Career Development Category Archives - General Assembly Blog | Page 29

What UX Designers and Web Developers Make in Major U.S. Markets

UX designers and web developers salaries

You did it! You nailed your interview and you’re feeling great. But then, right when you least expect it, the recruiter finishes up the conversation with the dreaded questions, “So how much are you looking for?”

This question is awkward and even worrisome for a job seeker, particularly if you haven’t done your homework. However, here’s the good news! When you do take the time to do the research and know your worth, it can help you answer this question with ease.

In this article, we’ll take a look at average UX designers’ and web developers’ salaries in major job markets and at varying career levels. Please use this article to further your own research and help you better understand the market but know that this by no means a definitive or all-encompassing list.

The ranges and averages throughout the article were determined based on a compilation of information from Payscale.com, Glassdoor.com, Salary.com, Simplyhired.com and information from current practitioners.

Now, let’s take a comprehensive look at average salaries and the varying salary ranges of UX practitioners and web developers in some of the hottest tech markets in the United States. We’ll take a look at each tech hub and then break down the numbers from there.

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6 Tips For Negotiating Your Salary

By Hannah Atkin

If you were offered $2 million right now, no strings attached, would you take it? Of course, you would! But did you know that you may have already inadvertently said no thank you to this offer? Author Linda Babcock writes about salary negotiation in her book Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation—and Positive Strategies for Change. She states that when an employee fails to negotiate salary early in her career, it could add up to as much as $2 million in lost wages over the course of a lifetime.

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How to (Successfully) Ask For a Raise

By Emily Starbuck Crone

Photo: WOC in Tech

We all could use a little extra in our paychecks, but asking for a raise is anxiety-inducing, even when you have a strong case to make. Asking for a raise without preparation can be awkward at best, and unsuccessful at worst.

A veteran hiring manager, Josh Doody, author of “Fearless Salary Negotiation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Paid What You’re Worth,” walks us through how to ask for a raise — and what to do if you’re turned down.

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The Top 5 Podcasts for Aspiring Product Managers

By Stephanie M. Caruso

You are a product manager. Or you want to be. As the fearless leader for your product, you need to be the best-informed and most up-to-date member of your team. From market trends to failed startups, your knowledge of the product ecosystem is critical if you’re going to succeed. Which you will. Ready?

Don’t waste your precious time reinventing the wheel. While each product has its own unique set of challenges, plenty of product folks have been in your shoes before. Learn from their mistakes and accomplishments, then iterate and innovate your own path. We rounded up five of the best podcasts for product managers so you can make big decisions, build your team, and make products people love. And do it better than before. Next time you reach for headphones tune into one of these shows.

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The 6 Essential Tools for Every UX Designer

By Hannah Atkin

It can be extremely intimidating to any UX designer, particularly someone just starting out, to navigate the overcrowded world of design tools. There seems to be a tool for everything from user research to wireframing to prototyping.

So how do you know which tools to learn or least familiarize yourself with? Fear not! Below we’ve broken down some of the top industry tools for a variety of contexts and workflows. While this is not a comprehensive list, it will give newbies a sense of some industry musts, while providing some further suggestions for the more seasoned designers among us.

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11 Tips for Freelancers from Twyla Tharp’s the Creative Habit

By Mickie Meinhardt

Photo credit: Christine Bougie.

“The white-hot pitch of creativity is only useful to those who know what to do with it,” says Twyla Tharp in her best-selling book, The Creative Habit. In it, she shares skills learned as a lifelong accomplished choreographer that help make creativity work better for you. It’s filled with ideas and exercises made to enhance your craft, whatever that may be, with better tools—both mental and physical. While it does focus on those involved in “the arts,” there is plenty of wisdom for the modern multi-tasking creative. Here, some of her best pieces of advice put through the lens of a freelancer who must constantly juggle craft with commerce.

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Full-Stack Deconstructed

By Melissa Steffan

Not long after I changed careers to become a full-stack web developer, I received an odd Facebook message from a family friend. “I visited your website,” he wrote, “and I’m still trying to figure out what pancakes have to do with websites.”

Clever…or clueless? I’m still unsure. But one thing is certain: IHOP needs to move over; the term “full stack” isn’t about pancakes anymore.

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How JavaScript Helped Me Land A New Dream Job

By Melissa Steffan

If you talk to a group of junior developers, you’ll likely receive one of three main answers to the question, “Why are you a web developer?” Many—if not most—are motivated by what they don’t want to be: a waiter; a bartender; a sales rep; a broke artist. Others lucked into computer science in college. Still others will say they just wanted a job that was more flexible than the average 9-to-5.

And then there’s me. I became a developer because of a PDF.

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The Passion Economy: How to Actually Do What You Love

By Ali Pisano

In the age of self-made YouTube stars, Kickstarter campaigns, and food bloggers, it’s no surprise our newest job seekers are pursuing passion over a steady income, established companies, and climbing the corporate ladder. This is leading to a proliferation of freelancers, artisan businesses, and innovative startups. Rather than the exception, it has become the perceived rule: Do what you love, and the rest will follow.

Is Passion Enough?

The reality is, however, there are many reasons why turning your passions into a career can actually backfire. Following your passions is important, but it’s simply not enough to develop an idea into something real, and profitable.

The No. 1 reason startups fail? Customers don’t want the products. Other pitfalls include an inadequate team and ineffective marketing. In turns out, there are millions of details— everything from user research to marketing your product to actually developing the idea and building it—that require tangible skills. While passion might provide the spark of an idea, there’s no guarantee it can carry you across the proverbial finish line.

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New at GA: An Internship Program for Undergraduates

By Mercedes Bent

Over the past 3.5 years I’ve worked at General Assembly, I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been asked whether or not we offer an internship program. Students want to dive into the working world before committing to a permanent role for a variety of reasons—from experiencing the day-to-day work environment of a particular role to exploring company culture to beefing up the implied credentials on their resume, to building tangible skills, to making money, to simply understanding what an office environment is like. Internships are often seen as a safe space to make mistakes. The actual definition of an internship is “a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment.”

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