Question:
What is the average starting salary for a job?
Answer:
The starting salary depends on a lot of things - the location, the industry (banking, telecommunicaitons, publishing, education, etc.), the function (finance, marketing, information technology, administration, etc.), the kind of job you want, the amount of education and experience required to do the job, the number of people who can do the job, the amount of money the employer can afford to pay, etc. So, it is extremely variable.
Salary Ranges?
Understand that most jobs have a "salary range" which means that not everyone who does the job is paid the same. Not every one starts a job is at the same level of experience or has the same level of skill. The difference in starting salary for the same job should reflect differences in experience, skills, and education, not anything else. So, the bottom of the range is usually for someone new in the job, and the middle is for someone with a few years of experience. Hopefully, before you hit to top of the range, you've been promoted to the next higher level job.
True Cost of Your Salary
Also, understand that for an employer, the "true cost" of an employee includes both their salary and their taxes and benefits, so the amount that actually ends up in your pocket will depend on the level of benefits the employers provide - vacation days, personal days, sick days, tuition reimbursement, medical insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, unemployment insurance, etc. etc. So, one employer may seem to pay less, but they may actually provide better benefits. And, of course, if you work more hours (40 vs 35) or a night shift, you should have better compensation.
Finding Salary Data
How can you find out the starting salary?
1.) Get a job offer and you'll get one piece of data. Of course, it may not be the "market rate" for the job, so you need to compare a lot of job offers to see what the average is. That's not easy to do, obviously. Try an online job search (Monster, HotJobs, etc.) to see what the data shows on the jobs that actually list a salary.
2.) Salary.com and SalaryExpert.com provide some free information, so you can do some research at those sites. Just keep in mind that the data may not be accurate for every employer because they usually reflect the salaries paid by very large companies. Smaller companies may need to pay less.
3.) See if you can talk with local people you trust who have the job you are looking for in the same or a similar employer. Ask them if they can tell you in general how much money they are paid. Then, compare their experience and yours to see what you might expect.
Negotiating Your Salary
Whenever you go into a salary negotiation - AFTER YOU'VE RECEIVED THE JOB OFFER - be sure to know the number that is your walk-away number. Don't accept a job for less than that number unless you are willing to stay at the job for a year or you don't have any choice.
Realistic Expectations
However, if you find yourself turning down more than 3 job offers because the money is too low, re-check your figures, adjust your salary expectations downward, change your target job, or change your location. Something is wrong somewhere in your calculations.
See if you can talk with local people you trust who have the job you are looking for in the same or a similar employer.
Posted by: Sanjay | February 22, 2008 at 06:12 AM