Salary Calculator Sites - Are any of them accurate? Other questions re: salary (employees, average)

[StrangeAsAngels]

I have gone to most of the salary calculator sites: Payscale.com, Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com and SimplyHired. The position I'm researching in my city ranges from to $47,000 to $89,000. on these sites. I realize that glassdoor is deemed to be the most reliable because actual employees submit their salaries but unfortunately, no salaries for this position or anything in the vicinity of this position are posted on Glassdoor.

Also, when companies make "offers" do they usually offer someone who is more experienced more money than someone who is less experienced (right out of college) for the same position?

[thebunny]

Paycheck city (Google it and I am not sure of the exact spelling) is good and when I have checked mine, it was within a few dollars....

[andywire]

In general, they are accurate. Where they fall short are the specialties. In my occupation, the payscale is around 40K. The guys who do specialized work can earn significantly more. I also think they lump in significantly lower paid folks who really don't fall in the same category. What I would question is where they get their numbers from. Are these self reported figures or are they supplied by the companies? And even then, HR never seems to know how to properly title positions.

[StrangeAsAngels]

Originally Posted by thebunny

Paycheck city (Google it and I am not sure of the exact spelling) is good and when I have checked mine, it was within a few dollars....

I'm talking about sites where you find out how much a job title makes in a city. For example, the median salary for a "Marketing Manager" in NYC is ___. I'm not looking for net paycheck information.

[StrangeAsAngels]

Originally Posted by andywire

In general, they are accurate. Where they fall short are the specialties. In my occupation, the payscale is around 40K. The guys who do specialized work can earn significantly more. I also think they lump in significantly lower paid folks who really don't fall in the same category. What I would question is where they get their numbers from. Are these self reported figures or are they supplied by the companies? And even then, HR never seems to know how to properly title positions.

Which ones are more accurate? One site will claim that pay is $53k median and a third claim that salary has a $83k median. These are all for the same job from various salary sources so I'm wondering which is more accurate.

[andywire]

Originally Posted by StrangeAsAngels

Which ones are more accurate? One site will claim that pay is $53k median and a third claim that salary has a $83k median. These are all for the same job from various salary sources so I'm wondering which is more accurate.

I really don't know. I rarely check these sites out. The exception is glassdoor, which I will occasionally use as a gauge for the work environment of a potential place of employment.

[StrangeAsAngels]

bump

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by StrangeAsAngels

I have gone to most of the salary calculator sites: Payscale.com, Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com and SimplyHired. The position I'm researching in my city ranges from to $47,000 to $89,000. on these sites. I realize that glassdoor is deemed to be the most reliable because actual employees submit their salaries but unfortunately, no salaries for this position or anything in the vicinity of this position are posted on Glassdoor.

Also, when companies make "offers" do they usually offer someone who is more experienced more money than someone who is less experienced (right out of college) for the same position?

Those are all pretty accurate IMO. The average is pretty close for Payscale and Glassdoor. I think Salary.com is a bit high.

[fishbrains]

They are ok, but there is going to be a lot of variation based upon region, particular job responsibilities, that type of thing.

Yes, many employers will tailor their offers based upon an applicant's experience. It has a lot to do with how badly they want the candidate and value the experience.