It's Official

I was a little bummed yesterday when I got my official offer from St. Thomas. They only offered me $22. I am currently making $20 as a RPSGT with Winchester. I could not justify a 90 mile one way drive to St. Thomas for an extra $2 an hour, no matter how good a sleep center they are. So I responded and explained to Paul that with the drive I am putting in, it did not make sense to me. I told him that I was looking more for $25 an hour.

I thought he'd never respond. I truly thought I blew my chances with a great sleep center. Boy was I wrong. Paul called me back today and they came up with a pretty good compromise. He said that unfortunately with my limited years of experience, they cannot pay me more than $22, but what they can do is a mileage reimbursement. I will get roughly 44.5 cents to the mile. I will write my mileage down every time I go into work and it will be paid to me non-taxed but I will still turn that in at the end of the year so it will be taxed in the long run. Anyway, being paid for my gas technically puts my pay at roughly $28 per hour. So I'm coming out better than I had hoped. So it all works out. My biggest concern then is what will happen to my pay if I go full time with them.

Paul told me that I would then have a benefits package which will be 25% of my gross..and he doesn't know how that will work out with my $22 an hour, so my pay may drop a little if I go full time. So I asked him what his base pay was for RPSGT full time. The lowest someone would get paid as a PSGT is $14 and the highest as an RPSGT is $25. But the people making that much have about 15 yrs experience. (This actually sounded pretty good because I had heard that Smyrna only pays their RPSGT around $18 and Paul said he'd heard a rumor that they pay the highest in Nashville). I told Paul that I didn't want to miss this opportunity. I said, I know I'm young but if you give me a chance I'm a hard worker and I learn quickly. He said that he and Ed had discussed that and knew that I learned quickly. He said that was evident in the simple fact that I was registered and had less than 2 years experience...he said that is rare. He said I look like a go getter to him and he thinks I will mesh well with the crew. I told him that I don't want to be overlooked or thumbed down because I'm young. I can do just as good a job as those who are older and have more experience.

I feel very at ease talking and negotiating with Paul. He seems to want what is best for his techs and I've never felt as though I had bargaining power and the ability to be frank in a job before. It's empowering to be able to negotiate. I'm proud of myself. I hope this turns into a great opportunity. It feels like it is.