How to Break Out of a Salary Rut

How to Break Out of a Salary Rut

On a highway in Alaska there’s a sign that warns drivers to “Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it for the next 200 miles.” Unfortunately, this warning is too often applicable to careers–especially in the sense that salary trajectories tend to be self-perpetuating. To break out of a salary rut after years of low pay, a Wall Street Journal article offers some tips for discussing the issue with prospective employers. Don’t lie about your current salary; they’ll probably find out and you’ll be out of the running. Instead, score points by showing that you’ve done your homework. When you’re asked what you presently earn, state that although your current employer didn’t offer raises that kept pace with the market or with your expanding set of skills and experience, you’re aware of your market value and expect to be paid accordingly when you make a move. If you’ve sufficiently demonstrated your worth to your prospective employer, the numbers should indicate the firm’s commitment to you. If that’s not the case, says one human resources director, “you don’t want to work there anyway.” Read on at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122083890161208957.html?mod=CarJMain_topmiddle.

Cubie’s comments:
This is a fine article, but sometimes you just have to find a new job to get a bump up in salary. Here are some tips for when you impress that new company so much that they really need you, and are making an offer:

• “Shoot for the moon!” Pick a salary you think you really deserve, pad it by 20% more because if you have been with one employer for a long time, you don’t really know how much you are worth.
• When asking for a salary like that, you have to first convince yourself that you are worth it. Do you think you can provide 50% more value for a salary 20% higher than the competition?
• After thoroughly convincing yourself of your worth (and forcing any self-defeating thoughts out of your head), stand up and be assertive asking for this salary goal. You can always negotiate down, but assume you will actually get it.
• They probably have a salary range already picked out, as the job is likely to be labeled with some specific grade or level. Convince them you are worth it. I know, it takes a lot of guts, but believe in yourself.
• Sometimes, a hiring manager has very little say in the salary offered. This would be in some large, inflexible corporation. Maybe you should just politely turn them down if they cannot meet your salary request. That manager may be inclined to rewrite the job requisition if you really were impressive.
• Also, the salary offered may just be a low ball number to see if they can get you cheap. If so, they can save money in their budget to give others raises. Too bad for them, but you will not except such a low ball salary. Just say no!
• Have a reason why you want more – once I got $5000 more by just saying that my current job had better benefits, so could they raise the salary to match it? One phone call later and I had a new job at $5K better salary.
• One more thing: if you go with a recruiter or agency as a contractor or temp, you should comparison shop. I once had about a dozen of these headhunters call me one day while I was unemployed. I found that the first offer was a few thousand a year less than the agency I did go with. That first guy re-offered to match, but that meant he was originally going to pocket the difference! So negotiate with contracting agencies as well. They are also in a time crunch to present a candidate to their client before another agency does. So they might just be happy to make less by paying you more, rather than getting nothing if they wait too long.