We have all thought “I am not getting paid enough for what I do” or asked the question “How can I increase my salary?“. The good news is LinkedIn have now launched a salary tool which will allow you to find out if you are getting paid fairly and provide you a platform to uncover the ways in which you could increase your salary. LinkedIn now has 433 million members in 200 countries so they are extremely well placed to analyse various professions.
The tool is available in the UK, US and Canada but unless you have a premium account you need to input your own salary but you will get Free Full Insights for one year. Don’t worry, although your profile will be visible your salary will remain private and will not be exposed to your network or others. We think this is a fantastic tool and will even help you when negotiating your salary either in your current role or for a new job. Employers will hopefully start using this tool to understand your salary expectations to make sure they are being competitive. So make sure you use this to gain all the information before you start negotiating.
We have set out the main features below to get you started.
- Full insight: It takes into account all the jobs where bonuses make up a large proportion of annual earnings too. This means you are not swayed by a change in industry without knowing the change in pay structure and salary levels versus bonuses/commission.
- Location: You can find out what the top paying locations are and who is recruiting. It therefore factors in central London salaries versus central Scotland so your expectations are managed accordingly and points you to potential employers in that area.
- Education: This aspect helps analyse whether to further your education, for example if an MBA or more training courses will increase your salary. This sort of data will be used by LinkedIn to recommend training based on the profile of professionals in your industry.
- Industries: Here you can find out what industries pay the most. So for example the best paying industries for sales staff or software engineers or accountants.
- Company size: It shows how salaries for the same job differs according to the company size. So this may assist you in preparing your expectations when you are applying to certain companies whether that is a large FTSE listed plc or a small private company.
- Experience: The salary tool also factors in how many years experience you have so this can show how your salary may change in the future and why your salary may differ with other people.
The tool is comprehensive and as time passes we expect it will become ever more accurate and informative. Give it a try and see how you compare. Regardless of whether or not you feel you are getting paid fairly or you want to get ahead then make sure you have a strong LinkedIn profile. This becomes even more important to managing your career (see our earlier blog on the importance of LinkedIn and how to enhance your profile).
LinkedIn is starting to use the mass amount of data it has across its’ user network and are analysing reasons for moving job or working for different employers. As this data becomes more readily available companies will need to manage their hiring practices, salary and culture more actively to attract the right candidates. Keep an eye on our website or follow us on social media for regular blogs and updates regarding LinkedIn, general career advice, and CV hints and tips.
Good luck and happy negotiating!