Is there a guideline to value yourself financially to a potential employer? I’m currently in a job I love, with people I like to work with. Because I work at a small not-for-profit organization, I end up doing many jobs, and don’t have a specialty. I find it hard to compare my salary with other organizations because my job doesn’t seem to exist anywhere. I have worked my way up from an administrative position to a “Project Coordinator”, and although I am working on a Bachelor of Arts, I have no formal post- secondary education, aside from some courses taken here and there. If someone is an accountant or a nurse, or a personal support worker, there are likely salary scales — but I don’t have any idea where I could begin to gauge my worth. Please help…

We would like to think there is a clear and fair set of rules that govern rates of pay. Unfortunately, there can be little rhyme or reason for how much we earn. For example, society highly values the sanctity of human life, but can place the annual salary of a professional sports player at many hundreds of times the annual salary of a physician who can save a life. Yet both sports franchises and health authorities face competitive pressures that will help determine, within their respective markets, what individual salaries will be relative to their competition. Salaries are typically lower in the not-for-profit arena as a whole because of the economics of the sector, but that does not mean that you cannot compare yourself relative to others within your field.

Am I a general specialist or a special generalist?

Jobs such as yours are not always defined in specific detail, and can be combinations of various roles. This typically happens in smaller organizations that can’t afford to have specialists for every role, and everyone must take on half of one job, half of another, and another, etc.

This can create stress for staff who are asked to take on more and be “all things to all people”. There is a positive side to this, of course. Since you are capable of doing more than typically is part of a traditional job’s scope, you have acquired a unique set of skills and perspective that can add value to any organization. Having more skills can also make it easier to find your next job.

Your primary role

You are wise to try to find out what your salary range should be. Your first challenge is to define your primary role. Out of all the jobs you do for your organization, try to determine one or two that take up most of your time, and then categorize yourself in that way. For example, if you work as a fundraiser for most of your day, but also sit at the front desk and therefore act as the receptionist, it is more fair to classify yourself as a fundraiser than a receptionist. Try to cover off at least 70-80% of the time you spend at work by defining the various roles you perform. If you are unsure, keep a diary of your daily functions for a few weeks.

Research is key

Based on the major roles you have defined from above, your next step is to do some research on salaries for each one. There are many salary tools you can use to research on the web, including CharityVillage®’s job search tools. The Catalystcareers ResumeMaker package also has extensive information on salaries and job functions. This research should provide you with a range of salaries for the various roles that you can compare to your current one. You can also use this to gauge future salary expectations.

Negotiating tips

Like anything in life, value is in the eye of the beholder. We would all like to be paid more, but the best time to negotiate this is at the offer stage. Negotiating the best package and getting what you’re worth is a whole other article — one that I will address in detail next month.

Good luck!

Mitchell Stephenson M.A., CPCC, is a senior partner and a certified professional career counsellor at Catalyst Careers, a career transition, counselling, and outplacement firm. Mitch has been involved in human resources, career counselling and coaching in the health and legal sectors for many years. To contact him, visit: www.catalystcareers.ca.

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