CAREERS NOW 04-20-08

Searching By How Much the Job Pays

DEAR JOYCE: I'm a first-line supervisor quietly checking out job opportunities just in case things go sour here. My family is already running on financial fumes and with gas prices as they are, I'd like to avoid wasting time chasing after jobs that don't pay what I'm worth. I know about using the sites salary.com and paycheck.com to estimate my market value but so many of the jobs advertised don't state what they pay. Ideas? -- J.J.

You've got lots of company. Frustrated job seekers who understandably complain that while employers typically are quick to ask a candidate's price, too often they won't quickly reveal how much salary they're willing to fork over. This uneven situation will no longer be so widespread because a new technology is likely to change the game.

The job search engine Indeed (indeed.com) has just introduced an exciting new "Job Search by Salary" feature that enables seekers to find all jobs in a salary classification even when the salaries are not advertised by employers. In fact, Paul Foster, Indeed's CEO, says the vast majority of job listings don't include salaries.

So how does the magic happen? Indeed's technology estimates salaries based on an analysis of similar job listings that do include salaries - about a fifth of the total. When actual salaries are advertised, they are shown in the Indeed search results.

Here's how you use the money search: Once on Indeed's site, you enter in its search box your functional area followed by the salary floor you seek. Your search will find all jobs estimated to pay at least that much. You can also set up an e-mail job alert to be notified when positions matching your salary requirements are found as Indeed bots scour the Web for advertised jobs from newspapers, job sites, associations and companies.

Suppose you're looking for a marketing management position that pays more than $60,000 annually. You can search "Marketing Manager $60k" which, at this writing, returns more than 80,000 jobs nationwide.

"Job Search by Salary" is a great boon for job seekers because it helps level the playing field. "Job seekers tell us they don't want to see jobs that pay too little and until now there's been no way to filter them out of their searches when salaries aren't advertised," Foster says. "For the first time, job seekers can search jobs comprehensively and identify those paying a sufficient salary."

I can't help but remember the woman who during an earlier recession wrote to me challenging my advice to interview often. I've forgotten her exact words but this is the gist of her comment: "Joyce, you say job hunting is a numbers game and for people to go on every job interview they can get. Well, thanks for nothing. My husband and I don't have the gas money to drive up and down the highway to job interview after interview, especially for those jobs that don't pay enough to put food on the table."

When you and a job are in the same ballpark but the pay's a near-miss, don't hesitate trying to sell yourself and negotiate it upward.

But when the two goalposts are miles apart, Indeed's new technology saves time and expense for both you and employers by reducing wasted contacts.

DEAR JOYCE: I'm not up to speed on using Internet resources, other than job sites, to scout for jobs. Can you suggest a book or something to quickly catch up? - O.P.L.

"Internet Your Way to a New Job: How to Really Find a Job Online" by Alison Doyle, About.com's job search guide, published by HappyAbout (happyabout.com) is a must-read 110-page book.

Another promising small book, 162 pages, on the same topic is due in May: "Seven Days to Online Networking: Make Connections to Advance Your Career and Business Quickly" by Right Management consultants Ellen Sautter and Diane Crompton, published by Help in a Hurry, an imprint of JIST Works (jist.com).

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