Salary Information Resources
Much more than just salary resources, this site is dedicated not only to salaries, but also to total compensation. The Salary Wizard is fast and easy to use, allowing you to search for base, median, and top-level earnings in hundreds of jobs for many occupational areas, and much of the data is spun to your local jurisdiction. Beyond the Salary Wizard, you’ll find helpful articles and exercises to help you figure out things like benefits, stock options, bonuses (and how to get them), and even negotiations.
Salary.com now offers you the opportunity to purchase a Personal Salary Report. This is a customized report targeted to your local market, your current level of experience, and the industry in which you work. It’s also filled with tips and pointers you can use to help you with negotiations and raise requests.
(http://www.rileyguide.com/salguides.html)
Finding salary information to help you make a decision or negotiate for better pay is not easy. There’s the problem of finding up-to-date and reliable data for your situation. Then there’s the problem of deciding if the data you are looking at is relevant to your situation. Finally, you have to know how to use the information you’ve found wisely in negotiations, should that mean asking for a raise or asking for a different (usually better) compensation package when accepting a new job.
This site has the largest collection of salary surveys online anywhere. Use these to find out how your current compensation rate compares with others in your area. However, be careful not to take this information as fact. Many factors combine to make up the actual pay rate offered by an employer.
JobStar Salary Surveys
(http://jobstar.org/tools/salary/index.php)
Originally established for the California job seeker, this site has the largest collection of salary surveys online anywhere. Combined with lists of books to request from your local library and articles from experts, this site will lead you in the right direction for your salary search.
This website offers free access to extensive international compensation information prepared by extremely knowledgeable experts. The Basic Salary Reports for the United States and Canada or the International Salary Report cover many other countries, and each allows you to select a job title and region and returns a nice report showing salary averages, salary levels, benefits, and cost of living information.
Other premium, customized reports are available for a moderate fee, including the Premium Salary Report, The Executive Compensation with Comparables Report, and the U.S./Canada Employee Benefits Report.
Abbott, Langer & Associates
(http://www.abbott-langer.com)
Current salary survey statistics are available here for hundreds of benchmark jobs in high-tech, marketing/sales, accounting, engineering, human resources, consulting, manufacturing, nonprofit, legal, healthcare, and other fields from 8,000 participating firms and millions of OCR, digitized, incumbent, web-service, job boards, field job analyses, and other inputs.
Economic Research Institute
(http://www.erieri.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=FreeAnalyst Resources.Main)
Free compensation and job analysis resources are available through this compensation and benefits research organization.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(http://www.bls.gov/bls/wages.htm)
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics collects all kinds of data on wages, unemployment, and other employment trends. Search through their press releases, regional data, and other areas for salary and compensation information.
Occupational Employment Statistics
Program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan and non metropolitan areas; national occupational estimates for specific industries are also available.
Government Reports and Survey
Use the Occupational Outlook Handbook and individual state labor market information pages to look for prevailing compensation for various occupations.
Other Ideas and Resources
Still not finding what you want or need? Try these resources.
Career and Occupational Guides
Most career and occupational guides include some broad references to expected earnings for each field or discipline discussed.
Professional and Trade Associations and Labor Unions
(http://www.rileyguide.com/union.html)
These organizations frequently survey their members to collect salary and wage information, and many trade associations and unions maintain standard pay rates for their local organizations. If you cannot find information on their websites, contact the office or local organization nearest you.
(http://www.cbsalary.com/?sc_cmp2=js_home_cbsalary)
This site provides an easy tool with which to search salaries for thousands of jobs. Compare your job salary to that of your peers with a quick salary search. Then, you can complete a salary survey to customize your salary report based on your experience and education level. The customized salary report will show you a salary comparison of your salary and the average salary range for that specific job.