4 Ways to Determine If You're Being Paid What You're Worth

The factors that contribute to job satisfaction can be highly personal, whether that’s having an interesting role or an engaging corporate culture. But many would agree that salary makes a difference: 63 percent of people left their jobs last year because the pay was too low, according to the Pew Research Center.

So it’s only natural to want to make sure that your pay reflects your skills and experience. Not only will this information be useful when negotiating your salary at a new job, but it may also help during review times in your current position. Here are four ways to help you figure out if you’re being paid what you’re worth.

How to know if you are being paid what you’re worth

1. Check salary websites

Websites such as PayScale, Glassdoor, Zippia and Salary.com collect salary information to determine the average pay for a variety of job titles. You can use this information to get a sense of what the going market rate is for your role. Many of these websites also let you filter data according to where you work, your education level, how many years of experience you have in the field and more.

2. Join a professional organization

Industry-specific professional organizations offer many benefits to their members, from educational resources to networking opportunities. But they may also produce annual or semiannual reports that analyze trends about job growth, competitors and pay. Because the information is typically based on surveying their own members, the information may be more helpful and accurate than other more general sources of salary data.

3. Talk to other people in your network

Reach out to your professional network to get a sense of what they are seeing when it comes to pay in your role or industry. Mentors, previous managers or ex-coworkers who are familiar with your work can also help you figure out if certain skillsets you have make you more marketable.

And if you happen to discover that you are being underpaid compared with a coworker who is doing similar work, use that to spark a conversation with your supervisor or human resources department about your pay — just keep the focus on you and what you bring to the company, not your colleagues.

4. Speak with recruiters in your industry

Companies pay recruiters to find talented workers. This means recruiters are highly knowledgeable about the going salaries in their industries — information you can use to determine whether you’re being underpaid.

If you think you’re underpaid, a recruiter may be able to help place you at a new company that is offering more. And because some recruiters get a percentage of the starting salary of the employees that they help place, they have an incentive to get you the highest pay possible.

What to do after you’ve researched your pay

If you’ve done your due diligence and believe you’re still not being paid what you’re worth, it may be time to schedule a meeting with your manager. Bring your industry info as well as proof of your contributions to the business (and the more outsize your contributions are, the more of a case you have that you’re underpaid). Just keep in mind that your manager may not be able to raise your salary at their discretion — there may be budget or timing restrictions they are subject to.

If you don’t get the pay bump you’re looking for — or at least a commitment to revisit it at the appropriate time — you'll have to decide whether it’s time to start the job hunt. Either way, you’ll have the information you need to make an informed decision about whether to accept any new salary offers on the table.