washingtonpost.com
On April 14, 2015, women across the country were posting various memes and status updates with the hashtag #equalpayday. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women working full-time only earn approximately 78% of what men earn.
We desire to earn more, but unfortunately we do not put ourselves in a position to earn more. We should be making steps every chance we get in order to be deemed equal. Beside your social media stance, what are you doing to make sure you are earning what you are worth? The following tips will help prepare you to get that equal pay you’ve been tweeting about.
Do Your Salary Homework
There are several resources available to assist you in determining what the average salary is for your position.
Salary.com provides a comprehensive list of any and every position in a field, as well as required skills and salary details. It also allows you to compare different levels of a role to see where your skills position you.
Glassdoor.com provides actual salaries for actual positions within companies. It also gives you the ability to perform your search based on your position and location to find out what the actual companies in your area are paying as reported by previous and current employees. As a bonus there are also company reviews.
Recruiter is an industry-specific recruiter who can quickly assess your experience and let you know the average salary for a position.
Quantify Your Value
You should always keep track of any accomplishments at work.
- Did you add to the bottom line?
- Did you lead a number of projects?
- Did you implement a new initiative?
If you are going to express to someone you are worth more than what they are offering you, you have to be able to express why.
Negotiate
Many of us accept whatever is offered to us whether it be during the offer of a new job or a raise without even exploring the possibility of negotiation. Keep in mind that you have every right to negotiate if you have a valid reason to believe you deserve more. If you are confident in yourself and prepared with your research, what you are able to contribute and your accomplishments, you are in a better position to express that to the decision maker.
Also, keep in mind that negotiation does not solely have to be about your annual salary. Determine what matters to you most, is it flexible working hours, more vacation time or a promotion with more responsibility? These are benefits that you should be able to ask for if you know you deserve them.
Remember, no one else is going to see your values or your contributions unless you make them aware. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]