Occupational Outlook Handbook

[Jeff Tanner]

That's also where I found it, though the one I saw was the previous
edition.  Your local library, and career centers in high schools, colleges,
votech, etc., will also have a hard copy.

This salary information found there, as well as in other sources accessible
through the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site, does not distinguish
between the hobbyist, part time, full time, self employed, etc.  That skews
the numbers, and if our administrators are using these sources, then they
are misguided.  My salary is above that median, but I would be hard pressed
to live a basic lifestyle as a single person in this community -- much less
a family, without the additional incomes our family brings in.  That's why
I say that the OOH doesn't paint a very pretty picture, when Randy Potter's
talking about $80K and up.

After accepting this position at what I initially thought was a reasonable
starting salary, I learned that one technician had turned it down unless it
paid nearly double the salary I accepted, because he wouldn't leave his
private clientele for less than that.

Another issue is that many CAUTs accept positions for lower pay just for
the benefits, but have already established local clientele from which to
make up the difference.  That makes it extremely difficult for those of us
who move in from other areas to be able to negotiate salaries which will
support basic living costs.  I've found it extremely slow to build up a
reasonable private clientele, averaging maybe one outside tuning a month,
now into my 4th year here.  And face it, there's not much of a career
ladder in this occupation.  CAUTs are working just to survive, and from
paycheck to paycheck.  There's no financial security building going on
here, no college savings for the kids, etc., like our parents were able to
do for us with lower skilled occupations.  We're sacrificing our families's
standards so that institutions can have a few tuned pianos around.  And for
a profession so highly skilled and which so few enter into, there's
something wrong with this picture.
Jeff

>
>Mary-
>
>I found it!  <http://www.bls.gov/oco/>  gives the Occupational Outlook
>Handbook, 2002-03 Edition.  The section that applies to us is Precision
>Instrument and Equipment Repairers.  We then fall under the subcategory of
>Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners.  (Yes, it's a federal government
>publication.)
>
>It gives the median 2000 income for our subgroup as $15.10/hr, or $31.4K/yr.
>
>
>
>
>----------------------------------
>Lawrence Becker, RPT
>Piano Technician
>College-Conservatory of Music
>University of Cincinnati
>----------------------------------