Hi Steve, On Thursday, November 4, 2004, at 01:33 PM, Steve Carver wrote: > Wim, while this suggestion may seem unrealistic, it does frequently get > administrators attention. This approach is used by faculty as well and > can > produce results. Apply for another university position and with luck > if an > offer is forthcoming, you will have in hand an excellent bargaining > tool. There are significantly fewer piano technician openings than music faculty openings. Makes this approach rather difficult. Two positions are currently open, and neither have a particularly attractive compensation package. > > Over the last 6-8 years I have been keenly aware of a number of > searches > for piano technicians, either personally or friends-associates of > mine. In > almost every single case, whether it was an assistant level position > or a > senior position, VERY FEW qualified technicians applied, underscoring > the > lack of skilled technicians. Some of these positions were at highly > rated > institutions; others at the more common state universities-smaller > institutions. Most of the positions we've seen advertised during that time frame had poor (average and below) salary situations. Thus, the lack of qualified techs applying. If there have been good salaried positions open they haven't been advertised - again, thus the low number of techs applying. > > This is in part why I wrote the college article that appeared in the > August > 04 issue of the journal, which stressed the many positive aspects of > working in institutions of higher ed. I found your article very interesting. I agree wholeheartedly with all your positives, but was quite surprised with your assertion that a lot of these positions have high paying salaries. Where are they? And you wrote of "moonlighting" as if it were an option for a staff piano technician. It is more an integrated component of the compensation packages for all the positions of which I am aware. > > College administrators are aware of the shortage of techs. Once you > are a > sought after item, you worth to the department has been greatly > enhanced. Yes, maybe. But my research indicates that administrators and human resources departments are somehow under the impression that seasoned qualified piano technicians are quite happy working for half of what they could be, or had been making elsewhere in the same amount of time. I am particularly interested in chatting with you about your article (you would know I can't find that issue right now). You wrote with some knowledge of a better world than most of us experience. Regards, Jeff Jeff Tanner, RPT School Of Music University of South Carolina
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