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Are salary surveys valid?

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Tell us what you think about the validity of salary surveys, as featured in Thursday's Career Advice e-newsletter. How much do you rely on salary surveys when searching for a job? Do you agree with Nick that these surveys are rarely valid?

5 replies

by t bowman

Salary surveys are the ONLY hard means by which we can gauge what we should earn. Now, I will say they aren't exact and they are usually a bit high but they do give you an idea or a starting point. The poster gave us NO clue as to what type of jobhe's looking for, but as an entry level employee - it won't matter much. I can tell by reading what he wrote that he thinks he's going for gold. My advice would be the same as Nick's for that - chill out and get some experience. Weigh the varibles. Out of school I had two offers. $10K apart. I took the lower one for many reasons. Money isn't everything.

by schiffkey

currently, rates (hourly or annual) are 1/3 or less of last years rates.

it is not a good idea to trust any salary survey, as the surveys are at least a year old when produced, and may be fictional at best.
(try asking your co-worker how much they make? how much would YOU say you made? - you get the idea).

currently, employers are picking numbers out of a hat. for any job, there are 5000 resumes, at least 100 have 21 of the 20 job skills required (even if 18 of the job skills conflict with the actual job ie: they want a java programmer who is also a dba and has legacy skills and is an electrician from vasser who only works on mondays in the summertime - and then it gets ridiculous...)

by k.dombek

For jobs (consultant and regular) I went into negotiations with a unspoken "I'll walk if they offer me less than this" figure. I've been pleasantly surprised - getting offered 1.5 to 2 times what I had figured on. Only once have I had to walk, andthat interview started out with the guy (from New Jersey) belittling my skills...

by timwalsh

Validity of the data portrayed in a survey doesn't necessarily equate to usefulleness of that data.

Much depends on what the cross section of respondents look like. All it takes is a few salaries at one extreme or the other to distort an average in a major way.

Usefullness: depends on the job market. If jobs are tight, you may need to accept much less than the average because the potential employer may realize that he can always find somebody asking for less than what you are asking for.

by lance.gillis

I've always found surveys to be wayyyy to low. To think that anyone could live on less than 200K a year is unrealistic. Life without sports cars, servants or a summer mansion on the water? Impossible! Huh? Oh. Yawn. "Yes dear, I'm getting up now. Why did you awake me from my glorious dream?" "Yes, I'll take out the trash. Yes, I know I don't make as much as you. Yes dear, I know losers don't get any boom boom. Have a nice day dear. I'm going to work."

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