| Your skills and talents are worth something. You can | | | | Specifically, five sites can give you a well-rounded |
| get an objective appraisal before going into the job | | | | opinion:o - collects ongoing salary data directly from |
| interview. You can easily research the job's salary | | | | visitors.o - collects salary data from companies and |
| range. Your goal is to find typical job salaries for | | | | customizes it to location, size of company, etc.o |
| people with similar experience and skills in your industry. | | | | JobStar.org - links you to 300+ salary survey sites.o - |
| In other words, answer the question, "What range | | | | has lots of articles about salary trends.o - gleans |
| would the company have to pay to find someone like | | | | salaries from millions of online help-wanted ads and |
| you?" Put another way, "If you don't take the job what | | | | presents a summary for you. |
| would the company have to offer to find someone as | | | | You won't get one simple numeric answer, but with an |
| good as you?" Without having this kind of salary data | | | | hour or so of effort, search, and printouts, you can get |
| you won't be able to substantiate your case for the | | | | a range for the pay level comparison. Once that's |
| salary you want. This is my Fifth Commandment of | | | | done, the two other factors, above, should be added in. |
| Salary Negotiations: Honor Thine Skills and Talents. | | | | For your Individual Value, assess your special training, |
| Your fair market value is not one tidy number but a | | | | assets, skills, competencies, etc. that are of value to |
| range. It is a composite of three components: your | | | | your employer. |
| Objectively Researched Value, your Individual Value, | | | | Finally, take into account any long-term rewards like |
| and your Future Value. Once you know the job title | | | | profit sharing, performance bonuses, raises, stock |
| and perhaps the job description, you'll be able to home | | | | options, etc. that are part of your package. This gives |
| in on your Objectively Researched Value (ORV$) or | | | | you an idea of your Future Value. Blending these three |
| simply put, the present going rate. The Internet in | | | | numbers gives you negotiation power. Instead of |
| general, augmented by your library's subscriptions to | | | | "Here's what I'd like," you can say, "Here's the range of |
| data, should give you enough data to get a fix on the | | | | what others are paid, and why I should be paid the top |
| competitive rate. | | | | of the range. |