Somehow, we are all being convinced to be constantly grateful about having a job. Doesn’t matter what job, as long as it puts food on the table. I refuse to be a part of a system that says that trading 8-12 hours of your life everyday should be awarded with simple existence.

Now that I got that of my chest, let’s get deeper into the topic about being paid a fair salary.

Sure, you will never earn as much as money as your boss (probably not even half) because that’s how world works, and always has. But not everything is so black and white, because Internet made it possible to add some color to your business life.

In order to know are you getting a fair salary you should:

Web Search

In order to get many information that you can compare, you need to go digital. Finding out what you are worth online will give you precise statistics that you can use as an argument to change your situation for the better. It will also make you look professional instead of making it sound like you think too much about yourself.

Sometimes even the boss doesn’t know is it too much or not (but usually they do). In case you are earning more than the average, maybe it’s OK to stay silent.

Personally, I use a website called Glassdoor to get an approximate idea how much people in my industry are getting paid. Sure, take into consideration your own skills, but also the power of the company. It is not likely that a company that just starts is going to be able to pay you your full value. Sometimes, you need to go with your gut, work hard and expect a better financial reward in the future.

Take into consideration the region you are operating from.

Example: If you are, like me, a blogger from Serbia, it will be hard to get paid as good as a blogger from USA. It’s a fact. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t build from where you start and raise your value with time or project size.

Self-Reflection

After a while you forget to think about the last raise as a raise and start looking it as normal salary that belongs to you. Then comes the time when you wish to earn more.

Sometimes, with the workload and quality of work that you are doing, it will not be possible to get a higher pay. But sometimes it will.

If you do more working hours, if the quality of your work is better in-compare with others, you should be able to raise you ‘fair salary’ to a new level. Just make sure before you make a suggestion to your boss to give you more money, that you have all the metrics and arguments that will make your claim as certain as possible.

Study the Marketplace

Marketplace, in the end, will dictate the biggest portion of your salary size. If what you do is not highly popular on the market, it will be hard to make fast salary leaps. Compare the companies that are in the rank of company you are working for and see if the happenings on the market go to your advantage.

All in all, do your best to demonstrate you value. Based on your research, skill and value, you will be able to tell are you being undervalued.

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