Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

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Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

Job Offers & Negotiations

Lesson: Salary Expectations

5 minute read

Salary is often considered to be a taboo topic in western cultures. People typically remain quiet when asked how much they make per annum as to not experience jealousy or create envy among their peers.

However, when looking for a new job, it's one, if not the most, important factors. Let's face it, you most likely joined Designlab to gain a better career and perhaps a bump in pay from your current situation.

But to ensure you set the right expectations for yourself and the job market, you have to do the research. If you have an ideal number in mind, you need to compare it to the market rate in your area to determine whether or not it's realistic.

Variance in Pay

Many factors contribute to the difference in pay across the United States and other countries. The cost of living in certain areas require higher starting salaries, while the demand for designers can also drive up the average pay.

If you live on either coast of the US, such as San Francisco or New York, it's likely that the starting salary for a junior designer will be higher than that of someone living in Boise, Idaho, or Des Moines, Iowa. This doesn't mean you are less valuable than those in larger cities; it simply means the environmental factors and market set the standard rate.

It's essential that you conduct research to determine what the average is depending your experience level, your regional location, and the company you're looking to work for. Often the size of the company can determine how much they are able to pay. For instance, a smaller design agency may pay less because they depend on clients to provide income for workers, while a larger corporation may have more room in its budget to offer more pay.

There are many tools you should use to determine a realistic salary expectation, depending on these factors.

Tools for Research

As you did with each of your projects in UX Academy, you should begin determining your ideal salary by conducting thorough research. You can use tools, such as Glassdoor, Payscale, and Indeed to gain a better sense of your market's average rate.

Each of these tools offer the ability to search job titles and salary information across multiple companies. They typically rely on user-generated content, meaning current designers input their salary numbers, so it can fluctuate depending on the platform you use.

They also typically provide charts to compare the area’s average to that of the entire United States — if you’re focused on applying in the states. The country’s average may be higher than your region, depending on the location, so it’s important to understand where you may fall depending on these factors.

But the average starting salary can be a jumping off point to determine what you should expect when applying.

Salary Discussions

When applying for jobs, it's not uncommon for a hiring manager to ask you for your salary expectations. If you've done your research (and the company has as well), you can provide the interviewer with a range of what you ideally would like to receive from a low- and high-end, hoping to land somewhere in the middle.

Again, the amount a company is willing to pay is up to its discretion, as it may vary wildly from company to company.

If You're Not Sure

After doing the research, if you're still unsure of what to ask for or expect when an offer comes in, you should consult with your Career Coach for more advice. Seeing as they have gone through this same process in the past, they could provide some veteran-fueled wisdom to help you select a range to send to an employer.

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