Salary.com offers free salary information and more for thousands of jobs across the
US.
Their salary look-up can help you understand what your skills and experience are worth,
whether you're preparing to re-enter the job market, or just curious to see how your current
salary measures up.
To get started, go to Salary.com, and look to the top of the homepage.
You can click Browse Salaries to browse by job category… or you can use the search
box to search for a specific job title.
In this example, we're going to look up salary information for a store manager.
Next, enter your city, state, or zip code to tailor your results to your location…
then press Enter on your keyboard, or click the magnifying glass to continue.
Your search results appear on the next page.
Now's your opportunity to find your job title, or the one that sounds the most appropriate
based on your skills, job responsibilities, and expertise.
Let's take a look at Retail Store Manager.
Here you can view the full job description to make sure it's a good match.
If you still can't decide, you might want to return to the results page, and try comparing
a few different jobs side-by-side.
To do this, check the boxes that say Compare (you can check up to three at time)… then
click Compare Selected.
Now you can view and compare all three job titles at once, which should help you narrow
it down.
Once you've found the appropriate job title, all you have to do is click View Salary Info.
You may have to click "skip this advertisement" to continue to the next page.
Every salary report includes the average salary for someone in your position, plus insight
to other important things like bonuses and benefits.
Your base salary appears on a graph, which might look confusing at first, but it's easy
to understand once you know what the figures mean.
The number on the far left is the typical minimum salary for someone in this position,
and the number on the right is the maximum.
That means the average retail store manager can earn anywhere from about 39,000 dollars
per year to 85,000 dollars per year.
In between, where the wave on the graph is slightly higher, these two numbers represent
the most common salary range.
That means that most people in this position earn somewhere between 48,000 and 72,000 per
year, with a median salary of 58,543 dollars.
Keep in mind, though: your salary is going to vary, depending on your location, your
level of experience, and the company you end up working for.
To move onto the next tab, click the link that says Salary + Bonus.
This tab takes your base salary, and adds the average bonus for someone in your position.
Here we can see that the median salary has gone up by about 4,000 dollars, from 58,543
to 62,958.
Click Benefits to go to the next tab on your report.
This tab calculates base pay, plus bonuses, plus benefits.
It summarizes the total compensation for someone in your position, including things like healthcare,
time off, social security, and more.
When evaluating a job offer, this can often be just as important as the overall salary,
depending on your circumstances and long-term goals.
If you'd like to learn more about the rest of the career resources at Salary.com, just
click the Salary.com logo in the upper left corner… and you'll be taken back to the
homepage.