The Daily Recruiter

“There’s no way I can justify my salary level, but I’m learning to live with it.” - Drew Carey

Most of us don’t struggle with the problem that Drew Carey has with his salary (quite the reverse), but we do learn to live with it. So what are you worth? Times not being what they used to be, it is difficult to figure out what you should be paid. This is especially true if you receive a bonus (not to mention if you work in Financial Services). And, while the vast majority of us will also not need to worry about our compensation being scrutinized by the government’s new salary czar, we do need to have a $ amount in mind when being offered a job. There are other variables to consider, such as:

• Are you switching industries?
• Are you relocating to a new city?
• Are you currently unemployed?

But whatever your circumstance, there are ways for you to get “a level of comfort” with what you are worth. While no salary tools are 100% conclusive (see below), a combination of online salary resources (and what you are/were paid) should give you an idea of what is reasonable. As a starter, you may also want to look at my post “Job Offer – What’s your Bottom Line?”.

• Salary.com - Stands to reason that this is a good place to start. This site has two views, one for employers and one for personal use. You can register on the site or just use there tools without registering. There are links at the top of the page for Login or Personal (additional links for the Personal Salary Wizard are available left center page and top right page). Clicking on Personal Salary Wizard leads to a page where you enter your title and zip code (left center page). Entering your information will return a basic report. There is a charge if you want a personalized report. There are additional tools below this for Job Search, Education and Cost of Living. Additionally, there are a number of other related tools under the Tools menu.

• Jobnob.com - The tag line for this site is “Search for millions of actual salaries & jobs”. The site allows you to search for average salaries as well as see job listings for companies that are currently hiring. There are lists of companies, jobs and salary ranges. There are tabs at the top for Salaries, Professions, Companies, Cities and “Happy Hour” (definitely worth a look). Clicking on Salaries shows ranges by profession. The Companies tab is also interesting and provides a fair amount of data. Overall, the site is jam packed with some really good information (and you can search for jobs on the site as well).

• SalaryExpert.com - Similar to Salary.com, this site has sections for both Employees and Employers. The site offers both salary reports and cost of living reports (useful if you are thinking of a move). Also like Salary.com, there are free basic reports and custom reports for a fee. Clicking “continue” under Employee (center page) returns a page with a Salary Calculator, Executive Salary Calculator and a Cost of Living Calculator. There are additional tabs at the top of the page for Reports and Education.

• Bureau of Labor of Statistics - Another great resource is the from the US Department of Labor. The site is filled with great data (way to much to cover here), so I will focus on just a few of the links. There are tabs at the top for Subject Areas, Databases & Tables, Publications and Economic releases. The Pay & Benefits link (on the left hand side of the page has a number of great links, specifically - Wages by Area and Occupation and Earnings by Industry. There is an additional link under “Resources for” for Jobseekers which is worth a look as well.

• Compensation - How Much Are You Worth? - This article, by Alison Doyle and posted on About.com, provides great background and advice (with additional links) for researching salaries. There is a salary calculator, Occupational Outlook Handbook a salary survey and more. The site is fully integrated, so there are additional links to related articles on salary negotiations, salary requirements and more. Definitely worth a read.

By CareerAlley, http://careeralley.com

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.