CAREERS NOW 03-11-07

Job Seekers Listen When Money Talks

DEAR JOYCE: I am an engineer, 29, married with one child, and have held my job at a fairly small company (about 800 employees) for nearly seven years. I like my job - the commute time is short, my boss is a good guy and my co-workers are fine. But my pay isn't covering the bills and now that my wife doesn't work, we're headed for financial trouble.

I recall reading your column when you recommended that a new graduate should begin a career at a large company when possible. The reasons you gave, as I recall, were better training, higher brand recognition for the next job and more opportunities to move up. But this job came along right after I graduated and I took it. Despite several requests, my boss says increases are not likely this year for anyone here because the company isn't doing well.

Is it too late to get hired at a larger company where I could get more pay and opportunity? No initials please. Sign me - Need Plan B.

Despite the yearly downpour of employee surveys concluding that big paychecks and bonuses aren't everything and that some employees would prefer a better quality of life than a higher salary, survey responders who say things like that usually are not worrying about paying the rent or covering the mortgage. Lifestyle preferences notwithstanding, common sense says that when you're having trouble making ends meet, you listen with both ears when money talks.

Are you too old, you ask, to make the switch to a better paying company? You're kidding. In fact, many would argue that, after five years, it's time to move on to keep your skills fresh.

You won't start at the kind of entry-level position offered to new graduates; instead leverage the skills and knowledge you've developed during your first job. Begin by researching your marketable worth, much easier today than it was a short 10 years ago. Next, make a heroic effort to quickly learn the essentials of salary negotiation, perhaps rehearsing your newly acquired negotiation techniques with a buddy.

DOLLAR SIGNS ON THE WEB. Two companies - Salary.com and Payscale - dominate the valuable online salary research that's available to job seekers; a third service, Payscroll.com, has announced plans to become operational this year, perhaps as early as May.

The original salary research site, Salary.com, rounds up its money figures from corporate surveys. The basic data is free; a custom report for your specific situation costs between $30 and $100.

Payscale (payscale.com) fills its database with user-reported information, editing the results for questionable numbers. The free service also offers customized premium reports, charging $20.

Both companies publish useful salary articles and features. Salary.com offers a list of job titles in some 80 career fields and industries by salary range at five levels: $100,000+, $80,000-$100,000, $50,000-$80,000, $30,000-$50,000 and $10,000-30,000.

Payscale publishes pay-related advice as well as salary reports for specific occupations, such as engineers, retail store managers, office managers and lawyers.

NEGOTIATION EDUCATION. Once you establish your market rate with documenting figures, turn your attention to sources of negotiation instruction, whether coaching or self-taught.

You can learn from a coach at a rate (fees vary) that is likely to earn you money in the long run, if not in your next job. The dean of salary negotiation coaches is Jack Chapman in Wilmette, Ill. (Salarynegotiations.com). In addition to providing individual telecoaching, Chapman has trained a number of career coaches across the nation in the best techniques.

You can learn from books - such as "Perfect Phrases for Negotiating Salary and Job Offers: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases to Help You Get the Best Possible Salary, Perks or Promotion" by Matthew J. DeLuca and Nanette F. DeLuca, published by McGraw Hill, 2006, $9.95. For other book titles, Google "salary negotiation books."

You can learn from the Web. Here are two well-regarded free negotiation training resources:

- "Salary Negotiation and Job Offer Tutorial" at quintcareers.com/salary_negotiation_tutorial.html.

- "Salary Negotiation Guide" at susanireland.com/salaryguide/index.html.

BIG NOT ALWAYS BETTER. You remember correctly. I do recommend that new grads launch their careers at name companies for the reasons you state. But small companies may ask employees to wear multiple hats, accelerating their skill development in the industry. In fact, recruiters often seek an employee of a smaller company who does the same job they're filling at a large company.

A widely-held perception that big companies offer better salaries isn't always true. In a Salary.com survey, 75 percent of respondents said that benefits were better at a bigger company but only 38 percent said pay was actually better at a large company.

As my mother used to say when urging immediate action: "Get a move on!" Start today finding out how to be salary-smart. Your investment of time will be repaid many times over.

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