7 Of The Best Salary Information Websites For Negotiation - Money Under 30

7 Of The Best Salary Information Websites For Negotiation - Money Under 30 7 Of The Best Salary Information Websites For Negotiation Why negotiate your salary? For one thing, negotiation works. Showing the skills and value you bring to the table, plus the carefully considered pause after an offer, can result in more money. Whether youre weighing a job offer or due for a raise, negotiation is key. But first, its good to know what youre worth. Salary research can give you a better idea of just the right number to shoot for, and of what increases you can expect as you advance in your career. The best salary research websites will help you do your homework in any field. (And most are free to use!) The Best Salary Information Websites Salary.com The most popular salary-specific job site, Salary.com lists every position in a field with free salary info. Their collection of data includes cost-of-living calculators, comparison tools, and lists of benefits, as well as negotiation tips. Salary.com doubles as a career site, providing job listings and advice for those on the lookout. Overall, this is probably the best site for salary info. Glassdoor Glassdoor is known for its extensive company reviews and employee feedback. A salary search provides data for specific jobs at specific companies, rather than a general estimation. Employees share info on salaries, benefits, interview questions, and morea great insider resource if youre starting out at a new company. PayScale A good resource for new grads, PayScale offers a free salary report based on experience, education, and other factors. Students should check out its College Salary Report for the lowdown on what various majors can expect to earn (and some negotiation tips). The career research section includes a Career Goal Tracker with salary data for the jobs you want. Indeed The well-known job site aggregator has a salary search tool. Indeed lets you use keywords to search, in addition to job titles. Since Indeed users can access over 50 million job postings from unique sources, theres a ton of salary data here. SalaryList All the data on SalaryList comes from official reporting by companies or the United States Department of Labor, so you know youre getting accurate information. The site provides salary data records for existing jobs by title, company, and state. Salary Expert With data updated daily, Salary Expert offers not only free salary reports but cost of living analysis and career salary potential. You can also search for jobs by salary, if youre thinking about switching fields. Bureau of Labor Statistics The most recent Occupational Outlook handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (available online or in print) provides salary data for thousands of jobs, searchable by field. Its also a good idea to investigate any sites specific to your field or career for salary data. These sites may have more info on industry norms, particularly if your fields a rarer one. What should you consider? Sites will often allow you to search based on job title, education and experience level, and location. But how does each factor affect the compensation you should ask for? Job title Titles reflect responsibility and experience. While some companies allow you a little latitude in naming your job, others wont be so flexible. Make sure youre clear on the responsibilities of the title offered (or the title you want). Career field Depending on the profit ratio of your industry, the same title can come with a different salary. Sales representatives, for instance, can work in multiple fields. But sales reps in high-demand fields, like pharmaceuticals, may be able to ask for more than those in other industries. Location If you live in a location where housing, transit, food and other essentials cost more than the national averagelike a large city, a coastal city, or a tourist destinationyou should earn more. A Cost of Living Analysis (COLA) comparison, offered on many of the sites above, lets you know what to expect in your region. Experience Work experience in your field can increase your value and your salary. Internships may count in your favor, depending on your responsibilities there. Education Having a degree, periodan associates, a bachelors, or an advanced degreeshould boost your salary expectations. Having a degree in your field is even better. Where you went to college can sometimes make a difference, too. PayScale has a College ROI (Return on Investment) report that analyzes how degrees from different colleges can affect your salary. If you didnt go to the Ivy League or a top school, dont count yourself out! Educations one of many factors that employers consider when setting compensation, and the more experience you get, the less it typically matters. Special skills Whether its a software program, a type of design, or a foreign language, special skills can be lucrative in the job market. Try doing a keyword search for a unique skill, and see which employers are willing to pay more for it. The key is supply and demand. Workers in more in-demand fields, like nursing or computer science, tend to have more negotiating room. But, as you can see, there are plenty of factors that determine the right compensation for your job. And there are variables you cant control. Racial and gender wage gaps, for instance, still persist. Industries in decline, or going through a temporary financial slump, may not have as much money to offer. A few tips for the salary negotiation: Have a range in mind, rather than a number. This gives you and the company more flexibility, and youre likely to end up within the middle to high end of the range. At the same time, know the lowest salary number you can live with. Its better to have a floor than a ceiling. Consider requesting benefitssuch as employer-paid health insurance, retirement contributions, and achievement-based bonusesif your companys less willing to negotiate on salary. Benefits may end up saving you more in the long run. Summary Its normal to feel squeamish talking about moneyespecially with your boss. Throw in the possibility of confrontation and contention, and negotiating for a salary increase can be completely nerve-wracking. But being preparedknowing what you can expect, and what others in your same position are makingcan help calm your nerves. Read more: Don’t Have The Right Degree For Your Dream Job (And Dream Salary)? How To Convince Employers You Do The Secret To A Bigger Raise? The Awkward Pause