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What does "wages" mean for careers?
#career-choice #wages
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Kim’s Answer
"Wages" means salary - how much you are paid. When you start looking at jobs and how much they pay, depending on the type of job, there are several possibilities. Here are a few.
Hourly: You get paid an hourly rate for all hours worked. Usually (there are exceptions) you will receive overtime for hours over 40 hours a week, and the customary overtime rate is 1.5 times your normal rate. So, if your normal rate is $10/hr, Your overtime rate is $15/hr.
Salary: You get paid a fixed amount per week, or per month, regardless of how many hours you work. In these situations, it is important to ask how many hours per week are expected of you. For example, if you are an attorney, or a restaurant manager, 60 hours per week is not uncommon.
Commission: You get paid a certain percentage of all sales that you make. I don't understand commissions, because they also have something called a "draw" . . . I know nothing about this.
Bonus: You get paid a base pay rate, either hourly or salaried, plus you get a bonus that may vary depending on how the company performed that month. So maybe you get an extra 5% or 10% if you exceeded your targeted sales performance.
It's important to learn how to compare different job offers. Some things to keep in mind:
1. There are 40 hours in the traditional work-week. 2080 hours in the traditional work-year. There are more than 4 weeks in a month. So, when comparing a monthly salary to a weekly salary, and trying to compute the hourly rate you need to do this:
a. for the weekly salary, simply divide it by the number of hours you will be working to get the hourly rate. $400/40 = $10/hr
b. For the monthly salary: multiply it by 12 to get the yearly salary, then divide it by 2080 to get the hourly rate (assuming it's a 40-hr a week job) $1600/month . . . 1600x12/2080 = 19,200/2080 = $9.23/hr
c. Here you see that $1600 a month comes out to only $9.23/hr, compared to $400 a week, which is $10/hr.
2. Commute Time: If one job is right down the street, and one is an hour a way, that extra commute time needs to be taken into consideration
3. Potential: one job might be worse than the other, but it might offer more potential for growth and advancement
4. Benefits Package: this includes several things
a. Holiday Pay, vacation time, sick leave
b. Medical Insurance - type of coverage, does the employer pay the premiums?
c. 401K match - some employers will put a certain percentage of your salary into your retirement account, IF you contribute the same amount.
Deciding which job to take is not easy. Carefully evaluate the overall situation, and make the decision that you feel is best for you!
Hourly: You get paid an hourly rate for all hours worked. Usually (there are exceptions) you will receive overtime for hours over 40 hours a week, and the customary overtime rate is 1.5 times your normal rate. So, if your normal rate is $10/hr, Your overtime rate is $15/hr.
Salary: You get paid a fixed amount per week, or per month, regardless of how many hours you work. In these situations, it is important to ask how many hours per week are expected of you. For example, if you are an attorney, or a restaurant manager, 60 hours per week is not uncommon.
Commission: You get paid a certain percentage of all sales that you make. I don't understand commissions, because they also have something called a "draw" . . . I know nothing about this.
Bonus: You get paid a base pay rate, either hourly or salaried, plus you get a bonus that may vary depending on how the company performed that month. So maybe you get an extra 5% or 10% if you exceeded your targeted sales performance.
It's important to learn how to compare different job offers. Some things to keep in mind:
1. There are 40 hours in the traditional work-week. 2080 hours in the traditional work-year. There are more than 4 weeks in a month. So, when comparing a monthly salary to a weekly salary, and trying to compute the hourly rate you need to do this:
a. for the weekly salary, simply divide it by the number of hours you will be working to get the hourly rate. $400/40 = $10/hr
b. For the monthly salary: multiply it by 12 to get the yearly salary, then divide it by 2080 to get the hourly rate (assuming it's a 40-hr a week job) $1600/month . . . 1600x12/2080 = 19,200/2080 = $9.23/hr
c. Here you see that $1600 a month comes out to only $9.23/hr, compared to $400 a week, which is $10/hr.
2. Commute Time: If one job is right down the street, and one is an hour a way, that extra commute time needs to be taken into consideration
3. Potential: one job might be worse than the other, but it might offer more potential for growth and advancement
4. Benefits Package: this includes several things
a. Holiday Pay, vacation time, sick leave
b. Medical Insurance - type of coverage, does the employer pay the premiums?
c. 401K match - some employers will put a certain percentage of your salary into your retirement account, IF you contribute the same amount.
Deciding which job to take is not easy. Carefully evaluate the overall situation, and make the decision that you feel is best for you!
Updated
Emily’s Answer
A wage is a salary that one gets paid for work done. Different careers attract different wages.