The Road Ahead

Well, my time as Senior Web Developer at my current place of employment is drawing to a conclusion. It’s something that I’ve thought about on multiple occasions, but with the leaving of our Senior IT Specialist, it seemed to me like I’ve done about as much as I can for the company.

I know what some of you are thinking, “Senior Web Developer eh? You must really be pulling in the dough”, if only that were the case. That’s part of the reason why I’m in search of new employment. According to Monster, Web Developers/Designers in the metro-Atlanta area have a median salary of ~$67,000. Currently, I make a little less than half that before taxes. Had I accepted my employer’s offer of $38k, my pay would just barely be over half the median salary paycheck stub.

Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t expect to be able to command $67k. However, I think $45-50k is reasonable given that I am really good at developing websites. Plus, unlike many web designers, my background is in Computer Science and not graphic arts. So, I feel as though I can provide much more than just websites (e.g. backend development).

But, $38k with 5days PTO, no sick days, no vision or dental, no overtime isn’t going to cut it. There are some things I’d like to be able to do in life. For example, I’d like to be able to buy a house or maybe take a vacation to Yellowstone without having to dive into savings.

However, I must add that my co-workers and bosses are great people, and being the only full-time web developer/master, I really feel like I’m just grabbing my ball and going home. But, at the same time I feel I have a greater responsibility to better my own situation.

So, what lies ahead? Honestly, I haven’t a clue. Perhaps that’s why it’s so exciting.