Author: adamphillabaum

Adam Phillabaum is a director of core at PayScale. Adam has spent over a decade at PayScale, including time as the product and program manager of PayScale's consumer salary research products. He has a bachelor of science in computer science from University of Idaho and a Master of Science from Carnegie Mellon University. When not working, Adam enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, running, skiing and biking.

Sandwich

Sandwich

How to Deliver Critical Feedback That Employees Truly Hear

If you’re giving an employee hard feedback in the form of a compliment sandwich, your message may not be received the way you intended. The basics of a compliment sandwich: start with a positive comment (a compliment), layer your critical feedback in the middle, then end with another positive comment. I don’t...

Get the Most Out of College: It’s Not Where You Go, It’s How You Do It

If you’re about to cram for an exam, here’s the tl;dr: The truth about finding a job you’ll love can be pretty ugly. But there are four ways you can help yourself end up sitting pretty. Take a class with a great teacher–whatever they teach! Look for someone who cares about you...

New Research Center Homepage, Career Path Charts and Some Cleanup – Thai Release

We’re releasing some features today that we’ve long-wanted to give our first-time users: a better landing page for our Career and Salary Research Center, and a better visualization of career paths based on our GigZig data platform. The team at PayScale has been hard at work for the past few weeks designing...

A Product Manager’s Meetup Proposal

I don't remember what set it off, but I've had a couple ideas recently around consumer product manager meetups. There are two main meetup ideas, and probably thousands of spin-offs from those two. I want to define who I think is the appropriate audience/participants in these, because it'll make the explainations of...

5 Tips to Negotiate the Best Pay Increase at Your Next Performance Review

If the current job market isn't depressing enough, the projected data regarding pay raises in the coming year is even more dismal. According to the consultant group Mercer, the average projected pay raise for 2013 comes in at just 3 percent, barely outpacing inflation. With that in mind, you're really going to...

Consumer Tech Team Hike Up Mailbox Peak

By Adam Phillabaum, @adamb0mb We released some new code on Tuesday, so we decided to go for a little hike on Thursday. The chosen target: Mailbox Peak. This was a pretty ambitious hike: 4,000' of elevation gain over 3 miles. Basically, it's like walking up stairs. It was a great hike, but...

Personal Budgeting Strategies: How Americans are Managing Stagnant Pay in Tough Times

As economic concerns among families persist, workers struggle to make the most of their incomes and refuse to give up their summer vacations. Kate McLaughlin’s paycheck doesn’t stretch far enough these days. “We already take the subway to work, walk to the library and post office, and drive used (9 and 18 year...

This Isn’t Your Grandpa’s Job Market

Job hopping used to be a red flag. Frequent jumps around the job market signaled a worker's lack of commitment. These days it's more of a green light, especially for younger workers. Job mobility can help speed them along a career path–or rescue them from a rut–and keep them interested in their...

What Will 2008 Hold for Our Work-Lives?

A new year is at hand, and we wonder what awaits. The Wall Street Journal’s Sue Shellenbarger offers a glimpse of the work-life trends she’s anticipating for next year, and some of what she writes reflects trends my sources have mentioned throughout 2007. Shellenbarger points to three trends: High-quality part-time positions for...

IT Project Manager Salary Survey

Name: Don SpencerJob Title: IT Project ManagerWhere: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Employer: Self-Employed – Consulting Years of Experience: 24Education: Hons.B.A. (History & Philosophy, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), M.A. (History, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for the average salary of a project manager. IT Project Manager Salary...

Under Hovering Helicopter Parents, Millennials’ Careers Can’t Soar

The over-involved parents of Millennials — aka "helicopter parents"–have been known to frequent their kids' high schools and colleges, scheduling and planning a large part of their lives. As Gen Y comes of age, parents now are showing up at business schools and in the workplace, and some say they're hindering their...

If You Think Your Commute Is Getting Worse, You’re Right

Travelers in all U.S. metro areas are wasting more time than ever in traffic–and more gas, according to the 2007 Urban Mobility Report. Released Tuesday, the report says traffic congestion is draining $78 billion from the economy every year, including "4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel—that’s 105...

Pushing the Part-Time Envelope

Judith Warner, a guest op-ed columnist for the New York Times, last week reflected on the Pew Research Center’s recent survey on working moms’ desire for part-time jobs. (See my blog on the Pew survey here.) Warner pushes the part-time envelope: But the conversation we should be having these days really isn’t...

Average Salary of a Paralegal

Name: Michael Forster Job Title: Paralegal Where: Washington D.C. Employer: Olsson, Frank & Weeda, P.C.Years of Experience: 1Education: Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan with a concentration in Political Science Salary: According to the PayScale Research Center, the average salary of a paralegal in Washington D.C. is $45,752. Average Salary of...

Chauffeur Jobs: Pay Rates for Limo Drivers

Name: Michael PotterJob Title: Driver, Personal Assistant and BodyguardWhere: Los Angeles, CAEmployer: Author Stephen J. CannellYears of Experience: 24Education: 3 Years of CollegeSalary: Typical chauffeur job salaries: $50-$80K and up Chauffeur Jobs: Pay Rates for Chauffeur Drivers You see them on Entertainment Tonight and on the E! Channel: limousines galore. Celebrity lifestyles and chauffeur...

Life Coach C.J. Liu – Career as a Life Coach

Name: C.J. LiuJob Title: Life CoachWhere: Seattle, WAEmployer: SelfYears of Experience: 3-4 yearsEducation: ICF-Certified - Academy for Coach Training, MBA - Haas School of Business, B.A. - Mathematics and Economics - Duke University, Certified - Neuro-Linguistic Programming Salary: The salary of a life coach varies depending on location, experience, and specialty Career as...

Artist Salary: Textile Designer & Tattoo Artist Apprentice

Name: Heather T.Job Title: Master Artist, Textile Designer, Tattoo Artist ApprenticeWhere: Quaker Fabric Corporation, Fall River, MassachusettsWorks: Full-timeYears of Experience: 8Education: BFA in Textile Design/Fiber ArtsSalary: $55,000/year What does a textile designer do… As a textile designer, I create patterns for woven upholstery fabric. As a true artist, my job is to...

Hourly Wage: SEO Addict Rand Fishkin: Search Engine Marketing Consultant

Name: Rand FishkinJob Title: CEO and Search Engine Marketing Consultant at seomoz.orgWhere: Seattle, WA Education: 3.75 years at the University of Washington, Rand Fishkin was a Finance Major in the Undergraduate School of Business Years of Experience: Started writing batch files as a kid, Rand Fishkin grew up in Frontpage, 4 years...

Truck Driver Salaries: Owner Operator Trucking Jobs

"You know the difference between a fairy tale and a trucker tale? A fairy tale starts with: 'once upon a time…' and a trucker tale starts with: 'You're never going to believe this sh*t'…". – Don Floyd Name: Don FloydJob Title: Long Distance Truck Driver/ Owner Operator TruckingWhere: Don's owner operator trucking...