 | Summary E-mail: rajakobson@comcast.net Robert A. Jakobson
425-760-3549
Snohomish, WA 98296
Positions Interested In: Program Management, Software Development, Software Design
Microsoft Corporation (Chameleon Technologies) AT&T Wireless (Insight Global) Microsoft Corporation (Volt)
Microsoft Corporation
Sun Microsystems
IBM Global Services
Montana State University Western Wyoming Community College
U.S. Citizen
Full Time Employment or Contracted Rates:
(Depending on Position)
$47.00-$65.00
$98,000.00
Skill Years used Last used
Microsoft net 14+ 2011
Web Development 15+ 2011
ASP 14+ 2011
SQL Server 10 2011
Visual Basic 13+ 2011
Adobe Photoshop 12 2011
WPF SilverLight 4 2011
App Development 14+ 2011
Program Management 12 2011
ADO.NET 9 2011
ASP.NET 10 2011
User Interface Design 10+ 2011
VB.NET 10+ 2011
C# 5 2010
XML 8 2011
Microsoft SharePoint 8 2011
MySQL 3 2010
Software Development 12+ 2011
*for any skill not listed please see my resume which details all software, applications, training and experience - it is extensive and covers 2 pages. If there's software out there... I've probably played with it or know about it.
Information Technology, Computer
Developer: Applications
Developer: Client/Server
IT Management - Strategist or Architect
Multimedia Designer
Project Manager
Software Engineers
Systems Administrator
Web Administrator
Web Designer
Web Developer/Programmer
Yes
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Current Rates and How I Arrive at My Numbers:
My salary requirements will depend on the position your offering, the package your offering (benefits, etc), and where the job is.
As a rule I am within the national average on all work rates.
Just in case no one knows what the national average is...
I base my numbers off of 3 sources. The primary being www.GlassDoor.com which features actual reported salaries for specific geographic locations, job titles, and employers.
A Senior PM Software IT job is around 146,000 a year top end - realistically - IMHO. I'm charging no where near that- the average reported salary is around 98,000 a year as of June, 2010. (Glassdoor reports the average PM II at Microsoft is $98,464 - and the average Sr. PM there is $112,000. Microsoft, is in fact, a little low, with the average PM II being between $101,000 and $110,000 - to give you some idea. - Links provided below)
My rate currently is around $98,000 per year. For those without a calculator that averages out to: $51 per hour (If you don't include benefits) or $47 per hour if you do.
$98,000 / 52 Weeks per year / 40 Hours per week = $47.11
Now, as a contractor I will not be getting paid for holidays. But my employers will still be taking them - which means that I will be eating those hours. So it's not really 52 Weeks - it's actually closer to 50 weeks that I will be actually working on a 1 year contract.
$98,000 / 50 Weeks per year / 40 Hours per week = $49
I will also need to probably have a couple of sick days... which generally I have to pay for as well... end result is that $50 for isn't out of the question at all.
If you are a recruiter - don't quibble with me on that. You want to quibble - then you need to kick in benefits or something to make up for that. Or you need to be straight with your client and tell them the $$ figure they have in mind is not for this country. And no - that's not a dig at overseas workers - that's an observation. I'm well aware a number of firms toss out figures that just aren't realistic.
I can be flexible for the right team, or the right project that piques my interest or there are other personal benefits and for that I can and will lower that somewhat.
For example a recent project involved working on something very cool and something that helped children all over the planet I took a significant pay cut. That, btw, is not very common for me but it wasn't a particularly common job.
Here are some sample salaries - in case you think I'm just tossing numbers up without an accurate knowledge...
Here's the Average PM Salary from GlassDoor
And... if you think I just chose "mainstream" big name companies... here's Wipro's Salary range...
For those who might think I picked less than median numbers for this here are results from a few more websites:
Payscale.com : $80,000 - $120,000
Salary.com : $117,000 - $171,000
Glassdoor.com $65,000 - $180,000
PM Positions that include Medical and DOD jobs - pay more since there's hazards and legal issues - and frankly Medical just pays better.. but all of them are well within the range I'm asking.
No one I know uses Salary.com's numbers - they're laughably overpriced and inflated. Salary.com's report for my particular field, in this particular area is between $117,000 for an entry level PM and $171,000 for someone with my experience. This is obscenely high (IMHO) but I include it as a valid top end number since that's their reported figure. GlassDoor included numbers from HP - which has a lot of specialized contracts and senior engineers that have considerable experience. As a result, yes - there really are PMs at HP who were making $180,000 a year... and probably... are now looking for work. ;-)
All this aside GlassDoor, does display the most accurate range, since these are actual salaries people had in IT positions last year.
For those interested... the analysis I've done shows the job market is neither drying up or that it's booming either. It has improved after the recessions dip - but not by a whole lot. It continues to improve slowly, and I expect it to do so based on what I've seen. (Not that I'm an expert, just this is what I've seen and the trend appears to be slow but steady.)
The market is pretty much normal for the current trends despite the economy issues going on.
I keep track of PM Positions on a monthly basis and keep my resume current on all major job sites and have done so for years. I wouldn't be much of a PM if I didn't know the specifics of my own job, what current rates are, and what is actually expected now would I? I pull my numbers from the top 4 Salary reporting sites out there - so I have no bias and am aware there are higher and lower numbers for these positions. The numbers here are representative of the current averages.
As a result I do expect people who are presenting me with positions to acknowledge that they're not offering anywhere near what the median is for the position. The game of "in this economy you can only expect $XX dollars..." appears to be the nature of placing people these days I've found - it's almost a ballet of dancing around what people know to be the actual value for the job... and what the job actually pays. Please keep in mind that I probably have already been called by another firm for the exact same position - if your rate is significantly less than theirs - well would you take a job that pays less from an employer who's openly lying to you about what the rate is?
Under current economic trends I do expect that most are offering around $35-$40 for entry level positions doing what I do. I am not an entry level worker, so if you're looking to hire me at an entry level wage I will most likely decline.
Now if you're going to offer me $45 for the job - which is my bottom dollar I can accept with my bills - I might surprise you if the job's really cool enough. (It's unlikely but I'm a fairly reasonable person and will at least listen to any reasonable offers.)
Offer me my asking rate - and I'll always be interested... and you are of course ... welcome to offer more than that, and for some jobs, and some employers - I'll probably ask for more than my rate. Because there are some jobs which flatout require more effort, more risk for me, and more cost.
But I will always let you know right up front what my costs and reasons are for any rate.