CP is looking for a full time Program Assistant to join our staff. This position offers opportunities to work with interesting people across the state who are helping Massachusetts residents get and keep health care. We need someone with strong organizational, communication and computer skills who is flexible, has a sense of humor and wants to learn. CP is based in Amherst, committed to social justice and access to good health care for everyone. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. For more information see our job flyer. Applications due July 25th.
Salaries at CP
I appreciate the time you took, K. Racz, in responding to our job posting. I agree that it is hard to find meaningful work that supports our politics/commitments, especially here in the Valley, that gets us enough to make ends do anything more than meet. When we posted this job, one staff member suggested we post with a higher range, but at that time, the Govenor hadn't signed the budget, and I didn't want to offer more than we could pay.
We're participating in a compensation study done by another not-for-profit in Amherst and are excited to learn what pay ranges are like here. According to several online salary calculators I just ran, our range of 22-24K is mid-range for similar positions in the area. Our program assistants are usually right out of college, with little work experience...with those metrics, we offer more than many "right out of college" jobs.
CP's funding is secure for this year, and now is the time I'm looking at salaries. To be sure, all of us here could benefit from earning more. I can say that we have increased the pay for our program assistant over the last seven years (prior to that CP was a part of another organization). CP also offers many benefits, including dental, life and health insurance, decent time off and work schedules that accommodate real life. We're fun and flexible and open to lots of new ideas, including this one.
Thank you for taking the time, and moving us further down the road on this conversation. I wish you luck in finding the kind of position you seek.
Meg Kroeplin
Acting Director
Community Partners
Good for you
This was the same going rate when Community Partners was hiring for the same position 11 years ago. Surely, even a cost of living increase in the wage offered is warranted? I appreciate the work Community Partners does, but the thoughtful comment left above is an appropriate critique. I hope Community Partners will consider it and act accordingly.
Program Assistant Compensation
Dear Friends,
I read with interest the full job description for the Program Assistant position at Community Partners. I have over 10 years of experience providing administrative support to various non-profit organizations, including 7 years as administrator of the Unitarian Society in Northampton. I am seeking a challenging position with significant responsibility. I would welcome the opportunity to work for an organization whose mission and vision I support. I would greatly enjoy the chance to learn more about health care access and work in support of these issues. It is important to me that my work reflect my values, as this position clearly would.
Much as I would embrace the opportunity to do work I believe in, I find I am unable to apply for this position, due to the compensation offered. In seeking meaningful work I am willing to accept a cut in pay if necessary but this would represent a much larger cut than my family could possibly absorb. I understand that your organization must operate on a very tight budget as many non-profits do. However, to hire and sustain good employees it is necessary to support them to the fullest extent you are able to do so. I would ask you to consider whether the compensation offered is truly a living wage for this area. While it is not desirable that compensation be the sole issue driving our decisions about what kind of work we do, the current economic reality suggests that it must be part of that decision. There are many highly qualified, unemployed and underemployed individuals who may be able to accept the compensation offered, in order to do work aligned with their values, but there are also many of us who cannot afford the luxury of such a choice. It may create a situation in which you have a high turnover, as employees find economic pressure leads them to seek similar employment offering greater compensation. In light of your stated commitment to social justice I would ask you to think deeply about the high cost of lower wages.
It is in no way my intention to offend you by speaking out on this issue and I trust you will take my concern in the spirit in which it is offered. I am saddened not to be able to apply for this position, and hope there may be other opportunities in the future.
I wish you well in your search, and in the good work that you do.
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