Here's a rule of thumb to figure out the annual pay at a given wage (for a standard 40-hour workweek): Take your hourly wage in dollars per hour (e.g. $40), the

Here's a rule of thumb to figure out the annual pay at a given wage (for a standard 40-hour workweek): Take your hourly wage in dollars per hour (e.g. $40), then double it (e.g. $80), then convert it to thousands (e.g. $80k). That's about what you make in a year at a given wage. e.g. $31/hr ≈ $62k/yr To turn things the other way, take the annual wage in thousands (e.g. $80k), divide it by 2 (e.g. $40k) and chop off the thousands (e.g. $40). e.g. $72k/yr ≈ $36/hr So in the story, OP was making ~$52.50/hr and wanted to make ~$60/hr, but the recruiter thought they wanted ~$120/hr but could only get them ~$90/hr. Not too shabby.