In the last two weeks, as I speak to potential clients around the globe, this issue has come up at least a half-dozen times. It isn’t about employers shorting your paychecks or management stealing your lunch from the refrigerator, it’s far more subtle and serious. If you have been with the same organization, even promoted from within, for more than five years, chances are good that your employer IS robbing you of tens of thousands every year.
Employers, even good ones, take advantage of long-term employees’ loyalty. They hire you at the market rate for your skills and experience in your industry. Then, over time, they promote you with small incremental raises and job titles. They offer job stability, growth, and you love your job. That’s good for everyone, right? No, not over the long term. Over the years, while your industry increases the market rate for your expanding skills and experience by significant amounts, your employer offers you smaller raises and hopes you aren’t aware of your worth. They rely on the “bargain” of promoting in-house for less than hiring a new employee on the free market. If you aren’t actively managing your own career, you remain unaware.
Let me give you an example. A potential executive client comes to me, having been with the same employer for 10 years. He was originally hired on at $100,000 per year, as a young but experienced manager. Ten years later, he’s a VP and making $150,000 while his peers now earn $180,000. Why the $30,000 difference? Quite simply, his peers changed jobs during those 10 years. In doing so, they learned new skills, broadened their executive expertise and validated their worth, earning market rate or above with each career move. Look ahead another 10 years, and there’s potential gain of another $300,000 in salary increases for his peers while my client gets “robbed” by his employer for his continued loyalty.
So, for an investment of $1,000 in a professionally written resume and some coaching, my client will easily reach parity with his corporate peers when he catches the interest of hiring influencers and is offered a new job at the market rate his skills and experience are truly worth. That’s a $29,000 return in a single year on a small investment in his career. In 10 years, he stands to gain at least $300,000 more than in his previous position!
Consulting with an Executive Coach or a Professional Resume Writer can be a worthwhile investment in yourself and your career. After years of coaching clients through global markets in a wide variety of industries, I have a deep understanding of most of the world’s job markets and I would love the opportunity to help you achieve both salary parity with your peers and help you achieve the career goals you have set for yourself.
For a free resume critique, contact me!