How to get the salary you deserve

With the rise of pay transparency more and more people are actively questioning their monetary worth in the marketplace. It’s an incredibly positive step as it’s forcing clarity in salaries and making the marketplace much more consistent.

It’s not all about money - good benefits, flexibility and agile working are all very much sought after but let’s be honest, with a rise in house prices, eating out and general day to day living, money still talks.

Understanding your own worth

How do you know if the salary you’re on is justified? When can you ask for more money and how do you know if you’re underpaid?

Speak to an experienced recruiter - as recruiters, we are asked to make a judgement call on these questions every day. How do we do this? We meet over 10,000 people on a yearly basis – all in slightly different roles, in different firms, with different experiences.

We discuss the activities and responsibilities of the individuals we meet - learning where and how they’ve added value, how they fair in terms of achievements and ultimately, what they would be worth in another marketing or business development department. We are also briefed on jobs on a daily basis and given salary guides for all the positions we recruit for. 

The experience of talking to such a wide range of people enables us to help you in understanding your worth in the marketplace.

Revealing your current salary

There has been a backlash recently (prominent especially on LinkedIn), about the justification behind asking for someone’s present salary. "Don’t tell them!" I’ve heard people exclaim "Recruiters will just assume that’s what you’re worth".

But is this really true?...

Put aside the fact we already have a strong understanding of an individual's day to day responsibilities and therefore, how much they would be worth in the marketplace. The other thing to understand is that recruiters are paid on a % of your base salary, which means that the more you are offered in a new position, the more your recruiter will be paid. Why would they want to low ball you? They have no good reason!

Emphasise your achievements

Highlighting your worth when speaking to potential employers is important.Your recruiter should be able to assist you with emphasising your achievements and previous experience in preparation for interviews.

Discussing examples of your previous achievements can really help you, both in interview and in appraisals, to convey the return on investment you offer for the business and justify that pay increase. 

Your recruiter will also be able to give you a good understanding of your market. They should have benchmark data and also be able to provide you with an idea of the jobs that are on the market (that are suited to you) and an idea of what these jobs are paying.

Don't overestimate your worth

It is always beneficial to be transparent and honest with your recruiter. 

We’ve all heard the story of the person who lied about their previous salary or blagged their way into a job far beyond their experience level. Eventually, this person will get found out when they can’t deliver on the expectation that they’ve set.

The more open you are about your previous experience, the sooner your recruiter can help you to secure your dream job that is suitable to your current experience.