(FORTUNE Magazine) – Dear Annie: I am a senior VP of marketing earning a little over $200,000 a year at a company that is downsizing. My position is being eliminated, but the company wants to keep me and has offered me another job, which I am not crazy about--or I could take a pretty generous severance package. I'm tempted to move on, but how many jobs are out there at my level? How hard will it be to find something commensurate with my experience and salary? LOOKING BEFORE LEAPING

Dear LBL: According to Exec-U-Net, a nationwide networking organization for senior executives (defined as those earning $100,000 a year or more), demand for executive talent is surging. In the fourth quarter of 1999, the latest period for which figures have been tallied, the number of jobs available to senior managers in high tech and a category called "media/creative/publishing" grew the most, rising 74% and 55%, respectively, over the same quarter of 1998. Within all industries, demand for general managers, sales and marketing honchos (like you), and MIS/IT executives increased 58%, 50%, and 31%. (For the complete data, go to www.execunet.com/markettrend.cfm. You might also check out www.execunet.com/jobindex.htm for a measure, updated every month, of the strength of the employment market for senior managers.)

As for whether you'll be able to reach or exceed your current pay, the study shows that the number of jobs in the $200,000 to $250,000 range jumped 41%. Wow. "Companies are finding that to stay competitive, they have to offer enticing compensation," says Dave Opton, Exec-U-Net's executive director.

Great, huh? One word of caution: Every headhunter I've spoken with lately has remarked that, fantastic demand notwithstanding, finding a new job may take longer than you think--perhaps as long as six to eight months. That is because companies, weary of high turnover in high places, are taking the time to make sure you're the best possible match for the position (and hence likely to stick around awhile). Ideally, you need a severance package that can tide you over for a long job search. Happy hunting!

Dear Annie: Last night at about 1:30 I was beeped by my company's tech center because of a problem with our Website, and had to go in and fix it. This has happened about ten times in the past six months. I see it as part of the job, but my husband says I should be paid extra. I am salaried and get big bonuses, but should I ask for something more? Do many companies pay this kind of overtime? THE CAFFEINE KID

Dear CK: Beeper pay, sometimes called sleeper pay, isn't exactly customary, but it's getting more common. A new survey of on-call pay policies by compensation consulting firm N.E. Fried & Associates says that 48% of U.S. companies now pay their exempt (salaried) employees a premium for the hassle of carrying a beeper everywhere. A typical deal for techies: $150 per five-day workweek (plus $100 for Saturday and Sunday) for being on call, with an additional $250 minimum for each visit to the office at some ungodly hour. If you want to try to talk your boss into this, refer him or her to www.nefried.com for the legal implications of paying overtime to salaried people. But bear in mind that since your large bonuses are no doubt partly a reward for your constant availability, being paid on a per-episode basis could end up costing you.

Dear Annie: I've been hired as office manager for an Internet startup, and my boss asked me to research the standard dress code for Silicon Alley companies. How can I find out about this? MARTHE

Dear Marthe: Dress code? What dress code? Says Bruce Bernstein, who runs the New York Software Industry Association, a Silicon Alley trade group: "Gee, I don't know. I met a [male] programmer the other day who was wearing blond dreadlocks and a kilt." He notes that most people at tech startups will "mimic what the owner is wearing. If the boss wears jeans and Grateful Dead T-shirts, then so will the employees." So I'd advise your boss to dress the way he wishes everyone else would, and hope for the best.

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