After the expenses of the holiday season, now is the time to start off the New Year on the right foot. Why not compare your salary with the market? Who knows? You might be able to get the increase you’ve been hoping for for a long time.
There are many tools to find out if your employer is paying you your fair value. The 2020 Salary Guides from Robert Half, for example, provide salary scales for 250 positions in accounting, finance, technology and administrative support, by level of experience and city.
For example, the salary of a junior administrative assistant ranges from $35,000 to $55,000 in Montreal and Toronto, while that of a financial analyst is between $65,000 and $125,000 in the same cities. A network architect, meanwhile, can earn up to $125,000 in Kitchener, Ontario.
Salaries vary depending on the city
For all 250 positions surveyed by the guide, starting salaries tend to be higher in big cities such as Calgary (+5.2 %), Toronto (+5 %), Vancouver (+4.9 %), Edmonton (+3.2 %) and Montreal (+3.1 %). This is due to several factors, including the cost of living and the availability of professionals in the sector, according to Robert Half’s website.
When being informed is not enough
Three-quarters of Canadian workers know what their salary should be in their current situation, according to an online survey conducted by Robert Half of 400 office workers in Canada. More than half said they had checked their salary against market rates in the past year, or compared their salary with that of their colleagues.
But it’s not just a matter of being well informed! According to the same survey, only one worker in ten used salary information to negotiate an increase with their boss, and only 4% to negotiate the salary of a new job. Yet almost half feel they are underpaid.
After learning online and from your colleagues about the salaries on the market, have the courage to knock on your boss’s door to assert your value. In several sectors, including administration, finance and accounting, professionals are in high demand. So you have everything to gain…