Should I be put off by this?

[KittenMoon]

I've been working for my company now for nearly three years. It was my first "real" job after college. It's a small business, about 50 employees. Technically, the only other person in my dept is my boss- we're the marketing team, although we're wrapped into sales as well. The two of us get along great and make a good team- he's shielded me from a lot of management BS (including nearly being eliminated for reasons that had nothing to do with me) and I have brought in scads of knowledge and creativity, as well as sorta keeping him together (he's notorious for running late, jumping from topic to topic, taking more on than he can handle, etc).

 

Recently, it was decided we needed another person in our dept. Basically, we're beginning to take on a significant portion of the marketing work for another company that had been bought by our parent company. So they posted a position online last week.

 

My issue is the salary range. It's fairly broad- in fact my salary falls smack dab in the center of it. This has got me a bit miffed because I feel like my position is harder (I'm basically an entire graphic design, print, and web team rolled into one while the new position is writing and PR) and I've been at the company for three years already. Why should the new person potentially have a salary equal or even significantly hire than mine?

 

I know there is no guarantee this person will get that much, but I'm still a little annoyed. But I feel like I have no right to complain, nor ask for a higher salary. Especially since our sales are down significantly for the year and asking for more money for anything isn't going to go over well. And my salary is very much in line with my experience, location, and position. Still...

 

What do others think?

[Lizzie60]

before I hit the bed...

 

I know there is no guarantee this person will get that much, but I'm still a little annoyed. But I feel like I have no right to complain, nor ask for a higher salary. Especially since our sales are down significantly for the year and asking for more money for anything isn't going to go over well. And my salary is very much in line with my experience, location, and position. Still...

 

You have every right to feel annoyed and to complain and ask for a better salary...

 

If the sales were down last year, then why would they pay that person more money?

 

You have given this company your best, and you deserve their consideration and respect.

 

If I were you, I would talk to your boss... you're saving his *ss sometimes, he owes you... tell him how you feel...

 

This is not fair to you... Maybe you should apply for that position, you'd get a better salary and you wouldn't work as hard... how's that?

[curiousnycgirl]

Broad salary ranges are standard - that allows the hiring manager the flexibility to go for more or less experience, etc. The fact that you fall in the middle of the range would tell me you are doing just fine.

 

Reality is you accepted a position at a specific salary, and in theory you have been getting increases annually as your contribution and the company's performance allow. I know it sounds harsh but it is almost unheard of to get huge bumps in pay nowadays while staying at the same company. This is why people hop from job to job.

 

As far as your job being harder than the new position - I would not go there. I highly doubt your job desciption says "entire graphic design, print, and web team" - so why would you expect this new job description to be highly elaborative? Also keep in mind that the entire graphic design, print and web team means something entirely different in a 50 person company than it does in a company such as mine which has almost 200,000 employees.

 

I never compare my compensation to anyone else's. Truth is if my company took the money away from someone else, they would not necessarily give it to me. I measure my compensation against the market place - meaning if I walked out tomorrow - could I make appreciably more money.

 

You yourself agree that you are being compensated appropriately for your experience, location and position - so it is unlikely that going to a new company will make much difference.

 

Let it go.

[KittenMoon]

I know it sounds harsh but it is almost unheard of to get huge bumps in pay nowadays while staying at the same company.

 

I wouldn't expect to get a huge bump in salary- but I don't think someone whose position will be on the same level as me, but with less knowledge of the company, and in a position with a HUGE learning curve (since it's essentially a tech writer position, they will have to learn the ins and outs of dozens of products, their technologies, their markets, etc) should be INITIALLY making the same, or more than me. (unless they are coming directly from our business, which I doubt, because it's fairly specialized)

 

I'm not sweating it too much, because the fact that I am in such a small company has allowed me a far greater range of experience than I'd get in a large company (where I'd be doing only a few things, like brochures, as opposed to everthing from print to packaging to web) and I'll likely be able to translate this into a much better job when I leave here.

 

I don't know- I just keep getting treated like my work is so good, people circumvent my boss to work with me (this doensn't bother him, as it relieves pressure on his workload) etc etc- I would just feel like it's all lip-service if some newbie came on making significantly more than me with less knowledge of our company.

[curiousnycgirl]

It is all driven by a variety of factors. A newbie to your company may have years of experience for which they will be compensated. It depends on what the market pays - it's that plain and simple.

 

I agree with you being in a small company is a great advantage to young talent and should really give you a good spring board for your career. You need to stop focussing on what others make and focus on what you make, that is the only thing you can control/react to.

 

I hope that helps.