Your First Job: 5 Tips To Make Sure You're Paid Enough
When you sacrifice your time and efforts for a company, you expect to be compensated monetarily. It is a pretty fair and straightforward transaction: money for labor. If you are starting your first job, how do you make sure you’re being paid enough? It is tough to gauge your value in dollars because you’ve never had to do so before.
These five tips should help those of you were are new to the workforce, get compensated appropriately. However, you are new to the workforce, so don’t go in with unrealistic expectations. The six figure salary will come later in life.
Don’t Settle For the First Number
One of the first mistakes that most new workers and most people make in general, is settling for the first number given to them. For salaried jobs in offices, the employer is often given a salary range that they can work with. So to start, they will offer you the lowest salary they can since you are new to the market. It is your goal to push this number a bit higher.
Simply asking if there is any room for flexibility regarding the salary could be enough to open up the doors to salary negotiation. They might offer your a little more; all you had to do was ask. However, remember that caveat from earlier. You are new to the workforce. Don’t be pushy and don’t have high expectations.
Hourly positions on the other hand are often very structured. For example, if you are getting a job at a restaurant, all of the staff probably has some form of pay structure. Hosts and hostesses might earn minimum wage starting off with nominal raises every year. Even so, it doesn’t hurt to ask if there is any flexibility with your hourly rate. There is just less likely of a chance for that flexibility.
Negotiate Benefits
Another common area that most new employees overlook, is benefits. Benefits can be of significant value when makings sure you are getting paid enough. Health insurance is a huge expense if you have to purchase it on your own. Having the company cover a portion of your health insurance premium is like getting a raise to your paycheck. It reduces your expenses thereby increasing your take-home pay.
Other common benefits include retirement funds and paid time off. Whereas a company sponsored health insurance plan saves you money upfront, a retirement fund increases your money in the long term. If your company offers you a 401k, take advantage of it and see what their policies are in terms of matching your allocation.
Paid time off is another great benefit to negotiate that adversely affects how much you’re getting paid. For example, if you earn $52,000 per year with no paid time off, you earn $1,000 per week gross. However, if you earn $52,000 per year with two week paid time off, you are technically earning $1,040 per week since there are two less weeks you have to work. While you technically don’t earn any additional money, you have to put in less hours to earn it.
Negotiate a Review
One thing that is typically not done by most employees, is to formally negotiate a date for review. A review is a meeting with your supervisor to review your past performance. Negotiating a formal review allows you to open up a dialogue in the future for a pay raise.
Most companies do a standard one year review. So if you accept a position making $30,000 per year, you will probably be waiting a full year to have that pay figure up for reconsideration. However, if you negotiate a review for six months after you start or three months after you start, that pay figure of $30,000 can be up for reconsideration a lot sooner.
This is actually beneficial for the company too. They essentially get six months to assess your skills and put a value on your performance. It is in their best interest to provide you with a raise if you are a high performing employee.
Do Your Homework
Always do your homework before going into a meeting where you will accept a new job. Search on various sites to determine what an average pay scale is for the particular position you are applying for. For example Salary.com allows you to input a position title and postal code to determine how much that particular position makes. While this information is not exact, it can help you get a ballpark idea of what you should be making in your first job. One tip, look towards the lower end of the scale since it is your first job.
For hourly workers, check out what nearby competitors are paying their employees. If you are going to get a job as a cashier at a grocery store, you might want to check out multiple grocers. Just because they are the same type of store, does not mean they pay the same wages.
Always Check Your Check
Finally, once you have landed your job and negotiated your terms, always check your paycheck. Checking your paycheck is a crucial part of making sure you’re being paid enough. There could have been a clerical error that resulted in you receiving less than what you had agreed upon.
For hourly workers, you’ll want to verify your pay rate along with the amount of hours you worked with the pay period. If you happen to work overtime, you should also have an overtime rate listed on the check. For instances in which you are not being paid the overtime wages you deserve, you can contact overtime wage attorneys such as Vethan Law Firm.
For any issues with your paycheck, your should contact your manager and human resource department first. Simple payroll errors could be the cause of a shorted check.
Andrew Fujii is a marketing professional with expertise in digital/web and content marketing. He is also a copywriter for multiple agencies producing copy for blogs, articles, websites, product packaging, mobile apps, and more.
James Dolan
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