Stop Paying Your Boss So You Can Work

How much would you pay your boss for the chance to keep working your current job? $10,000? $20,000? $30,000??? If you’re like most Americans you’re unwittingly paying your boss thousands of dollars to work your job and not move up in your career field. Today we’re going to put a stop to that and put a plan in place to get you your money.

Paying your boss

The other week I ran into a friend of mine on her way to lunch. I asked her if she was going to swing by the free presentation about working in a high paying technology field presented by a company that was looking to hire positions she might be qualified for happening conveniently while we were on break. “No,” she replied, “I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now.”

I asked the question in a different way: “How much would you be willing to pay your boss to get to keep working in your current job right now?”

She laughed derisively at the notion and gave the very obvious answer of $0. A job, after all, pays you, not the other way around! I pointed out to her that if she missed the opportunity to see if someone might be willing to hire her for a lot more money in a different role or with a different organization that she was essentially paying her boss the lost difference in salaries to continue staying where she is. Think of it! Let’s say my friend earned $35,000/year. The technology group giving the presentation hired at starting salaries of $50,000 and up. If she opted not to pursue a job she could have gotten that decision would mean she’d effectively be paying $15,000/year in lost wages to her boss in perpetuity.

If you pass up the opportunity to pursue a higher paying career, even if it’s in a different organization, you’re essentially paying your boss thousands of dollars so you can keep doing your job.

My friend didn’t make it to the presentation, but you don’t have to repeat her mistakes. Today we’re going to talk about your plan for getting the most out of your career.

Working in America

The middle class American worker has had a rough run over the last two decades. A gigantic economic crash and no pay increases for years means a lot of us are having a harder time getting by. In an environment in which it’s okay for your boss or company to let you go at any time for any reason it’s only just that we look out for ourselves and our own interests too. How do you do that? By making sure you’re getting the maximum value for your skillset that you’re entitled to, and if you’re not by finding someone who will give you that much.

What are you worth?

How much does someone with your experience and skillset expect to make in your region? Nationally? Internationally? You can find all of this information out easily as well as reading reviews of what it’s like working for other companies in your field using a few handy web resources.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor.com is something like a Yelp for the working world. There you can review what the going rate for someone with your skillset is in specific geographic locations. You can also see which companies have positions that might interest you and read about what it’s like working for those companies from both past and present employees. Using Glassdoor you can figure out about how much you’re worth in the current market as well as get a good look at what’s available around you in case you feel you’re getting underpaid.

Salary.com

Salary.com can also do a great job providing you salary ranges for the positions you’re interested in and let you gauge whether your company is paying you sufficiently for the market rate in your current location. Its employer review system isn’t as robust as Glassdoor’s, but its salary review system is arguably more robust (makes sense for a site called “Salary.com”). For example, I was able to quickly determine the median salary for a software developer in Des Moines, IA, my old home, is about $58,000. Compare that to my new home in Seattle, WA where the starting median salary for a software developer is approximately $65,000. Making the move from one locale to the other could be worth a raise of $7,000 while a developer in Des Moines making $50,000 could determine she was being underpaid and lobby for a pay increase with that information.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Straight from the government source, the BLS.gov website features all the specific, searchable information about salary ranges you could want from a plethora of fields. Determining what people in your area get for your expertise and experience is easy and allows you to go into the negotiating room confident you have the data to support claims that you need a better pay package if you’re being undervalued.

So why is it important to know how much your skillset goes for in your market? Because it makes sure you’re getting paid what you’re worth. If you never check pay packages your boss could get away with under paying you for years safe knowing you’re not looking around at anything else. Knowing they’re under paying you by $10,000/year means you’re effectively paying them $10,000 to do your work, money that goes right into their pockets! Get it back by being aware of what you’re worth and negotiating for the commensurate pay.

When you’re underpaid

In the course of determining how much someone with your skills is worth you may discover you’re not being paid what you’re worth. You have two options in this circumstance: negotiate an increase to the appropriate range for your experience and skills or start looking for a new position with an organization that’s willing to pay you appropriately. Today is not the day we talk about how to negotiate or re-negotiate one’s salary; instead we’re going to focus on the second option: looking around for work.

But I’m happy where I’m at!

Like my friend in the first example, you might be completely satisfied with where you’re at and it’s entirely possible after doing the research you may discover you’re not being underpaid by much (or at all). For someone who is happy with their current employment situation, likes where their career is headed (make sure it’s headed upwards!), and is comfortable with the amount they’re being underpaid it’s okay to stay where you’re at so long as you own the reality that you’re paying your boss $5,000 (or whatever) each year to keep doing what you’re doing.

But I still recommend, no matter how happy you are with where you’re at, to interview for positions in your industry at least twice each year.

Your goal doesn’t need to be to switch organizations or find something else but you glean a lot of value out of seeing what your industry looks like from the perspective of other employers. Through the interview and application process you’ll discover certifications expected of someone in your field you might not have been aware of and can then pursue to make sure you stay qualified as an expert doing whatever you do. You may wind up making contacts from your industry peers that can prove useful down the road. You may even find candidates who might be a good fit for your company whom you can reverse recruit!

In some circumstances you might even hit the lottery: an employer so desperate for you specifically that they’re willing to hammer you with money. You might be comfortable paying your boss $5,000 to work, but would you be comfortable paying them $10,000? $20,000? By seeing what’s around you might find out that’s a question you have to answer for yourself, and that’s a good question to have to answer.

Looking around

So you’ve discovered you’re being underpaid, you’ve tried to negotiate, and your employer simply isn’t having it. What now? It’s time to start using your jobs resources to find who is hiring in your field in the area. Make sure you’re active and competent in these resources.

Glassdoor.com

We talked about Glassdoor.com in the salary section but it’s relevant for looking for new work as well. Set up a profile and alerts that can notify you when the type of career you’re looking for is available, then start applying. Employers use Glassdoor to find qualified candidates so make sure if they’re looking for you that you can be found.

Monster.com

Like Glassdoor, Monster.com is used by employers to find good fits for their organizations. Set up your account and start managing your notifications so you can find out who is looking for your skills. Then start applying!

LinkedIn

The social network for the professional, LinkedIn.com is also a jobs website where employers are scouting for talented individuals. It’s helpful to spend 15 minutes each week (or month) to make sure your account is up to snuff if you’re not regularly updating it. An employer looking at it should be able to find you, your resume, and your qualifications. That’s why it’s key to keep it up to date: you want to make sure a potential employer is seeing the best face you can present. You’ll get the best results if you’re semi-active on the site on a regular basis, but if that’s too much to ask (and that’s totally fine; I’m super lazy when it comes to budgeting even though it’s the most powerful financial tool in the world) updating it before you start applying is probably good enough.

Recruiters

In some circles recruiters are a dirty word and I understand why: you do the hard work, they take a cut of your pay. When I finished college I started making my career as a writer and editor in the gaming world. I was cobbling together about half a full-time paycheck each month, which was pretty exciting, but I had bills that weren’t getting paid and to try to avoid getting in too deep I needed part-time employment that would allow me to take time off whenever I needed to travel the world covering gaming tournaments. My solution was to head to Manpower, one of the largest recruitment companies in the world, and let them find me a place to work. They did exactly that, and I soon found myself working full-time at an auto-parts manufacturer’s front office some weeks and traveling the world writing other weeks.

Did a part of my salary go to Manpower? Sure, but that was payment for a service they provided: finding me the perfect job. And I had full knowledge of the salary I was going to receive after their cut when I committed to the job. If I wasn’t happy with the terms I could have certainly turned them down.

If you’ve exhausted your options with the digital resources available to you, consider a paid professional who can find you the right place at the right price. After all, it’s what they do for a living.

Dealing with fallout

I would guess the number one fear people have about applying at different organizations or “rocking the boat” when it comes to asking for higher compensation is the possibility you’ll face negative repercussions from your current employer. If that’s a fear you have, you absolutely need to make the best career move you’ll ever make. Doing so will free you up to search for the career you deserve at the price you deserve to be paid.

If your employer is the type of place that would “punish” you for getting the most value for yourself, you’re going to want to find a different employer anyway. That’s a sign of deep insecurity at a leadership level within an organization; a confident employer knows they’re offering their employees a great compensation and benefits package and can trust that they’ll be willing to stick around. If yours isn’t the latter, get out.

In the meanwhile, keep your job search to yourself (a good idea no matter what). You can also minimize the appearance of looking elsewhere at work. I had a colleague once who always dressed up on Fridays. He called it, “Fancy Fridays,” and I thought it was simply a quirky style thing, a bizarro take on the concept of casual Fridays. Years later I learned the truth about his fancy Fridays: when he did job interviews he did them on Friday afternoons. By starting “Fancy Fridays” he managed to look inconspicuous when he showed up for work every Friday dressed for an interview. You can absolutely follow his lead to keep things on the down low as you start to look for ways to maximize the return on your investment of your time at work.

Wrapping things up

If you take away anything from today let it be this: you deserve to earn what you’re worth from your employer.

Putting that into practice means finding out what someone of your skillset can sell their skills for in your area (or other regions if you’re willing to move) and making sure you’re earning that much. If you find you’re not a renegotiation is in order. Even if you’re happy with your current employer and employment situation it still pays to look around at what others are offering in your area. You may uncover a lucrative opportunity, you’ll learn valuable information, and you might need to move at some point if your career takes a turn for the worse.

Make sure you get what you’ve got coming to you in the workplace; you’re worth it.