Tag Archives: Career

How to Get Paid What You Deserve

October 30, 2018 By in Lifestyle Tags: , , , , , , 33 Comments

In the workplace, there are all sorts of little details that contribute to your overall job satisfaction but one of the biggest is, without a doubt, salary. If you feel underpaid, not only does it affect your mood at work, but it can lower your quality of life in general. Which will make you increasingly bitter towards your employer.

This is only made worse if you ask your manager into a meeting, request a pay rise and are denied. So, to try to help you avoid this situation, here’s a quick guide on how to ensure that when you’re asking for a pay rise or looking for a new job with a good salary, you’re successful.

 

 

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Do Salary Research

If there’s one thing to take away from this post, it’s this – research. Research, knowledge and preparation are what will help you make sure that you’re successful when trying to obtain a pay rise or achieve a good starting salary at a new workplace.

When employers are deciding on what to pay their staff, they use salary surveys to find out what the industry standard is. By taking part in a salary survey, a business can compare their own pay systems and structures to industry competitors or associates. This will allow them pick out where they are underpaying staff and change their approach (to find out more about salary surveys, click here).

If employers are doing it, why shouldn’t you? Whilst salary surveys offer a much more specialised and targeted approach to salary research, there are plenty of free services out there through which you can get an estimation of the average salary for your job role. Websites like LinkedIn and Glassdoor are great places to start.

Salary research is important because you need to know what you should be getting paid for your job role. It’s no good simply plucking a number out of thin-air and deciding that’s what you should be getting paid because you could be miles off the average. Instead, research, refine and pick out a range that you feel you fit into. During negotiations, talk about your research and your skills to indicate what you should be getting paid and why. It’s entirely possible that your employer hasn’t done effective salary research and so may be completely unaware, don’t be afraid to politely educate them.

 

Look at the Full Package

Particularly for more senior roles, discovering an average salary is much more difficult because of the benefits bolted onto the payment package. For example, one Store Manager may get paid £24,000 per year, whilst another Store Manager may get paid £22,000 a year but receive free private health insurance. These kinds of perks and benefits are difficult to quantify in monetary terms, so it’s important to think about them when you’re deciding what pay you deserve.

Similarly, you might be willing to sacrifice some of your salary for other workplace perks like flexible work hours, increased holiday or a different job title. If you’re looking for a new role completely, consider these same benefits when negotiating your contract.

 

 

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Positivity and Patience

Finally, no matter what type of salary discussion you’re engaging in, remember to stay positive and patient. Emphasise that you enjoy what you’re doing (or want the job you’re applying for) but are looking for slightly more pay. Avoid sounding desperate or angry at your manager or potential employer as this will not make them want to help you, instead, try to focus on the things you like. Similarly, don’t be dismissive if the answer you get is, “Well, we only have so much budget.” Or “We feel that the pay being offered is fair.”

Neither of those answers is an outright no. Don’t be afraid to (kindly) give the individual a target figure and ask them to consider your request, more often than not it will be taken away and addressed with a senior manager. Even if you don’t get your target figure, there’s a good chance that you will get some form of increase because employers know that satisfied employees are better workers.

With these tips in mind, you should be able to get that pay rise or that dream salary without a hitch. Remember, the first step is always research – do the preparation before entering the lion’s den.

 

What do you think of these tips? Do you have tips of your own to share? Please sound off in the comments section below.

 

*Collaborative post.

 

 

Looking For A Fulfilling Career?

May 31, 2018 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , 18 Comments

Looking For A Fulfilling Career picture

 

https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-business-close-up-friendship-433495/

 

For most people, choosing a career is one of the biggest and most life-defining moments they will ever make. Of course, you can change your career later down the line, but it is always good to get it right straight off the bat. In order to choose a career, you need to think about what drives you and what you want o be doing day in day out. For a lot of people, they want something fulfilling that involves helping others. If you fall into this category, read on to discover more about some of the best fulfilling career options.

Teaching people with special needs
 There is only one place to begin, and this is with teaching children that have special needs. Of course, being a teacher in itself is a fulfilling career, but it can be even more so when you are helping children with autism or those with disabilities. In order to go down this career path, you will need to look into an online teaching program that will provide you with the qualifications you require. The online MALT program is one to consider, with MALT standing for Master of Arts in Learning and Teaching.

 

Psychiatrist

You can make a real difference to other people’s lives when working as a psychiatrist for a business. Mental problems are incredibly difficult to deal with, and you can help people to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is no exaggeration to say that sometimes you can be the difference between life or death.

 

Veterinarian

Fulfilling jobs usually tend to involve helping someone in one way or another. However, this someone does not need to be a human – it could be an animal. There is no denying that becoming a veterinarian can be one of the most satisfying jobs, especially when you save an animal’s life. It is also a difficult job and you are going to see things that you don’t want to, so it is important to brace yourself for this. Nevertheless, the most fulfilling careers tend to involve a lot of hardships, as overcoming them is what makes them so rewarding.

 

Midwives

Another fulfilling job to consider is becoming a midwife. Despite the irregular and long hours, is there anything better than bringing new lives into the world every day? It is of little surprise that many surveys have cited being a midwife as one of the best jobs for fulfilment.

 

Clergymen and women

Last but not least, for individuals whereby their beliefs are paramount, having a vocation that enables them to be directly involved in this can be incredibly satisfying. You are able to voice your passions on a daily basis, and you can help people in the community.

Hopefully, you now have some career options that appeal to you. Of course, there are many other fulfilling career options as well, so don’t stop your research here if you are not interested in one of the careers that have been mentioned above.

*Collaborative post.

Should You Take A Pay Cut To Advance Your Career?

March 13, 2018 By in Lifestyle Tags: , , , , , , 18 Comments

If you get offered a job that pays less money, would you take it? Sounds like an easy question and most people would instinctively say no, but it’s not as simple as that. That new job might help you to progress your career in a way that your current job can’t or maybe you’ve got some serious issues with your current employer or the way that the company does things. In some cases, the number of hours that you’re working can take a toll on your life outside of work and that could be a reason to move job. It’s a difficult decision to make and there’s a lot of things that you have to consider before you take that job.

 

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Can You Afford It?

This is the first and most obvious question to ask yourself because if you won’t be able to survive until payday on the new salary, there’s your answer; you can’t afford to take the pay cut. Look over your finances and see where you can make cutbacks and then work out how much expendable income you’ve got left over. Then do the same calculations based on the lower salary and see if the numbers add up. If you can’t afford to live on the lower salary then you’ve got no choice, you either have to negotiate a higher salary or turn the job down.

 

Can You Go Anywhere In Your Current Job?

The main reason that people think about taking a pay cut is that they put career progression ahead of finances. If you’re in a job where you don’t feel that you can progress anymore, you should consider taking that pay cut to find better opportunities. But before you make any drastic moves, you should speak with your employers and ask if there is any new projects you can take on or any opportunities for promotion coming up anytime soon. The ideal scenario is finding the progression you want in the job with the highest salary but if there’s absolutely no way that will happen, you should start thinking about moving.

 

Do You Have A Life Outside Work?

When you have a demanding job it’s easy to slip into a lifestyle that is based entirely around work. One day you wake up and realise that you don’t have much of a life outside of work. If the new job offers a better work-life balance, albeit for less money, that might be a better situation to be in. While you might be earning less money, you’ll have a better quality of life than you would burning the candles at both ends for more money. You really have to think about what your priorities in life are and decide whether work comes first or not.

 

Do You Like Your Career?

Sometimes you aren’t looking for better opportunities in your current career, you’re looking for a different career entirely. You can either continue in a career that you don’t really like, or you can take a pay cut and start again in a new career or even start your own business. It’s worth keeping in mind that you’ll be able to work your way up after a few years in your new career and get back up to the salary that you’re on now.

People will tell you that taking a pay cut is never a sensible idea but sometimes, it’s the best thing to do.

 

*Collaborative post.

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