What salary should I expect as a young assistant editor for the monthly magazine of the leading organization of professional _________ engineers?

Not a condition, but expressly preferred in the job listing.

ivy league or community school - they pay ya what they pay ya i think

Sorry I can't help you with exactly how, if at all, you should negotiate on starting salary (it's not something a graduate would normally do in the UK — you get what you're given), but I hope the below gives you an idea of what's normal for graduates in the field in the UK. I was "Publishing Editor" at an academic journal run by a scientific society in the UK. This was one down from "Publisher". I ran the science of the peer review process (we had administrative staff to handle the correspondence and production staff for the typesetting, printing, etc.) and the long term development, so it was a highly skilled job, requiring a bachelor's degree (masters or better preferred) in the science. Straight out of Oxford, with a first class degree and masters, and a demonstrable interest and experience in publishing, I started on around £18k, which is a pretty typical skilled graduate salary outside of London for professions other than medicine, dentistry, law, banking, etc. Entry level jobs in the media (even the technical media) are so oversubscribed that you shouldn't expect them to pay you more just because you exactly meet their job spec. So does everyone else who applies! You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake out in the real world! In London (which has higher salaries than the rest of Britain, perhaps even higher than NYC) I would probably have started on more like £22k. £18k was about US$30k at the time (two or three years ago). The society also had a monthly magazine sent to members. Junior editorial staff there earned slightly less than me, since they tended not to have the scientific background I have, and because everyone wants to work in editorial. So, having said all that, I'd be staggered if you were able to start on $60k. However, I get the impression that salaries in scientific publishing rise more quickly than in the media generally. I was expecting to get a 20% raise at the end of my first full year and to be promoted to Publisher within two years (I left publishing for other reasons), which would have got me up to around £28k.

For what it's worth, equivalent editors for U.S. political opinion magazines make a bit under $30K, even if they have impressive Ivy degrees. Even more senior editors may not make much more than $30K.

* They already have my resume, They've scheduled an interview for this coming week. * The job is most def. "Assistant Editor" and not its lesser paying cousin the "Editorial Assistant"--a big difference that I will argue (Dwight Schrute)/(Gareth Keenan)-like for the rest of my (hypothetical) tenure. * No one has mentioned salary, yet. Thanks for http://ask.metafilter.com/63440/What-salary-should-I-expect-as-a-young-assistant-editor-for-the-monthly-magazine-of-the-leading-organization-of-professional-engineers#954927, though, Joleta! The 6-degrees of LinkedIn Separation is under way.

Can you find out the salary range for this exact position by networking your way to someone in the organization via LinkedIn? And as scody intimated, you want to put off all salary discussions until you're offered the position. The first person to mention a salary loses! If asked during an interview what salary you require, you can say you prefer not to negotiate salary until both you and the company are sure this is a good fit.

Just to be clear, is it "Assistant Editor," or "Editorial Assistant?"

I'd expect more like 32k-38k (accounting for inflation since I worked in nyc area 3 years ago). That said mainly of my coworkers did freelancing in edition to the job. But also don't low-ball yourself. asking for 42k or even 45k might not be unreasonable.

Are you going through the interview process and being asked to supply a specific number (in other words, they've offered you or are about to offer you the job), or are you preparing a cover letter in response to an ad that happens to request salary requirements/expectations?