# Salary.com



## rshuey (May 7, 2010)

So, I have dealt with no pay increases for a few years now and over the past 5 years, my job descriptions and duties have quadrupled. I was checking out salary.com for some guidance. WOW! Do you guys actually make what it shows?

I am severely underpaid. Mine shows that I'm about 20,000 low.....


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## rshuey (May 7, 2010)

I am local gov't tho. We don't do it for the money, right?


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## north star (May 7, 2010)

** **

*rshuey,*

*Don't be misled by the various salary ' dot ' com type of sites. While some*

*of those **sites ARE good references, every jurisdiction is different and will*

*try to get the most **for the least amount of monies.*

*Essentially, the person being interviewed will have to negotiate the very*

*best salary **[ or hourly rate ] that they can. Naturally, the best time*

*to find out your perceived **value is during the interview process. If you*

*have a lot of certifications and other **marketable skills, you may want to*

*ask for more money, or you may want to settle **for less money to be*

*located in a certain area or to be near family. Essentially, you **have to*

*know what you are willing to settle for before you even apply for a position.*

*In today's uncertain economy, almost everyone is going to be hard pressed*

*to get **a raise, or even a small raise. I am like you in that I haven't had*

*a raise in **3+ yrs. & **lots of duties, but I am [ currently ] employed.*

*Even mentioning a **raise gets people **ticked off [ `round here anyway ].*

*My experience [ in our **' line of work ' ] is that most employers aren't*

*going to do anything until they **are **forced to. **But be forewarned**, if you*

*start asking for a raise, your **employer might just think that they can get*

*along without you and find **someone else to do your job(s), ...cheaper!*

*It's very tricky minefield asking **for raises, ...especially these days.*

*As a suggestion, get all of the training & certifications that you can. My*

*employer **will not pay for any certfications or tests, so rather than do nothing,*

*I choose to pay **for all of my certs. & testing. Also, [ if possible ] do*

*some other jobs in your **neighborhood. Handyman type of jobs, ...plus, there*

*is always a need to help **those that are less fortunate than yourself.*

*One last thing! I seriously doubt that any of us [ in the gub `mint sector ]*

*are **making **the salary amounts that may be listed on those ' dot ' com sites.*

*Hope this helps!*

** **


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## rshuey (May 7, 2010)

Meant no disrespect to anyone. I was just kinda laughing at salary.com


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## brudgers (May 7, 2010)

Of course the other thing that tends to happen is that people compare their salary to the median.

Odds are 50/50 that you make less.


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## vegas paul (May 7, 2010)

brudgers - don't tell me... half of the members of this forum are below average!!!


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## JBI (May 7, 2010)

... in salary that is. Right Paul?


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## rshuey (May 7, 2010)

I'm below average...lol


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## FredK (May 7, 2010)

Is a yes allowed?  And more than that and that's low for this area. As for the last few years and looking forward into the future there isn't any raises to be had.

This is one of the "benchmark" positions on which the rest of the city staff raises are determined from.  The BS goes like this these other cities are paying x so the average is y and cause we don't have the traffic, etc... we reduce it by 10%.   What????

To be honest I turned down jobs from other jurisdictions because of the $$$.  If they sell the trucks and groceries way cheaper than maybe it would warrent a look at the position.  Last one I told them they were way low at by at least 12K-two years later they are still looking.  Doesn't mean it not a great job for some one else.

Never got into the business to get rich but to help people and I figure that the main perk of the job.


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## FM William Burns (May 7, 2010)

Under paid here too!  



I’m in the union also and we are always using comps for negotiations.  We agreed to freeze our pay for this contract (2 years) due to the hard times the city is facing and to keep their eyes off us in the future.  I agree with North Star and FredK to some extent.  I took a 7G annual hit to come here but the quality of life is so much better than where I came from.  My duties and responsibilities have grown also but that’s just part of the job….besides if I need a little more “scratch” I’ll teach a bit or do some consulting just enough to keep Uncle Sam off my back on April 15th.  It goes with the territory in public service.


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## Alias (May 7, 2010)

No raise here in three years, am hoping for a little bump this year.  I did get a bonus of $500 last Christmas so I'm not complaining.  Keep those fingers crossed, senior complex goes to council next week and then back to planning.  No major objections so I am cautiously optimistic it will be built.  That said, they start that complex, I will be asking for a raise plus a 40 hour week!

Sue, where the west still lives...................


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## pyrguy (May 7, 2010)

Well I for one am making "more than last year, less than two years ago"  © all rights reserved.  

I am glad to be working again. Doing what I like with good people just makes it that much better.


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