Daycare Director Salary (how much, preschool, tuition)

[Scaxter]

I've recently accepted a job as a director of a child care center that currently has 60 children enrolled. I hold 2 teaching certifications and a Masters in Education. The pay is a substantial pay cut from my job in the public schools. Plus, it will be full time, year round... not a teacher's schedule. Currently I only have management experience on a smaller scale (managing my team of assistants), so I do feel like they are giving me a great opportunity.

Does anyone know the going rate for this position? It's been a very difficult field to get salary information on.

Also, I haven't signed any papers yet and I have another interview for a different director position this Thursday. I want to be prepared to discuss salary at my next interview!

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Scaxter

I've recently accepted a job as a director of a child care center that currently has 60 children enrolled. I hold 2 teaching certifications and a Masters in Education. The pay is a substantial pay cut from my job in the public schools. Plus, it will be full time, year round... not a teacher's schedule. Currently I only have management experience on a smaller scale (managing my team of assistants), so I do feel like they are giving me a great opportunity.

Does anyone know the going rate for this position? It's been a very difficult field to get salary information on.

Also, I haven't signed any papers yet and I have another interview for a different director position this Thursday. I want to be prepared to discuss salary at my next interview!

I was always told to never talk salary in an interview. That was a long time ago & things have changed, but with the current economic mess might be a good concept to fall back on.

Salary for any job in a private school will depend on the tuition, number of students, & location.

[avg12]

southbound is correct - in general, it's not a good idea to discuss salary during an interview.

Salary should be discussed prior to the interview when speaking with the HR recruiter, or coordinator to ensure that the salary is in range (so that you or they are not wasting time), and then it's discussed again, and brought to a smaller range or exact figure, after the interview if the employer and you are still interested.

[Tangled Threads]

Glassdoor – an inside look at jobs & companies

http://www.indeed.com/salary

Two sites that may help you get an idea of salary ranges.

[NJGOAT]

In general salaries fall between, as much as they're willing to pay and as little as you're willing to take. Finding out where that is tends to be the trick. There are obviously some comparison sites to look at, but it all comes down to what THEY think the job is worth and how much YOU are willing to accept.

Personally, I don't do anything past a phone interview unless they let me know what salary range they are considering for the position. If that range isn't within reason for me then I let them know that upfront and say I would be interested at "x" salary level or if it is an opportunity I really want, I would say I am willing to consider it at that level for the opportunity offered.

The one part I can't get past is that you said you accepted the job, but are now concerned about salary and going on another interview. If you accepted one job, then you certainly know what the salary is. What are you going to do negotiate on the backend after you already accepted or use this other interview as leverage? Overall poor form on your part, this is something you should have figured out before saying yes or no to the offer. Either the job pays a salary you think is worth it, or it doesn't. If it doesn't you shouldn't have accepted the offer.

[templeu]

11-9031.00 - Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program

The occupational handbook provides salary breakdowns for various occupations both nationally, and you can go down to the state-level (this information can further be broken down by industry - as salary for the same position can vary dependent on industry).

The link I included above is for O*Net. O*Net catalog's occupations (broadly defined) and defines them in terms of the requisite competencies, education level, etc required. It provides general salary info. There is a link to explore this information by state. Again, this is broad occupation data and often occupations are clustered - so the information may not be specific to a position.

I agree with the earlier posters, if you are in early stages of the process it is generally not advisable to list your salary demands. I've worked with recruiters and they have indicated that if someone indicates their salary as X, and they have been told by the org they can only pay "X-$5000" (for instance); they may exclude that person from subsequent talks and focus on people more likely to accept the offer. Usually the best answer to any question regarding salary demands is to the effect that you expect a salary commensurate with your experience, level, and in keeping with the market value for the position. But would prefer to discuss specifics when an offer is on the table.

If you have indeed accepted an offer already (e.g., signed on dotted line) and hence agreed to the terms of the offer, Goat is right, you will have little leverage at this point. If you're working with a really awesome org that realizes that perhaps yeah they low-balled you, they might be willing to reconsider salary or some non-salary sorts of attributes. But, more likely that not you are really going to work to convince them why you are deserving (another offer usually helps). Otherwise, you are coming at this from a position with really low negotiating power.