There seems to be a commonality running through the several threads of late about why we all are not paid well enough and what we should do about that. Perhaps this is a dead horse, but I've just caught up on my backlog of digests and want to say that my (our) salaries here are public information because we work for a public institution. The local newspaper publishes lists of which state employees get the highest wages (for all to carp about), and while we're not on that list, the info is easy to get. We don't talk about it openly on staff, I think because we're afraid we might be making more or less than the next person, but the info is quite readily accessible. The last three museum jobs we advertised were "entry level" jobs. Two required BA's when advertised in AVISO. We got about 75 applications each time. 30 of those weren't even vaguely qualified, but the remainder included lots of BA's MA's and some PhD's. We invariably hire folks who are more qualified than the requirements. Two BA level jobs here have been re-rated to be MA level jobs in the last four years, with concomitant wage range raises. We can't hire "local" because there isn't anyone local who's not already working for us and who is qualified. We HAVE hired people from this state who've moved elsewhere and want to come back. Applicants CAN write us letters indicating they'd do us the favor of taking our job(s) if we'd pay more, but those letters get discarded out of hand. I should go out of my way to hire someone with an attitude? I can't change the wage scale without going to the legislature which meets only every two years, and then I have to convince them that this is warranted. I also can't change the amount of money allocated for wages for a given position in the middle of a budget period - the money just doesn't exist in our system. I do work on the legislature to increase wages whenever I get a chance, but when I get many, many over qualified applicants who ARE willing to work for the money I can offer, it rather destroys the argument that we need more money. It's hungry out there. We have clean air, low crime, excellent benefits, good schools, and an extremely low turn over rate, so our jobs must be OK. Even if we all (me included) complain about how we should be paid more. We don't have funds to pay Interns, but sometimes pay for housing and food through an arrangement with a local college. Again, we have many more applicants than positions. If you want to make lots o'$, then perhaps you should try a different profession. Or maybe you should look at living costs, since the same $ will go further in some places than in others. I've enjoyed reading the diverse opinion, but some of it is rather unreal. No one OWES you a job, no matter how fervently you think you're the best. Opinions expressed here are mine, of course, and not necessarily those of my employer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. L. Dill, Museum Director State Historical Society of North Dakota 612 East Boulevard Bismarck ND 58505-0830 P: (701)328-2666 F: (701)328-3710 E: [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -