[Previously published on my LinkedIn account]
In which position and field of work do writers get paid the highest?
SALARY is one of the hottest topics of discussion and will not go out of style at work.
That’s why the salary question is among the most important questions in a job interview.
All questions can be answered smoothly and correctly, but if the salary is not pleasing to our hearts, it feels like accepting a job offer in a place as luxurious or as bona fide as anything will make us think again.
Recently HRD Bacot released a report regarding salaries among formal sector workers in the Jakarta area and its surroundings.
Here I focus on discussing the writing profession because that is my first and main job.
I also scoured the HRD Bacot salary report and found several job positions related to writing.
The ranking order is based on the upper quartile number which in my opinion can indicate the maximum salary (in Indonesian Rupiah/ IDR) a person can achieve if they work ‘all out’ from various aspects of that job position.
Rank 1: UX WRITER
Field: IT
Position: UX writer
Level: staff/ officer/ analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 12,500,000
Median: 8,000,000
Lower Quartile: 6,665,000
Rank 2: CREATIVE COPYWRITER
Field: Art and Creative
Position: Copywriter
Level: staff/ officer/ analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 10,125,000
Median: 8,750,000
Lower Quartile: 6,450,000
Rank 3: MARKETING COPYWRITER
Field: Business Development, Sales & Marketing
Position: Copywriter
Level: staff/ officer/ analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 8,930,500
Median: 5,800,000
Lower Quartile: 4,750,000
Rank 4: CREATIVE CONTENT WRITER
Field: Art and Creative
Position: Content writer
Level: staff/ officer/ analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 7,000,000
Median: 6,135,000
Lower Quartile: 5,002,747
Rank 5: TECHNICAL WRITER
Field: IT
Position: Technical writer
Level: staff/ officer/ analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 6,492,000
Median: 6,000,000
Lower Quartile: 4,409,750
Rank 6: CREATIVE COPYWRITER (IN WEST JAVA)
Field: Art & Creative
Position: Copywriter
Level: staff/Officer/Analyst
Location: West Java
Upper Quartile: 6,250,000
Median: 6,200,000
Lower Quartile: 3,750,000
Rank 7: CREATIVE WRITER- EDITOR
Field: Art & Creative
Position: Writer – Editor
Level: Staff/Officer/Analyst
Location: DKI Jakarta
Upper Quartile: 5,650,000
Median: 5,200,000
Lower Quartile: 3,919,000
We know well that to learn our peers’ salary is higher than ours can be detrimental to our work performance.
But if we are in such a position right now (that we think we deserve a higher compensation), don’t quit abruptly.
Remember this rule of thumbs:
✅ good salary, good experience (keep it)
❓good salary, bad experience (keep it while finding solutions)
❓ bad salary, good experience (keep it while looking for a better one)
❌bad salary, bad experience (totally not worth your time and energy)
