I’ve been at my current job 11 months and am on the verge of my first review/raise (brace yourself for a thread on how to ask for a big raise coming up in the next month). In an effort to see “how much I was worth”, I looked at salary.com and compared it to what I make. It’s a huge difference. I’m talking 30% difference between what it says I should make and what I actually do make.
How accurate are these numbers, exactly? I realize they may be inflated a little bit so people pay for the full report to use in salary negotiations, but 30% seems like a huge number to inflate.
What’s the opinion on salary.com? Accurate? Slightly high-balling?
I’ve heard that salary.com is accurate. I’ve actually used it to ask for a raise before, with some success.
However, I’ve got issues with it. I’m a systems analyst. They list five choices for “Business Systems Analyst”. They are all the same job, but they have slightly different descriptions.
I might be a BSA III, which they have making 74K / Year. Or, I might be a BSA IV, which they have making 90K / Year. Big difference for only a slightly different wording on the description.
I just checked out of curiosity and it puts my standard salary at over 11,000 more than I actually make. Whether that means they highball or that my boss is a cheapskate, I will leave as an exercise for the reader.
I’m making about 5k below the “minimum” and about 10k below the mid-range. It is well known that my company underpays, but due to the job environment and some closings of businesses in my field, it’s difficult to find a new job, even a lateral move, without being massively overqualified.
<nitpick>It’s a slightly different wording that includes the next two-year bracket of job experience, if I read it correctly… BSA 3 is 4-6 years in the field, BSA 4 is 6-8 years. A little arbitrary, yes, and they have to hedge their descriptions a little but how else should they deal with the job experience factor??</nitpick>
According to them, I’m making ~$5,000 less a year than the median. Of course, I just had my six month review, and my boss said I was doing an outstanding job, far beter than anyone in the compnay expected, and he already submitted an appliction for me to get a raise to the higher-ups. From what I knoe, the higher-ups in the company also approved it, and now it has to go to some committe at the university. (I work for a not-for-profit company that is operated under the University of Vermont.)
My boss said it would be a significant raise, too. Hopw much is significant? I have no clue. Probably not $5,000 more a year, but hopefully enough that I actually notice it on each paycheck.
Woah, I’m getting shafted! And a recent job interview I went on in a place that has a much higher cost of living still offered me less than the minimum. I didn’t take it.
Mine is kind of hard to figure. I’m technically a CSR II because I only have 3-1/2 years experience but my actual job and skills make me a high level CSR III.
As a CSR II, I’m making about $5,000 less than I should. As a CSR III, I’m making about $10,000 less than I should.
Considering that my last raise was 1/10th of a percent because that’s what a committee decided I was worth without even waiting for my review to be completed - I’m not all that surprised. My last review started with my boss sitting down and telling me, “You will be lucky if you get .05 an hour extra. You will not be getting what I think you deserve and nothing you or I say will change that. I just wanted you to know that so you don’t blame me.” :rolleyes:
I’ll check again after I move and get a new job in a city with a higher cost of living.
Overall though, I’d have to say it’s pretty accurate.
The zip code thing can really make a big difference. I live about 15-30 minutes/15 miles from work. If I use my home zip code it says I’m making the low end of the salary scale. If I use my work zip code I’m making 8 grand less than the minimum. I know I’m pretty underpaid, but yeowza!
