I’m seeing more of a disturbing trend lately among the IT industry in which positions traditionally classified as senior level are not commanding salaries commensurate with what one would consider to be appropriate for senior level. Take my example of a recent job interview process I went through with a prominent IT Consulting and outsourcing firm in NYC. They were seeking a Sr. Windows Engineer/Project Manager to handle their client’s systems as well as managing a team of junior and mid level field techs to ensure proper escalation and resolution of trouble tickets. I aced their technical interview, have stated that I have trained and managed people, and can bring a lot to the table. At my most recent contract job, which expired last week, I performed this kind of work and was pretty self sufficient without needing anyone to micromanage me or directing my work. Needless to say, I stated that I wanted no less than $115K as a base salary from the start, but they came back with a pathetically low offer of $90K at first, which after unsuccessful haggling they bumped up to $95K. I have declined the offer because this doesn’t fly in my book, but the point I’m trying to stress here is what in the heck is going on with the industry if they can call these “senior level” positions and pay this little in a city with an absurdly high cost of living? Yeah, maybe $95K would do in Alabama or some midwestern town in the middle of nowhere, but anything under a six figure salary in my book is NOT senior level. Have corporations gotten so greedy and out of touch with what IT is that they see us professionals as welders or plumbers from just another vocational school like Apex tech? What is going on because I’m seeing more and more of these absurd jobs which claim to be senior level, but are anything but that?