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Raising the question of salary expectations is often a situation that many candidates dread. Underestimating yourself would be a great disadvantage to the candidate, while overestimating yourself could lead the employer to not consider you for the position. No matter where you are in your career, this is a difficult calculation to make.
When searching for a job, it is important that you understand the marketability of your skills and have a good idea of the likely salary ranges for your profession and industry. This is the only way to ensure that you are being compensated according to your market value. To find out what the salary trends are, we recommend that you do your research. In this post, we will discuss where and how to research market trends.
Where to find salary information
Ask your network and interview experts
Exchanging salary information with your network will help you be better informed when you begin your job search. Taking the pulse of people around you who are in the same or similar fields will help you determine appropriate salary ranges for your search. If you are not comfortable asking your peers about their compensation, ask them a question like: What do you think the average salary should be for someone with similar skills and experience as me? This way, they can use all the information they have, but you won’t have to address their personal compensation. Recruiters and headhunters have access to a wealth of information on compensation, so don’t hesitate to discuss it with them if you have the chance. You can also contact associations in your field, they usually have this kind of information at hand.
Do an online search
We also encourage job seekers to search for salary information online. The web provides a wealth of information relevant to exploring salary trends.
You can start by looking at job directories. Many job postings will list the salary being offered. This is a good place to start to get a feel for the market. The majority of online job postings do not display the salary. We therefore advise you to look beyond this information.
Many tools and guides are available to the general public that identify market trends for a specific industry. If you belong to an association, many of them make available an annual salary guide.
The Google search engine can be the easiest and fastest way to get an overview of salaries. Simply type in a job title, location and the words “salary” or “compensation” and you’ll quickly get information. We recommend that you validate the source of information first before considering it.
In recent years, free online tools have emerged that give users a voice. Members can self-report their salaries by industry, seniority, responsibilities, location, and more. These tools are therefore able to aggregate information reported by millions of users to establish market trends. Here are some recommended tools for obtaining frequently updated user-supplied information:
Glassdoor
Glassdoor has one of the most popular tools for obtaining salary information. Its tool can help you better understand market trends and assess the expected salary range. It offers a custom salary calculator that gives you a salary estimate taking into account your location, experience level and other important factors.
How does it work?
Once you create your profile, you will be able to enter your employer’s name, location, job title, years of experience and current salary. Culling data reported by its users and various salary surveys, Glassdoor will tell you what salary you should be making in the market. The tool can also reveal how that number would change if you moved to another city or gained experience.
LinkedIn Salary
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network. It offers a tool to evaluate the base salary for a given position, but can also give you information on responsibilities and annual bonuses. LinkedIn can pull it all together with its network of over 830 million members to provide compensation information.
LinkedIn’s salary tool will also give you a look into the future by providing details on how their salary will change based on their current and future experience in the field.
How does it work?
To get started, make sure you have a LinkedIn account. Once on the page, you will need to provide your salary information to their database. Next, you will add your skills and experience level. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see overall salary information specific to your position.
You will also be able to compare salaries for the same position in different cities, company sizes, etc. In addition, LinkedIn will automatically show you open positions that you may be interested in.
Factors to consider in the analysis
Each job has unique elements that can influence salary levels. Whether it’s the company’s field of work, the geographic location of the position, or the benefits offered, a variety of factors influence the amount of compensation. Here are a few factors to consider to put things in perspective when conducting your salary research:
- Field of work: Depending on the field of work, the same title may have a different salary. Sales representatives, for example, may work in several areas, but pay will vary greatly depending on the industry.
- Geographic location: If you live in an area where housing, public transportation, food and other essentials are more expensive than average, such as in a large city, pay tends to be higher. With this in mind, some websites compare the cost of living between your location and other locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and provide salary surveys.
- Benefits: In today’s market, employers striving to remain competitive and attract top talent are well advised to have a variety of benefits programs in place. These can range from health care to gym memberships to pet insurance. Here are some things to consider in addition to salary:
- Bonuses or commissions
- Paid vacations, vacations and sick days
- Insurance
- Group RRSP or other retirement savings plan
- Any other benefit program
While the information gathered during your research is an excellent starting point for determining a salary range, you need to look at these numbers critically. The information probably does not match your individual situation perfectly. Consult your coach to discuss this further.