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I REMEMBER TALKING to a guidance counselor in high school. The meeting was supposed to help me decide which career path I might follow after graduation. As part of my assessment, I’d taken a skills inventory test designed to narrow down jobs I was potentially suited for. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember three of the suggested occupations: tour bus driver, police officer and veterinarian.
In the end, I didn’t choose any of those careers. Instead, I’ve spent more than 30 years working in laboratories. For the past 24 years, my official job title has been “Biology Laboratory and Stockroom Manager.”
Working as a departmental manager at a small liberal arts college isn’t an exciting or glamorous job. It is, however, a job well-matched to both my skill set and my personality. As an introvert, I enjoy the fact that I work independently, with little direct supervision. My job also requires a high degree of attention to detail, as well as organizational and planning expertise. As a perfectionist, I’ve got those skills in spades.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my career choice. I certainly don’t feel passionate about what I do. With so much talk about the Great Resignation, I wonder if the time is right to move on to something different.
As part of my career exploration, I decided to see how my salary stacked up against my peers. What I discovered was—depending on the statistics examined—I’m either grossly underpaid or generously overcompensated.
My current salary of $78,000 a year appears to be well below the average wages for a laboratory manager. I do, however, receive a generous benefits package and I’ll have access to an early retiree health insurance plan when I retire.
If I compare my salary to women of the same age, I’m definitely ahead of the game. At age 54, the average American woman makes just over $52,000 a year. I suspect my higher wages are due, in part, to my work history. In 30 years, I’ve never taken an extended leave to care for a child or parent.
As a final method of comparison, I looked at the average salaries of workers who hold master’s degrees in biology. Here, too, I find my salary is higher than the national average. But how does one accurately compare the value of two workers with similar educational backgrounds but vastly different work histories? Someone in their mid-50s, with 30 years of experience, should expect to earn far more than a 20-something recent graduate.
Dear Kristine, I have been touched and informed by your many articles in Humble Dollar. Thank you for them. I have a thought: as you are in a small college with a small staff, it may repay you to become familiar (if you aren’t already) with the financial health of the institution, especially in the matter of funding all retiree benefits. Also, it may be worth checking to see if any retiree benefits you have are covered under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in case of default. Good luck.
Hi T.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m always humbled (no pun intended) when readers mention they enjoy my articles. I’ve always enjoyed writing and, even though I didn’t mention it in this article, one of my first majors in college was journalism. I decided against it as a career because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to write under the pressure of a deadline.
Interestingly enough, I was just checking on the financial health of the college I work for. At this point, they have an endowment worth about $780 million. By comparison, the endowment was worth $311 million in 2009. I don’t know enough about how the college administration structures the budget to estimate how healthy their retiree benefits funding is, but I’m hopeful they’ve managed it at least as well as the endowment.
Thanks again for your kind comments.
Hi, Kristine.
I too work at a small college and am in awe of all that the lab tech does. Lab managers are such an important part of the college system. I hope that you feel valued in this way — you contribute directly to the education and safety of so many young people. Maybe that can reignite the passion?
Your salary seems similar to those of assistant professors in your region, perhaps even a bit higher. Not too bad, given the benefits you mention and not having a scholarship requirement.
I wish you well with your deliberations.
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I appreciate my job and I recognize I help provide a valuable practical education to the students who work for me.
I’m not unhappy with my salary by any means. I have some great benefits, a fixed work schedule, a generous amount of vacation, holiday and sick leave and a variety of other perks.
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