How much overtime do you need to do to triple your salary?
Overtime is usually 1.5x salary, some cities it’s 2x. Paramedic is a hard job with a lot of burnout. But I’ve known some to work insane hours to maximize salary
So to make triple your salary you’d need to do equivalent hours at full time assuming the best case of 2x salary. Or more than equivalent at the more usual 1.5x. Doesn’t sound like much of a life tbh.
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It’s not
It’s likely agency dependent. The job may offer differential pay for nights and weekends. If someone works a lot they’ll accrue most of their vacation days. Some departments allow people to then take a vacation day, but pick up an overtime shift, which would pay handsomely when combined.
The starting salary for an entry level EMT at Boston EMS is $72,959. A paramedic would obviously earn more to start.
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Interesting. I wonder why Google has the average salary so low then if that’s a starting one. Thanks
A lot of places pay higher - but it’s location specific. I know an elementary teacher in Long Island making $150K+. In TN, I’m guessing with the same experience, half that, etc.
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Even in high cost of living areas, the most advanced trained medics don’t make $300,000 a year.
You can PM me for specifics.
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That’s interesting. In Virginia you only get credit for time worked when it comes to overtime. So if you use 8 hours of sick, vacation, holiday, and then get called in to work on Saturday you don’t earn overtime pay for Saturday. Just straight time. This comes to bite my coworkers every time it snows.
Our police also start at 46K here which is a lot better than it used to be. Was under $30K for a long time.
The average teacher salary in our town (in MA) is in the low $90s. There are quite a few that make in the low $100s. That being said, the cost of living in Massachusetts is high, especially in terms of housing. Most teachers in our school system don’t live in town because of housing prices. Meanwhile, my SIL in Louisiana only makes around $60k despite teaching for 30+ years.
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With a recession possible, how tight do folks think the labor market is going to get? Are we looking at another situation like 2008?
Very tight. Companies are either reducing their hiring targets or just sitting on their hands.
The trifecta of tariffs (energy from Canada being priced upwards in retaliation?) uncertainty about the impact of those tariffs on inflation/consumer confidence, and potentially a larger war in Ukraine means a lot of “we thought we knew what the near term looked like but now we don’t”.
And don’t discount the impact of so many Federal employees on the job market simultaneously. It’s tempting to assume that they are unemployable in the private sector but that’s not true. The US Government hires engineers and programmers and project managers and experts in supply chain and editors and epidemiologists and statisticians and facilities managers (lots and lots of those- if the cutbacks in the GSA turn out to be permanent). Some of the government roles do NOT have obvious matches in industry (some of the EPA/Wildlife/Fishery/Park Ranger roles for example-- there’s a limit to how many of these the corporate sector could absorb) but many of them fit quite nicely into ordinary jobs.
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Same where I am. If they do, it’s either because of a higher-earning spouse or because they inherited the family home.
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Reminder that this thread is in the parent forum, not the political forum. Discussions about the current/past administration are not appropriate here.
TIA!
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I talked to my son yesterday. He’s only 30, very liberal and a master of athleisure wear. He would never make anyone’s best dressed list. He was involved in phone-screen interviews last week for a quantitative position at a research institute. He commented to me on the fact none of the candidates dressed up and some were in tee shirts and hoodies. If he noticed you can bet some of the older interviewers were taking note. He also noticed that only one considered what was in the background.
In a tight market, details matter. Advise your job hunters to put on a sweater and blurr their background - it might be the thing that makes a difference.
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Was just talking with a friend who wondered what students should major in these days, given the employment unpredictability. There are some jobs that may pay well (that’s a good thing), but may have a negative, perhaps oily or untrustworthy reputation. I can think of several.
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Honest question: policies of the administration affect job prospects for grads, just like they affect the safety of our kids on certain campuses. I have a recent grad as well as a kid headed to college next year, so both these matter to me. For those of us who are wary of getting dragged down into the kind of discourse usually found in politics forums, is there seriously nowhere on CC we can even discuss these policies just insofar as they affect our kids?
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Posts like the one shared by Blossom that simply state factual information are fine.
Posts sharing opinions about the administration (past or current) and discussing/theorizing about policy belong in the political forum.
But do you get quality police officers at that pay level?
The version of overtime you describe is interesting. Is that a state, county or local policy?
In some law enforcement agencies there are other beneficial overtime loopholes. Some jurisdictions schedule court dates on days off. That means time spent in court is overtime. Continuing education/training? Many times that falls under overtime. Many agencies have a policy of paying a minimum number of overtime hours per instance, so if your overtime assignment lasts for an hour you’re guaranteed at least 2 hours of overtime. These policies allow overtime to accumulate quickly.
It’s 100% accurate to say that a paramedic making $300k+ likely has no life outside of work. It takes a massive time commitment to earn that type of income. For some people, though, if they love their work and have limited family commitments, why wouldn’t they go all in. My son still says he hasn’t worked a day yet(except for those freezing, snowy night).
Think of it this way, there are salaried entry level positions in which new hires feel the need to work 50, 60 or 70 hours a week to make an impression, satisfy KOIs and position themselves for advancement. Those are unpaid hours. Some people make as much as other people’s starting salary in just overtime alone. Getting paid for every hour you work(sometimes at 1.5x), plus a federal/state/local pension, plus a 401(k)/403(b)/457(b) plan with employer match and good health insurance can really benefit people, especially in a tight job market. When was the last time you heard about firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and law unforcement officers being laid off? 