Disappointment

I had a job interview a week ago. It looked like a promising "step-up" for me - a director of music therapy for an influential music academy in a large metropolitan area. The interview went well, and I had an invitation to attend the second round in a week. They wanted someone really fast (within 2.5 weeks) which sent up a red flag, but it seemed to be a place where I could be challenged with new things in my therapy life.

I started to calculate how much I would need to attend the second interview.

One of the things never mentioned was the salary being offered. They were requesting persons with Master's degrees as well as 3 years of practice, so I thought, it being in a large metro area and all, that there would be some good money involved.

There wasn't.

The salary was 40-45K per year. The benefits were decent, but nothing spectacular. I wonder why we are unwilling to demand salaries appropriate to our education and experience? Many of the jobs out there now require higher education, yet they pay nothing! It is a crock and a shame.

I had fun interviewing, and will continue to challenge myself to explore the job market. I need to earn more than I am making now in order to move, however. That may be a challenge.

Comments

  1. Anonymous10:34 AM

    May I ask what "Metropolitan area" that was in, or what state? I am in between MT positions right now, and would like to have a barometer on what the current range is in. I know it varies widely across the country from the experience of several family re-locations for my partner's corporate positions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MJ10:46 AM

    Thanks for the comment - the metropolitan area was the greater Chicago area. Good luck on the job search and the relocation. - mj

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sing A Song Sunday - The Time Change Song (Fall)

It's the time of year where most of us here in the states get to fall back one hour. This is a wonderful time as it gives us a chance to get an extra hour of sleep and to reset our internal clocks to be in sync with the earth's rotation a bit more than we are during the summer. I love this time of year and really dread moving to Daylight Savings in the Spring. Today' song is directed towards choir members and can be found here . There is also a spring version, and I'm sure I'll post a link to that one next year when we [shudder] spring forward yet again... Here is a YouTube video of a guy singing the song. I'm so very sorry for the pitch, but at least he's out there trying his best. Yipes. Anyway, the song itself is based on a hymn composed in 1907 by John Hughes. The words are by Dean McIntyre and were written in 1995. I find the song a bit tongue-in-cheek, but they give me a giggle every time I read them, so enjoy!! Sorry for the lack of diagram
Read more

Being An Internship Director: Why I Do Very Little Active Recruitment

Image
I am not someone who participates in every single internship fair or makes ads for my internship program to put on social media. I do not feel an obligation to anyone to fill all of the openings that I have every year. I operate on a "if you build it, they will come" type of viewpoint. I figure that the interns who are meant to be with me will find me. As a result, I do very little active recruitment. I will be part of the AMTAS Virtual Internship Fair this upcoming Sunday. I am not really expecting too many applications coming from this meeting, but I am interested in how it is going to be run. I decided to sign up because I want to see what others are doing and offering out there. So, this Sunday, I will be sitting in front of my computer, listening to what others share about their internships. One of the things that I like about being a National Roster Internship Director is that I have the ability to decide how many interns and when those interns work with me. I occasiona
Read more

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea
Read more