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Surfing For Salaries
by Joseph V. Amodio

We've sifted through hundreds of sites to provide a simple step-by-step guide to finding salary statistics on the Web, plus the best sites around for specific industries.

So you finally got that job offer. Congratulations, but don't relax just yet. It's salary negotiation time, a part of the job-getting process that can cause even a seasoned professional to break out in a cold sweat.

Bargaining and getting the compensation you deserve can be tough. How do you know what numbers to shoot for?

If you surf the Net in search of salary data, you'll find many sites charge, but up-to-date and free (or at least cheap) statistics are out there. You just have to know where to look. Here are a few tips to finding out what you are worth before you go on that interview.

  • Start researching wage data early -- before you even interview with a company, says Janet Ruhl, a computer programmer, compensation expert and author of Answers for Computer Contractors and The Computer Consultants Workbook. "I'm amazed at the number of people who move to a new city or interview with a firm without doing any research" says Ruhl. There are countless software startups in Seattle but very few in, say, Ohio, "and salaries generally reflect that." A little research on the Web should minimize such surprises

  • Who is the source of the survey information? If it's provided by visitors to the site, look for games or premiums offered to contributors. That can sometimes skew results -- contributors may say anything just to get the prize.

  • How detailed is the data? The majority of salary sites provide only national averages for generic job titles like "Programmer" or "Team Leader." But that doesn't help the Java programmer in the Silicon Valley, who can expect a lot more money than a Cobalt programmer in Des Moines. Look for breakdowns by state, region or, even better, city. After all, an average salary for a senior programmer in the Midwest is still rather vague -- are we talking Chicago or Topeka?

  • How current is the data? Anything culled from the last three years is useful for workers like HR personnel or school psychologists, whose salaries are based on more concrete factors like certifications, exams and years of experience. But three-year-old data is antiquated for those in more volatile industries, such as engineering or IT.