I am a ophthalmic technician working at a private practice, making $17.50 an hour. The practice is great, the doctors are all mostly pretty nice and I get along okay with most of the staff. The benefits suck (I have a $3600 deductible) hilariously we don't even get vision insurance… At the ophthalmologist. Teslas don't pay for themselves, you know, and Harvard for two kids isn't cheap, no way they could afford the $25k it would probably cost to give the entire staff vision insurance, lol.
There is a big corporate hospital a few minutes closer to home, however, that lists my job CONSTANTLY with the pay listed as between $19-$31 an hour. They pay for your training and will actually teach you more advanced skills, like giving retinal injections for example that lead to a bump in pay. The benefits are much, much better. I could afford to go back the therapy and my medication would drop dramatically in price, not that it was very expensive to begin with.
I have about a year of experience as an uncertified ophthalmic tech, and about two years as an uncertified optician. So, you know, I know a lot about eyes.
Realistically, how much can I ask for? What do I say if they ask how much my old employer paid me? I would like to ask for $24 an hour, but I don't know if they would go for this amount. I can tell you they are CONSTANTLY hiring, which makes me think the turnover is quite high.
By comparison, the practice I am at does not place hiring ads often. However when we do lose staff we just… Don't replace them. What should I do? How much can I negotiate?