Re: Salary as Audio/Boom operator

[Jake Tolbert] "25k per year stinks, no matter how you cut it. But, a recent college grad in Normalville, USA is luck to start at that. Where as in Cali, the same position would probably pay 50k to start. It IS that different."


I'm not positive, but I think that the federal government has set the poverty level around $24k, but it could be less. That would be a 'national' figure. You're not going to find many positions starting at $50k even in CA, but $24K still seems awfully low to me for a college grad. I started over as an electrical apprentice when I joined the union in 1985 at over $8 per hour. Only a high school diploma. That was 18 years ago. If I'm not mistaken, minimum wage is somewhere around this figure now.

You may be right, and $10 an hour is a reasonable rate for a college grad. But if that's true, going to college doesn't make much sense to me. Seems like a lot of extra work for very little gain. Like I said, if there is a reasonable expectation for more money 'quickly' after hire, then that's a different story. But egads man, I would think you could do better than $10 per hour right off the bat starting up a door to door car washing/waxing bus from your home.

Maybe I need a reality check, but if I was faced with only earning $10 per hour after going to school for four years, I'd seriously be looking for some other way to make money.

[Jake Tolbert] "Seriously, I've been pondering a move, but the earthquakes and mudslides scare me.... I'm also not sure I want to live in a place where people pay to breath fresh air !!"


You're watching too much TV ... (dot dot dot :-)).

The air here is fine (as long as you stay out of the San Fernando or San Gabriel valley). For the most part earthquakes are kinda fun, and in 46 years, I've never seen a mudslide in person.

What you have to watch out for is rude drivers. People take getting to and from their destination way to serious here. Real estate is rediculous too.

[Jake Tolbert] "If that's true, that offends me. Not because you said it, but because my wife started last year as a SUPERVISOR of the Costume and Scene Shop at Six Flags, and gets $10 per hour. And, she's certainly no unskilled illegal day laborer, she's an experienced costume designer with a management background for god sake !!! I guess we need to move to Califonia. Got a spare room? "

Hey, you guys speak english. You could easily get more than $10 an hour as day laborers .... :-)

Mark Simpson