The IA Institute released its 2010 IA Institute Salary and Benefits Survey.
Highlights of the 2010 Salary Survey include:
Median Salary:
The highest salary range was a tie between the USD$80,000-90,000 and USD$90,000-100,000 ranges, each representing 12.8% of the total responses.
The average salary was estimated to be USD$95,252, up $5,252 from 2009.
Freelance Rates:
Excluding outliers, the average freelance rate was USD$88.65, up USD$3.65 over 2009. The median rate was USD$85.00 and the modal rate was USD$100.00, with eight people indicating that rate.
Showing posts with label mentoring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mentoring. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Be a GeoMentor!
Amy Jeu sent me this announcement. If you love mapping and love mentoring kids, don't miss this opportunity:
The Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) software company ESRI has partnered with National Geographic to recruit GIS professionals to mentor students. In true GIS form, they present a map of who is mentoring where. So far, no one has volunteered in NYC (as of Nov. 5). Participation is a great way to kick off GIS Day, which is November 18, just a few days away. Also, see details on Geography Awareness Week, which begins next week.
Please use the http://www.geomentor.org/ website to sign up for the GeoMentor program.
The Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) software company ESRI has partnered with National Geographic to recruit GIS professionals to mentor students. In true GIS form, they present a map of who is mentoring where. So far, no one has volunteered in NYC (as of Nov. 5). Participation is a great way to kick off GIS Day, which is November 18, just a few days away. Also, see details on Geography Awareness Week, which begins next week.
Please use the http://www.geomentor.org/ website to sign up for the GeoMentor program.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Re: Mentors and Heroes
(Originally posted in comments to Whitney Hess' blog, Pleasure & Pain)
My favorite mentor story is about a psychology professor I worked for during my senior year at Columbia. He ran the Vision Science Laboratory with three or four graduate students. I showed up on my first day and he threw me a small red book, called Programming in C, and told me to learn it so I can help "reprogram the stimulus on the Techtronix monitor and rewire the input box" for his latest experiments. Oh and then write a script or two to analyze the results.
I sort of freaked, because I had no idea what he was talking about. There were wires and metal button boxes and a huge TV monitor with several computer components connected to it. Behind was a box loaded with little switches and more wires. Somehow I was supposed to write a program that would make it all work. I hadn't taken a programming course since Apple Basic in 10th grade. The graduate students laughed at me a lot, but I read the book, got the hang of it and ended up having the most fun that year.
Second semester, the same professor challenged me to take another semester of Calculus. I hadn't taken the first semester Calculus since freshman year but he said I could do it. Well, I failed the first test, which was basically, “name the formula you use to solve the following problems.” But because I had that initial push and a lot of encouragement from a professor who showed me how to teach myself, I realized that I could get through it, though it was indeed a struggle. I ultimately took the pass/fail option and passed.
I always thought mentors and heroes had to be superstars. I admit that I have had my own little quiet conversations with Mozart & Washington a la HClinton & ERoosevelt, but if you do that too much, you end up finding yourself falling way too short in comparison. I don't need to write a symphony or win a country. Knowing I challenged myself and figured out how to get through it by myself was one of the best lessons I've ever learned.
My favorite mentor story is about a psychology professor I worked for during my senior year at Columbia. He ran the Vision Science Laboratory with three or four graduate students. I showed up on my first day and he threw me a small red book, called Programming in C, and told me to learn it so I can help "reprogram the stimulus on the Techtronix monitor and rewire the input box" for his latest experiments. Oh and then write a script or two to analyze the results.
I sort of freaked, because I had no idea what he was talking about. There were wires and metal button boxes and a huge TV monitor with several computer components connected to it. Behind was a box loaded with little switches and more wires. Somehow I was supposed to write a program that would make it all work. I hadn't taken a programming course since Apple Basic in 10th grade. The graduate students laughed at me a lot, but I read the book, got the hang of it and ended up having the most fun that year.
Second semester, the same professor challenged me to take another semester of Calculus. I hadn't taken the first semester Calculus since freshman year but he said I could do it. Well, I failed the first test, which was basically, “name the formula you use to solve the following problems.” But because I had that initial push and a lot of encouragement from a professor who showed me how to teach myself, I realized that I could get through it, though it was indeed a struggle. I ultimately took the pass/fail option and passed.
I always thought mentors and heroes had to be superstars. I admit that I have had my own little quiet conversations with Mozart & Washington a la HClinton & ERoosevelt, but if you do that too much, you end up finding yourself falling way too short in comparison. I don't need to write a symphony or win a country. Knowing I challenged myself and figured out how to get through it by myself was one of the best lessons I've ever learned.
Friday, January 23, 2009
How Did the Internet Change Networking?
In response to a LinkedIn discussion thread about how the internet changed networking, I had the following to say:
I'll state up front that I'm in a field (information architecture) that is heavy user of social media and I have been involved in internet technology since I was at the College in the 80s. I have been networking frequently on the internet since 1997. Starting with AOL and Compuserv chat rooms, then Usenet and Yahoo! group type affiliations and then virtual meetups on Fast Company and other social networking pioneers.
The impact of the internet on networking is immediate, cheap and global.
The internet makes it easier to connect, increasingly in real time with tools like IM, Skype and Twitter and related apps built directly within the social networking site. I'm in NYC and with AOL Instant Messenger, I know when a colleague is away from his computer in Panama City. With Twitter, I know what a friend in London had for lunch and whether a group is meeting at a Thai restaurant in Tribeca later this evening. TripIt tells me if a certain user experience blogger I like is planning on attending the IA Summit in Memphis, and if I want I can send her an In-message via LinkedIn to see if she plans to attend a particular conference session.
The internet also makes it cheaper. There has never been so many free ways to contact people. I had a year long project with a colleague in Stuttgart. We connected exclusively on Skype and used online groupware software and FTP to manage the project. If I wanted to bring in another person for the project, I have access to several email lists and social networks.
The internet also makes time disappear in a way that is disconcerting. There is so much online to read, and in my field the most interesting stuff is published online, linked from Twitter or the IAI-members discussion list. It's hard to keep up. And with immediate the feedback of social networking sites, it's hard to pull away.
I do go to conferences and meetups, but I find myself choosing my F2F networking opportunities very carefully, because there are so many interesting opportunities in my field. Sometimes, it's the social networking sites where I find out about a workshop or lecture of interest. At one recent lecture, the speaker made a joke about how we are so tied up with Facebook that we need subway ads for Dentyne chewing gum to remind us how to be friends. But at this same meeting I could point to several dozen people whom I had followed via blogs and twitter, with whom I've had IM conversations very recently. and with whom I could essentially carry on an already ongoing conversation.
It's kind of bizarre. I met my German colleague in person at the IA Summit in Las Vegas, after we had been working together for many months. It was my first IA Summit and I didn't know many people well, so I mused that he was already my best friend in the room and we hadn't even met. It really changes your perspective on the big room full of people. If I'm feeling shy and can't find someone to chat with, I could conceivably twitter my whereabouts and get a response from someone over by the crudité table.
I'll state up front that I'm in a field (information architecture) that is heavy user of social media and I have been involved in internet technology since I was at the College in the 80s. I have been networking frequently on the internet since 1997. Starting with AOL and Compuserv chat rooms, then Usenet and Yahoo! group type affiliations and then virtual meetups on Fast Company and other social networking pioneers.
The impact of the internet on networking is immediate, cheap and global.
The internet makes it easier to connect, increasingly in real time with tools like IM, Skype and Twitter and related apps built directly within the social networking site. I'm in NYC and with AOL Instant Messenger, I know when a colleague is away from his computer in Panama City. With Twitter, I know what a friend in London had for lunch and whether a group is meeting at a Thai restaurant in Tribeca later this evening. TripIt tells me if a certain user experience blogger I like is planning on attending the IA Summit in Memphis, and if I want I can send her an In-message via LinkedIn to see if she plans to attend a particular conference session.
The internet also makes it cheaper. There has never been so many free ways to contact people. I had a year long project with a colleague in Stuttgart. We connected exclusively on Skype and used online groupware software and FTP to manage the project. If I wanted to bring in another person for the project, I have access to several email lists and social networks.
The internet also makes time disappear in a way that is disconcerting. There is so much online to read, and in my field the most interesting stuff is published online, linked from Twitter or the IAI-members discussion list. It's hard to keep up. And with immediate the feedback of social networking sites, it's hard to pull away.
I do go to conferences and meetups, but I find myself choosing my F2F networking opportunities very carefully, because there are so many interesting opportunities in my field. Sometimes, it's the social networking sites where I find out about a workshop or lecture of interest. At one recent lecture, the speaker made a joke about how we are so tied up with Facebook that we need subway ads for Dentyne chewing gum to remind us how to be friends. But at this same meeting I could point to several dozen people whom I had followed via blogs and twitter, with whom I've had IM conversations very recently. and with whom I could essentially carry on an already ongoing conversation.
It's kind of bizarre. I met my German colleague in person at the IA Summit in Las Vegas, after we had been working together for many months. It was my first IA Summit and I didn't know many people well, so I mused that he was already my best friend in the room and we hadn't even met. It really changes your perspective on the big room full of people. If I'm feeling shy and can't find someone to chat with, I could conceivably twitter my whereabouts and get a response from someone over by the crudité table.
Friday, February 01, 2008
CCW Mentoring Kickoff
From the January/February Columbia College Today alumni magazine:
Columbia College Women held a Mentoring Program launch reception on November 27 in the President’s Room at Faculty House, with about 100 alumnae and students in attendance. Noreen Whysel ’90, who co-coordinates CCW with Alumni Affairs Assistant Director Stella Miele-Zanedis, welcomed the attendees and explained the evening’s program, which included discussions designed for alumnae and students to interact during dinner. Attendees were seated according to alumnae profession/student professional interest.
The 2007 program has matched more than 100 junior and senior women with mentors, who share with the students professional as well as personal advice. Spring 2008 programs will feature "A Women’s Consortium," partnered with Columbia Athletics and the Center for Career Education, as well as "Women in Business," "Women in Sciences" and "Women in the Arts" workshops plus a social networking event.
For more information on CCW or any of the programs, or to join CCW, contact Miele-Zanedis: mf2413@columbia.edu.
The 2007 program has matched more than 100 junior and senior women with mentors, who share with the students professional as well as personal advice. Spring 2008 programs will feature "A Women’s Consortium," partnered with Columbia Athletics and the Center for Career Education, as well as "Women in Business," "Women in Sciences" and "Women in the Arts" workshops plus a social networking event.
For more information on CCW or any of the programs, or to join CCW, contact Miele-Zanedis: mf2413@columbia.edu.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Questions for Prospective IAs
Anders Ramsay, User Experience Designer and a long-time mentor in the IA Institute's mentoring program, wrote down some great questions to think about before you approach a prospective mentor. See his list here:
Questions for Prospective IAs
Questions for Prospective IAs
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
IA/UX Salary Surveys
Based on a recent request on the IA Institute Job Board, I have compiled some IA/UX salary information resources. As soon as the IAI salary survey comes out, I'll post a link here.
Very few of the postings I receive on the IA Institute Job Board have salary information, but a typical salary/rate conversion is:
The 1/3 reduction represents the cost of your medical, vacation and other benefits plus social security taxes that the company pays.
For $75/hour, this equals $104,000/year, which appears to be on the high end for those jobs where I do have salary data. Salary.com shows salary+bonus capping around 110K for most experienced IA/UX type jobs, although their job titles don't conform perfectly to the industry yet.
The IA Institute is supposed to publish the results of the 2005 survey this month. They are a bit behind schedule, but keep looking for the survey at http://www.iainstitute.org.
Some other surveys:
2004 UX Salary Survey
http://www.spiritsoftworks.com/resources/2004-salary-survey.htm
2003 AIfIA Salary Survey
http://iainstitute.org/pg/salary_survey_2003.php
IA Wiki - links to more salary surveys
http://www.iawiki.net/SalarySurveys
Salary.com Salary Wizard
http://www.salary.com/salary/layoutscripts/sall_display.asp
Since Salary.com job titles don't appear to reflect titles used in the IA industry, here are some equivalent job titles:
Interface Designer = User Experience & HCI
Content Engineer = Information Architect
Very few of the postings I receive on the IA Institute Job Board have salary information, but a typical salary/rate conversion is:
salary = 2/3 rate times 2080 (40 hours per week for a year)
The 1/3 reduction represents the cost of your medical, vacation and other benefits plus social security taxes that the company pays.
For $75/hour, this equals $104,000/year, which appears to be on the high end for those jobs where I do have salary data. Salary.com shows salary+bonus capping around 110K for most experienced IA/UX type jobs, although their job titles don't conform perfectly to the industry yet.
The IA Institute is supposed to publish the results of the 2005 survey this month. They are a bit behind schedule, but keep looking for the survey at http://www.iainstitute.org.
Some other surveys:
2004 UX Salary Survey
http://www.spiritsoftworks.com/resources/2004-salary-survey.htm
2003 AIfIA Salary Survey
http://iainstitute.org/pg/salary_survey_2003.php
IA Wiki - links to more salary surveys
http://www.iawiki.net/SalarySurveys
Salary.com Salary Wizard
http://www.salary.com/salary/layoutscripts/sall_display.asp
Since Salary.com job titles don't appear to reflect titles used in the IA industry, here are some equivalent job titles:
Interface Designer = User Experience & HCI
Content Engineer = Information Architect
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