Thanks.

VThornheart

What State/Region of what country do you live in? That'll have a dramatic effect on typical starting salary.

Edit: Also, do you have any college degrees and/or certifications that might play a factor in your starting salary?

naporeon

That will completely depend on your actual level of expertise you feel you have, the portfolio of previous work you have put together (or your ability to pass a whiteboard test), and where you will be looking for work.

Your estimates are spectacularly optimistic for Seattle (where I live), unless you are profoundly talented, and capable of demonstrating it. There are newly-graduated programmers working for less than $20/hr around here. Most, I would guess.

robotbebop

I live in Chilliwack BC and work in Abbotsford for a graphic/web design company. I started at 12.50 for my first month as a trial period, and then was bumped up to $15/h and will be making $16 after my next check. So that amounts to about $33k a year gross. I think that's probably the norm for entry level. In this kind of work it all amounts to your experience. Getting into this industry is like a mobius strip: You need experience to get hired, but you need to get hired to get experience; that means sucking it up and working for less money at the start. The up-shot here is that if you're good you WILL make more money in a short order of time. Unless you work for a deadbeat.

Heartlash

Region = Boston, MA.

I thought those figures sounded a bit high too.

My experience is largely working for a charity, along with a summer internship for a large Media corporation that turned into freelance work after the program ended. I also work as a lab assistant at the Digital Production labs at my college, where I do a lot of software troubleshooting and teach workshops in html/css.

My degree will be (I graduate in May) a BFA in Visual Media Arts with a concentration in New Media.

So I'm thinking low 30s.

VThornheart

Man, 15-20 per hour? Maybe I'm in a more expensive region of the country, but over here in Sacramento someone with a degree can get an entry level job between 45-55k/year.

Is that 15-20 per hour estimate for someone straight out of high school with no prior experience?

Nogs

just letting you know that my friend graduated in compsci with an emphasis in database management, and worked on a campus website during college. He got a 40k job as a web developer the first week after graduation. That is in Minneapolis.

So i mean, if you got experience and the degree(which it looks like you do) you might do pretty well. Really depends on the company I guess.

VThornheart

Aye, I think the degree is the big differentiator. I don't think your initial estimate of 38-52k was unreasonable. Maybe the 52k portion was a little bit high, but with a degree and living in a major metropolitan area with high cost of living it might not be far off the mark.

But admittedly, I don't know for sure about Boston specifically. Try going to http://www.salary.com (I think that was the site) and looking up the average entry level web developer salary in the Boston area. They'll break it down for you, and at least give you a general estimate. It's a very useful website.

supabeast

Check out http://www.designsalaries.org/

naporeon

VThornheart wrote: »

Is that 15-20 per hour estimate for someone straight out of high school with no prior experience?

Nope.

That is entry-level for MS programmers.

VThornheart

Really? Shiiit... that's crazy. They're paying their entry level employees lower than the national average salary. Like 5 thousand dollars lower per year.

Need I remind us all of the plethora of jobs that are less difficult than software development that people work in.

Even EDS gives their starting employees ~45k/year for software development, and they're generally heartless corporate bastards. I generally use what Electronic Data Systems pays/gives to its employees as a base level for the minimal amount of compensation a company can give to an Employee without having a risk of office shootings. But I think Microsoft just set the bar lower. I had no idea MS was milking it like that.

What do the senior developers at MS make, I wonder? Is the pay scale exponential (as in you suffer coming through the door but soon make lots of money), or are they just stiffing everyone equally?

naporeon

I don't know. I don't work for MS.

I do development for a non-profit, and even we get paid more than that.

VThornheart

Damn, that says something when you make more in a nonprofit... what kind of a racket are they running at MS? Do they think that people should be willing to work for less for the honor of working for them? That sucks a lot. I used to think it might be fun to work for them. Not anymore.

Like I said in the prior post... when your salary and benefits compare unfavorably to an employee-abusive company like EDS, you're doing something *wrong*. I guess that's how MS makes all their money though. It's too bad. =(

JohnnyCache

You guys do know that "38-55K a year" is about the same as "20 dollars an hour" right? 20/hr is 41,600 a year cash, before benefits.

ecchi

naporeon wrote: »

VThornheart wrote: »

Is that 15-20 per hour estimate for someone straight out of high school with no prior experience?

Nope.

That is entry-level for MS programmers.

Where'd you hear that? I know a soon-to-be summer intern who's going to be making more than that, plus subsidized housing, relocation, etc -- and I kind of doubt the interns make more than the regular employees (though I guess it's possible that they do!).

I'm sure MS isn't the place to go to get rich, but they're definitely not that stingy... though it probably depends which group you're working for.

Jasconius

Not sure what the cost of living is like in Boston but in Tampa, Florida entry level html/css with some back end experience will net you in the low 30's to start. Flash experience tack a few G's onto that if you're a proven commodity.

You can't progress very far just doing HTML/CSS though unless it's a seriously big company with a full time demand for a HTML specialist. Some companies do.

Continuing down the PHP/ASP path will help if you are ready to commit the next 5-10 years of your life slaving over web application source code. It's not for everyone.