How I Increased my Salary by $30,000
And went from underpaid to highest-paid.
I went from underpaid to the highest paid person on the team.
I didn't accept my low salary.
Being underpaid is hell.
You might know the feeling.
You're talented, skilled, knowledgable, and perform your job well, but you have the feeling that people with the same skill set are getting paid way more than you.
But you don't know for sure.
I've been there.
And my actions led me to switching companies and making an extra $30,000.
The strategy I used is simple, you can use it to.
This is how I increased by salary by $30,000 and changed my earning potential for the rest of my career.
Confirmed I was underpaid
Step zero is to prove that you're actually underpaid.
It doesn't matter if you feel underpaid. Feelings don't add dead presidents to your bank account. You need proof and that proof should come from multiple sources.
This is how I got proof:
- Researched job salaries online. This is the easy step. I searched for my role online and saw what the common salary is. Many job descriptions include the salary range, so I used this to gauge if it was aligned with my own salary.
- Asked peers what they were paid. This is the most uncomfortable step but the most insightful. My immediate peers were making around the same amount of money. I was pretty sure we were all underpaid.
- Applied to positions I was qualified for. This is the most important step. I wanted to increase my salary by switching companies, so I needed to apply to different companies. This is how I gauged my worth in the job market. Applying to jobs led to the next step
- Talked salary expectations with recruiters. This is the most critical step and how I started to know that I was underpaid. I applied, got call backs, and started talking money with recruiters. This was the goldmine. I learned the salary range the company was comfortable paying for that role. I did this a couple times and had a good sense of what companies were willing to pay ME.
I combined and used these tactics repeatedly to keep my pulse on the market.
All signs pointed to me being underpaid.
Applied, negotiated, and got offers
After I was certain I was underpaid, I got serious.
These were my next steps:
- Apply to jobs I wanted
- Negociate salary
- Get offers
- Accept an offer
When I was proving I was underpaid, I applied to any related job, even if I didn't want it. I wasn't trying to get a new job yet, I was testing the market. Now that I proved that I could make more money, I needed to apply for jobs that I actually wanted.
After applying and interviewing, I started to get offers. I negotiated salary from the start.
The initial offers were already much more than I was making but I wasn't about to leave more money on the table. If I'm going to make moves, I'm going to get the most out of it.
This resulted in an offer (that I accepted) in which the recruiter told me,
"You're going to be the highest paid person on the team."
I proved my worth.
Now all my future raises would be anchored to a higher salary.
If you think you're underpaid, prove it.