The Lighter Side of Absolute Zero: What Salary Am I Worth? <link rel="prev" href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/2007/10/a_lesson_driven_home.html" title="A Lesson Driven Home" /> <link rel="next" href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/2007/10/video_diary_for_your_child.html" title="Video Diary for Your Child" />   <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/mt-site.js"></script> </head> <body class="layout-one-column" onload="individualArchivesOnLoad(commenter_name)"> <div id="container"> <div id="container-inner" class="pkg"> <div id="banner"> <div id="banner-inner" class="pkg"> <h1 id="banner-header"><a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/" accesskey="1">The Lighter Side of Absolute Zero</a></h1> <h2 id="banner-description"></h2> </div> </div> <div id="pagebody"> <div id="pagebody-inner" class="pkg"> <div id="alpha"> <div id="alpha-inner" class="pkg"> <p class="content-nav"> <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/2007/10/a_lesson_driven_home.html">« A Lesson Driven Home</a> | <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/">Main</a> | <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/2007/10/video_diary_for_your_child.html">Video Diary for Your Child »</a> </p> <a id="a001203"></a> <div class="entry" id="entry-1203"> <h3 class="entry-header">What Salary Am I Worth?</h3> <div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-category">{Perplexity}</span> <span class="entry-topics">Topics: <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=5&tag=Jobs&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=5" rel="tag">Jobs</a> <a href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=5&tag=Value&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=5" rel="tag">Value</a> </span></div> <div class="entry-content"> <div class="entry-body"> <p>How does one assess their financial worth as an employee? What do you do when you look around you, assess your budget, and realize that you are barely paying the bills, with no savings, no retirement plan, and no hope for the future? How do you go about proving your value to the company in terms of salary and benefits? How do you ask for, and justify, a raise?</p> </div> <div id="more" class="entry-more"> </div> </div> <p class="entry-footer"> <span class="post-footers">Posted by Seth Croston Barber on October 10, 2007 9:53 AM</span> <span class="separator">|</span> <a class="permalink" href="http://blog.0kelvin.net/lite/2007/10/what_salary_am_i_worth.html">Permalink</a> </p> </div> <div class="trackbacks"> <h3 id="trackback" class="trackbacks-header">TrackBack</h3> <div id="trackbacks-info"> <p>TrackBack URL for this entry:<br />http://blog.0kelvin.net/mt-tb.cgi/491</p> </div> <div class="trackbacks-content"> </div> </div> <div id="comments" class="comments"> <div class="comments-content"> <h3 class="comments-header">Comments</h3> <a id="c009482"></a> <div class="comment" id="comment-9482"> <div class="comment-content"> <p>I've never been good at that stuff.<br /> I tend to work at less than I am probably worth until something better comes along.</p> <p>Occasionally, a boss will recognize my worth and give decent raises and bonuses, but that has been rare.</p> </div> <p class="comment-footer"> Posted by: Dowaito | <a href="#comment-9482">October 10, 2007 9:57 AM</a> </p> </div> <a id="c009483"></a> <div class="comment" id="comment-9483"> <div class="comment-content"> <p>I think a person is worth a portion of what revenue they generate for the company they work for. What that portion is, I can't say since I don't run a business.</p> <p>In my opinion, justification for a raise is simply showing how one's work has contributed to the company's well-being and ultimately the bottom line.</p> </div> <p class="comment-footer"> Posted by: <a title="http://jdhuntington.com" href="http://jdhuntington.com" rel="nofollow">JD</a> | <a href="#comment-9483">October 10, 2007 10:00 AM</a> </p> </div> <a id="c009484"></a> <div class="comment" id="comment-9484"> <div class="comment-content"> <p>To Dowaito I ask: "But how do you know your probable worth?"</p> <p>To JD I ask: "But what about those jobs that don't generate revenue?" Sure you can point to those people and mumble something about not being able to function as a company without them, but the fact remains they are a liability to the budget not an asset.</p> <p>And let me then pose this question: "When is a raise merited?" If I do the job I am paid to do, and agreed to do at a set price, when am I justified in asking to change that price? Obviously a shift in duties is a great time to bring it up, but are there other appropriate times?</p> </div> <p class="comment-footer"> Posted by: <a title="http://0kelvin.net/~seth/" href="http://0kelvin.net/~seth/">Seth Croston Barber</a> <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://0kelvin.net/~seth/"><img alt="Author Profile Page" src="http://blog.0kelvin.net/mt-static/images/comment/mt_logo.png" width="16" height="16" /></a> | <a href="#comment-9484">October 10, 2007 10:11 AM</a> </p> </div> </div> <form method="post" action="http://blog.0kelvin.net/mt-comments.cgi" name="comments_form" onsubmit="if (this.bakecookie.checked) rememberMe(this)"> <input type="hidden" name="static" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="entry_id" value="1203" /> <div class="comments-open" id="comments-open"> <h2 class="comments-open-header">Post a comment</h2> <div class="comments-open-content"> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> <p class="comments-open-moderated"> (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. 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