Surveys Article: Resources for Salaries
I've just sent off final approval to the AUGIWORLD Magazine layout editor who has put together the article and charts for the Salary Survey. It is always an exciting time for me, and I hope for our faithful readers as well.
So, what else to talk about in this month's surveys and polls column but salaries?
Obviously, the Annual AUGI Survey is a pretty unique resource. You know that people just like you are reporting how their companies categorize them and pay them. I'll give you some resources today that are different our survey, but, which can be helpful to determine fair market wages with cost of living differences.
AIA Calculator
http://info.aia.org/salary/ allows you to select from among 18 architectural job titles, your region of the country and a company's revenue range. The data is based on their 2015 survey.
Indeed
www.Indeed.com/Salary is one of my favorites. You can search for keywords in job descriptions or just in the job titles. Compare slightly different job titles as well as zip codes. These numbers are based off of current postings, so they change constantly, but, they are probably among the most accurate you’ll see, because they are reflecting what companies are willing to pay at any given moment.
Glassdoor
www.glassdoor.com/Salaries reports based on members' submitted salaries. Some jobs have a lot of data entered, some do not. Personally, I don't see myself submitting my data, because, every job I have held, there is only one of me. If you are one of many, however, such as some of the IT people in my company, you could be assured of more anonymity.
This is also a good site to remember when considering a job change. Reading the reviews of companies posted by current and former employees can give you insights you might not gain during a typical interview process. I'd caution people to read these reviews the same way I read Amazon reviews, look for an intelligent post that shows the writer knows what they are talking about, not someone who didn'’t bother reading the directions. This site was launched in 2008, but, I noticed a huge increase in activity between when I used it in 2013 and looked again this spring. If you do read something in the Glassdoor review, why not bring it up in an interview, 'how true do you think this claim is, what has been put in place to correct this perception' etc.
ETC
https://www.jobsearchintelligence.com/salary-calculator-intro-etc used to be referred to as NACE (national association of colleges and employers), it is now called ETC (educate to career). You are given multiple facts to fill in, where you're looking for work, how many years of experience you have, and how much education you have completed. The job titles are somewhat limited, but, not as limited as those on Salary.com. Depending on your years of experience, you may also be asked for your GPA.
PayScale
http://www.payscale.com/ is another site, like Glassdoor, where you can sign up and contribute data. It was launched in 2002. You can earn a free, short, salary report by answering a survey and providing your own earnings information. If you want a detailed analysis, you can purchase one for a small fee. Data from PayScale is used on a lot of popular job search sites.
Salary.com
www.salary.com is not one of my favorite resources, due to the fact that it has so few applicable job titles and salaries for our industry. Their source of data is polling the Human Resources departments of corporations. We know that 30% of the companies in our industry don’t even have an HR department, and most are privately owned, which can help explain the lack of our representation in their database.
There are other sources out there for earnings data, I suggest you use as many as possible, when negotiating a starting salary or requesting a raise.
Check out the AUGI Library for helpful articles, including this one, preparing yourself to justify a request for a raise. https://www.augi.com/library/poll-what-data-have-you-gathered-for-your-end-of-year-review
Come back next month to read the results of the current homepage poll, on whether your fellow members have dedicated customization workers in-house. Be sure to check out next month's AUGIWORLD Magazine, which will be full of articles on customization!
Melanie Stone is a CAFM/ IWMS Specialist & System Administrator supporting and writing about ARCHIBUS, FMInteract, Tririga, Revit, AutoCAD, BricsCAD or similar. She served as an AUGI Director/Officer for over 6 years and is currently involved with the STLRUG. Melanie can be reached at mistressofthedorkness@gmail.com or found on Twitter as @MistresDorkness on YouTube or on her Mistress Of the Dorkness blog.
