An acquaintance recently turned down two jobs because she felt that the starting salaries which were offered by the two different employers were much too low. Perhaps they were. However, she based her decisions on information she picked up from a free online salary survey. I was horrified when I found out!
Basing important career decisions only on online salary survey data can be a big mistake. Even in the hands of compensation experts, this data can be difficult to use. It is only as reliable as the age, data collection process, and analysis used in compiling it.
However, people seem to accept this salary data at face value, telling them what they should be paid. That reaction always makes me cringe because comparing salaries is a very complicated task.
Rather than an apples-to-apples comparison the job seeker expects, the salary survey may be providing a comparison among apples, oranges, bananas, watermelons, raspberries, footballs, and concrete blocks. (more…)
Loading ...