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General Discussion

Posted by Matthew Boswell
Matthew Boswell
7,167 Points

$10/hr job offer, Should I take it?

I am currently working on a Master’s in computer science (undergrad was in Biochemistry), I also work about 20-35 hours a week self-employed (in the healthcare field making anywhere from $20-$40). I was lucky enough to get a summer internship as a web developer at an advertising agency. I have received a job offer from them at $10 an hour, which seems very low. Is this normal? Should I take it? I live in the Hudson valley area in New York State. The company is an advertising agency with almost zero commute time from where I live. This is the first computer science gig I have ever had. The agency is very small but gets notable healthcare, law, and manufacturing clients.

The things I have learned/worked on are the following: 

 •    building a responsive website with some backend customization via wordpress and plugins. (HTML & CSS)

  •   Making an old fancy box plugin stream youtube videos, sounds simple…was not. (javascript)

  •   Making the bbpress plugin for wordpress redirect user logins to the previous page and get any error messages onto that page using the session variable. (PHP & wordpress)

My side projects are the following:

 •    Making an ecommerce store that will also stream purchased videos.

 •    Making a board game web app.

 •    Generally learning everything about web development/computer science: flexbox, javascript, raspberry pi robots…

Other possible opportunities:

 •    IBM is somewhat close and they offer internships.

 •    I could commute to New York city for an internship, this would probably be more for the summer.

  •   I could build more side projects, I have a feeling I maybe have learned everything I can from the internship.

  •   Invest more in the Master’s program(algorithms, machine learning, and data science ), build relationships with professors and students. Go to tech meetups. 

  •   Freelance.

…oh, I am also certified in RHCSA 7.

This is being formatted weirdly but it works.

4 Answers

Brendon Butler
Brendon Butler
4,254 Points
Brendon Butler
Brendon Butler
4,254 Points

If it's not an urgent decision, I would say either make a counter offer (for an amount that's reasonable to you) or search for other positions in your area.

It may be good to get your foot in the door and add that work experience to your resume. Best of luck!

jacobb2
jacobb2
14,128 Points
jacobb2
jacobb2
14,128 Points

I did that a few years ago and the experience helped me get a higher-paying job.

Experience is worth it. I would say take it, but keep looking for other jobs until the right one comes up. I wouldn't feel too bad leaving them because they really are taking advantage of you.

Matthew Boswell
Matthew Boswell
7,167 Points
Matthew Boswell
Matthew Boswell
7,167 Points

Hey everyone, Just wanted to give you an update. I took the job. I figure storywise on a resume it would look the best to intern somewhere and then be hired by the place I interned. Thank you for your feedback I greatly appreciated it.

watermelon8
watermelon8
2,015 Points
watermelon8
watermelon8
2,015 Points

Jeebus Christ! That's lowballing!! I know this is a fairly old post and you already took the offer, but seriously... $10/hr for a web developer job with front and back-end responsibilities is extremely low, even if you were just an entry-level. Especially low because this is New York state. I'll agree, we're in a competitive environment and any experience is good experience, but consider there are retail employees with high school diplomas making more than $10/hr. Sounds like you're hourly? Is this permanent full-time or temp? Are you entitled to health benefits? What are the PTOs/sick leave like? Are all the responsibilities listed solely on your shoulders? Consider all the facts. As someone else suggested, stick to it temporarily, enough to say that you got your feet wet working in teams and client projects, but I wouldn't stay there longer than 6 months. $10/hr is simply an abuse. As you gain traction in this field know your worth. Don't lowball yourself. It also helps keep the industry fair in compensation for others starting out.