The job market is still pretty competitive, even with the economic turndown skilled talent continues to be in demand. If you’ve got a desired skill, you’ve still got plenty of options to consider, so how does the value you place on yourself play a part in your job hunt?
To encourage you to accept jobs with them, more and more brands are getting competitive with their offers and packages, paying way over and above what we’ve seen in the market before. The challenge is some of their expectations have increased along with their salaries.
This has led to people accepting packages that you could argue are too high based on the skill they bring to a team. Begging the question, are they worth it?
As the economy has declined, we’ve seen a rise in redundancies, businesses trimming the fat and our database is filling up with talented professionals who’ve been overpaid and now can’t secure a role at the same rate. Additionally, we’ve been contacted based on the role being too stressful and they no longer feel capable, others heading in that direction and an unlucky few available immediately having been let go for under performance. The vast majority of these candidates have highlighted that the expectations were heightened after joining the team and much of this increased expectation seemed to be down to the inflated salary they were being paid.
Whilst this might seem unfair and we could be quick to blame the client for offering silly money, is the candidate at fault for accepting a package that they’re not worth?! You could argue either side of the coin.
So how do you as a candidate avoid this happening to you…..
+ Define your own worth first. Seek advice to understand the value of your skills in the current job market and position yourself based on this.
+ Most job’s give a salary bracket, just because it’s paying £30-£40k doesn’t automatically mean they will pay £40k.
+ If they offer you a salary that’s much higher than expected, seek to understand if their expectations have adjusted alongside this.
+ If the salary on offer for the role advertised looks like it’s too good to be true, it probably is! Most employers pay fairly and in line with the market even in super competitive circumstances. If a brand is offering way over the top for your skill set, you need to ask yourself why.
Only you can define your value or worth but your value to a company does come with a figure attached. Before accepting it’s important you ensure it’s fair based on the responsibility of the role and your skill set. A step up will always come with challenges and a learning curve you need to ensure you’re ready to take it.
If you’re unsure of the salary you should be looking for or how you should position your value gives us a ring, we can help!
