How can I find out how much I'm worth?
July 17, 2009 8:28 AM Subscribe
How can I find out how much I'm worth for negotiating with recruitment agencies?
I have recently relocated to Melbourne and am looking for work. Previously, I worked as a communications advisor for a large government agency in New Zealand.
I sent a resumes to a few recruitment agencies and within a day I have had one interview and a couple others set up.
I have been searching for a site with salary information for communications roles but haven't found what I'm looking for.
I have been hired through an agency before. I'd rather not go this way but I'm on a 1 year visa and believe this is the best way at getting my foot in the door towards a more permanent position.
I'll have to start negotiating on Monday as I already have a job offer. If anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great!
I have recently relocated to Melbourne and am looking for work. Previously, I worked as a communications advisor for a large government agency in New Zealand.
I sent a resumes to a few recruitment agencies and within a day I have had one interview and a couple others set up.
I have been searching for a site with salary information for communications roles but haven't found what I'm looking for.
I have been hired through an agency before. I'd rather not go this way but I'm on a 1 year visa and believe this is the best way at getting my foot in the door towards a more permanent position.
I'll have to start negotiating on Monday as I already have a job offer. If anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great!
I only have experience with recruiters in the United States, but generally, it is in the recruiter's best interest to secure you the highest possible pay, as their commission is based on a sliding scale in which the higher the salary of the hire, the higher the commission earned. On the other hand, of course, they have to value your labor reliably, lest the company for which they are placing an employee go with another recruiting firm.
Do recruiters in Australia work similarly? If so, I would think they should have a fairly good idea of the value of your labor.
posted by dfriedman at 10:40 AM on July 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Do recruiters in Australia work similarly? If so, I would think they should have a fairly good idea of the value of your labor.
posted by dfriedman at 10:40 AM on July 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Seek and MyCareer both have salary comparison sections on their websites - have you checked those?
You don't mention your visa class. It could be relevant to the salary you can realistically expect if you're seeking roles which have a high "on-cost" to the employer and they can't count on you staying in the job beyond 12 months.
Check Australian Federal and State public service websites. That will give you an idea of the salary band your previous job would have attracted here.
And get used to recruitment agencies. Almost all government and corporate sector jobs here use recruiting agencies now, so you can expect to go through the submit resume/phone interview/online assessment/assessment centre/interview(s) process quite often.
posted by Lolie at 11:13 AM on July 17, 2009
You don't mention your visa class. It could be relevant to the salary you can realistically expect if you're seeking roles which have a high "on-cost" to the employer and they can't count on you staying in the job beyond 12 months.
Check Australian Federal and State public service websites. That will give you an idea of the salary band your previous job would have attracted here.
And get used to recruitment agencies. Almost all government and corporate sector jobs here use recruiting agencies now, so you can expect to go through the submit resume/phone interview/online assessment/assessment centre/interview(s) process quite often.
posted by Lolie at 11:13 AM on July 17, 2009
dfriedman: Unless he will be working for an agency, then the lower he gets paid, the more the agency makes...
posted by Gungho at 1:24 PM on July 17, 2009
posted by Gungho at 1:24 PM on July 17, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks for the comments. In my experience with recruitment agencies it is a bit of a game -- you don't know how much they're getting from the client, they try to see what is the lowest they can get you for, and the difference is their profit.
posted by Flying Squirrel at 7:13 PM on July 17, 2009
posted by Flying Squirrel at 7:13 PM on July 17, 2009
Response by poster: I also find they are asking me what I made at my last job. Should I tell them?
posted by Flying Squirrel at 11:08 PM on July 17, 2009
posted by Flying Squirrel at 11:08 PM on July 17, 2009
You should definitely tell your recruiter how much you were last earning. Full disclosure: I'm a recruiter. I can't speak for the person you're working with, but for us, there is a difference in direct hire versus temp. Typically, it is always in my best interest to make sure my employees are getting paid as much as possible in both instances. For DH: we get a percentage of whatever your first year base salary is, assuming you make it past 90 days--so the more money that is, the more money your recruiter also gets (and it's not taken out of your salary either). As far as temp goes, most of our clients have set markups with us, so if it's a 60% markup the margin is better for us if we're paying you more. Sometimes we aren't locked into markups, but there is still a "market rate" that doesn't really budge (in my industry, anyway).
At any rate, I really do believe that no one will be more qualified to tell you what the market rate for your skills is than a recruiter who (theoretically anyway) deals with these matters daily, all day. Websites don't move as fast as the real-time hiring data your recruiter should be privy to.
Good luck!
posted by ohyouknow at 9:49 AM on July 19, 2009
At any rate, I really do believe that no one will be more qualified to tell you what the market rate for your skills is than a recruiter who (theoretically anyway) deals with these matters daily, all day. Websites don't move as fast as the real-time hiring data your recruiter should be privy to.
Good luck!
posted by ohyouknow at 9:49 AM on July 19, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ohyouknow at 10:00 AM on July 17, 2009 [1 favorite]