agree with using glassdoor.com for similar companies or titles. Also, when negotiating salary, everything is on the table in my book: not just base pay, but how often the increases happen, bonuses, vacation time, work from home time, 401k contribution, other benefits, etc. consider it all as part of a complete salary review.

Also, remember that 5k is not a lot to most companies, but a lot to you. Aim higher than you think you will get. For example, if you want a 10k raise, ask for an 15-20k raise.

I would say, I love my job and I love working here. I'd be delighted - on my own time - to prepare for you my own analysis of 1) what is competitive in the field and 2) what my measurable contribution to the bottom line is.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I am underpaid based on my calcs of what I contribute to the bottom line. There are no coworkers that contribute as I do so no relative comps. I think my boss understands that he makes more money with me at the realm. I appreciate the feedback but some calcs would help. I probably should market/brand myself better but I assume he knows... probably naive.

I don't know that anyone here can help you without more information -- what do you do, how big is your employer, what's your educational background, how much experience do you have, how much do you make and how far off do you THINK your salary is? Any clue about why he might be asking this now (i.e. you interact frequently with his clients and perhaps someone had a comment about stealing you away, or soemthing like that...).

OP here. I am underpaid based on my calcs of what I contribute to the bottom line. There are no coworkers that contribute as I do so no relative comps. I think my boss understands that he makes more money with me at the realm. I appreciate the feedback but some calcs would help. I probably should market/brand myself better but I assume he knows... probably naive.

It is a very strange thing for your boss to be doing and it's not inappropriate for you to try to find out more context: Are all positions coming under review (as in company has hired an organizational consultant and want to realign salary and jobs across the company)? Is company under some kind of discrimination lawsuit? You might be able to say to your boss, something like "you're question took me off guard. I'm interested in what context the question of my salary has come up?"

Next, you need to have comparables. do you know what your cohorts with same job title or same level of rsponisbility are making? Do you know any headhunters? Is there industry information that a trade association has created? Can you sort through monster.com and find some jobs that include salary ranges?

And finally you need to ask yourself what do you want from this conversation? More money? Some other kind of perk or benefit?

I have no idea but are there recruiters in your field? You could always call a few and see what the going rate is for someone with your specs. Or look on glassdoor.com. GL.

How do you know you are underpaid? Perhaps you can make a case for a raise based on your contributions, not just relative to what others get paid. You can argue that in the recent year/two years/whatever, you have been increasingly handling more work load because of increased productivity. It also helps if you can point to some concrete results where you've brought projects to completion successfully etc. Don't feel bad you didn't have an answer right away, I think it's totally understandable.

OP here. Please help! In serious need of mentors I don't have.

Out of the blue. I didn't have a prepared answer in mind as I wasn't expecting salary negotiations. I was juggling about 40 other tasks. I have not asked for a raise. All I could think about was the Jimmy Fallon Capitol One commercial. (Everybody likes more cash.) I told him I'd get back to him because I have no idea what compensation would be fair. Shame on me as I should have had a direct answer. All I know is that I'm underpaid. It won't be easy for me to calculate my compensation (i.e. not as simple as punching in job title and zip code into a salary calculator). What standards are used for determing principal/exec compensation based on revenue?