How Much Should You Be Paid?

There probably comes a time in most people's professional careers when they ask the question, "How much should I be paid?"

There are a few sites online that may be able answer that question, by comparing the data of the job you enter with hundreds of similar jobs around the country and in your city or area. Most of the sites require you to pay extra for a detailed report, but the free reports give enough info to determine whether you are at the top, the bottom, or somewhere in between all of the other people with a job similar to yours.

Salary.com is the biggest site and incorporates into the job search site, Monster.com. I'm not really impressed with this service. They keep a lot of information hidden, so your free report doesn't have as much information as it could. The one thing they do well is allow you to compare your current job's salary with that of someone similar to you, but living in a different part of the country or city. You can see how much the cost of living would compare to your current city and how much you would need to make in order to maintain the same lifestyle.

I really like payscale.com, as it reveals a lot more information about your salary for free. Another great feature is that it literally compares your information with that of more than 7 million people. It asks you what you were doing 5 years ago. Then it asks what you are doing now, and let's you see what people who had your job 5 years ago are doing now. It's a neat way to see what might happen in the future. Of course with our dynamic economy and the way that you have to constantly adapt with new skills and network connections, you'll have to take the results with a grain of salt!

Check out the sites and see what you should be paid and what you might be paid in the future!