The Hunt is ON! The job hunt, that is...

[blueerica]

I need some opinions on my first official, real-deal job search. I really don't have a clue as to what I'm doing. I'm sure I'll have other questions and a few people might have questions of their own, so I am opening this thread up for it all.

My first question...

I'm online and found a really great job for myself. In fact I found two jobs at the same company. Better yet, I have all the experience necessary for one of the positions, Technical Writer. Best of all, it's a short drive away... none of this driving to SLC bologna! (Or should I have spelled that baloney?) (Anyway...)

The question is - I know what the various pay ranges are, thanks to handy-dandy intrawebs salary calculators. But, do I use that when putting my "minimum salary requirement"? Do I go lower? Do I start off higher? Is this a frigging trick question???

According to Salaryexpert.com the average for the position here is $41,523. According to them, half of those employed make between $27,845 and $51,854 (17th and 67th percentile, respectively). According to salary.com, 25th percentile is $37,401 and 75th percentile is $48,254. (The salary.com figures are not including compensation packages...)

I know that my true bottom is $30K, but I could probably get more than that. I am trying to take into account that I actually do have experience in writing/proofreading/etc... but, not necessarily in this industry, and I've only written proposals in school.

Should I go higher? Should I go lower? Why isn't there anything out there that spits this sort of information out for me?