Negotiating a better salary

[jaypee]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

I don't have to be right at average for the role. If I was 5% below average, I can live with it. That's an attainable amount to make up, with solid performance. However, when we're talking 15%+, then I know I'm being underpaid.

I also agree that it is a bad strategy by companies, and is likely a reason we see so much attrition, especially here in the Bay Area. On the other hand, much of this is centered around HR Bureacracy and restrictions. These may be tied to short-term profitability of the companies, where they cannot offer an employee a huge bump, as they're trying to keep their quarterly earnings in a target range.

There's not one standard salary band that all companies use.
To mitigate this problem, ask what the salary range is for the position during the screening interview.
If you have X amount in mind then as long as that X is between the min and mid of that salary band, you'd be ok.

[G-fused]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

You can filter on location. I've found them to be accurate provided the job/company has a sufficient number of entries.

Relying on this type of on-line data for these types of estimations is, IMO, a bad idea. An experienced professional will know what they are worth, or can assess their worth through a few interviews or other, more reliable methods. For example, there are many professions that have Associations who do salary studies and publish those studies for the members of that professional association to see. The IIA (The Institute of Internal Auditors is one), Accounting, Nursing, etc.

A good barometer of common sense is to ask yourself, "if a potential employer asked me why I felt I was worth $xxx, what would I say?" Would you say "because that's what it says on Glassdoor.com"?

It's a resource to be considered but be leery and use other, more reliable methods for accuracy.