What are you worth? What should you be paid? It can be difficult to know your market value salary, particularly if you’ve worked at one company for a long time. Usually, you will have only a few data points. One will be your original salary. Another will be any pay rises. And a third will be any information you can glean from friends and colleagues. But you can become quite detached from what your real market value salary is. So how do you discover what you’re worth — and what do you do if your salary doesn’t match up to it?
Use your company resources
If you work in a large company, there are likely to be pay bands. If these are disclosed, start by looking at these and determining whether your skills, experience, and position correspond to what you are paid. Some companies go further and practise pay transparency (in which case you can just look up your salary and those of your comparable colleagues). You may also know what some of your colleagues are paid, as people tend to talk. How do you match up to them?
Use resources outside your company
Numerous sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed are available for salary benchmarking, giving you an idea of how much your type of role pays generally, how much it pays at your company, and how much it pays in various locations. But don’t stop there. There are CV analysis tools such as Adzuna and Clera, job ads, and the pay statistics published by governments and research bodies. Talk to your network and ask recruitment consultants, too. There is a wealth of fine individual detail that comparison tools may not fully capture but that someone familiar with the industry will understand.
Be careful about direct comparisons
These can be quite difficult. If you are paid a bit less than someone in your role in another company, the job scope may be different, they may have more experience than you, pay bands may not be the same, and so on. If it’s the person who sits two desks away from you who does the same job, then the direct comparison makes more sense. Although, they may still have qualifications, skills, and experience that you do not have.
What else should I consider?
Think, too, about your overall compensation package. A great pension, healthcare, a company car, and other benefits all have significant value that may mean a slightly lower salary is just part of a pretty good package. It’s worth looking at your company holistically. Does it pay the industry average or more or less? And why is this? Companies with great reputations, particularly in terms of career development, can often get away with paying on the low side. Consider other benefits: Is yours an organisation that has a good culture, or is it flexible around certain needs such as childcare and care of older family members? These are sizeable pluses. Finally, think about benefits that are serendipitous. A ten-minute commute or an amazing city-centre office are real lifestyle perks. You may decide that not spending hours in a car every day or being able to visit an art gallery at lunchtime is worth more than a slightly uplifted salary.
What might you be worth elsewhere?
“If you want a pay rise, get a new job” is a well-known piece of advice for a reason. In the UK, government statistics show that those who change jobs tend to experience pay rises higher than those who stay put. This difference can be even more marked if the person in question has been poached from another employer. But going to a competitor is just one way to get a salary boost. An even more effective one can be jumping sectors. For finance professionals — and others — who have transferable skills across industries, this type of change is very much worth looking at. Pay is enormously affected by sectoral norms and expectations. What finance professionals are paid in the hospitality or retail sector may be considerably less than what they’re paid in the finance, tech, or law sector, for much the same work.
What if I’m significantly underpaid?
You have several options in this case. The first is to ask for a raise. On the plus side, you will have done your homework and have plenty of data to make your case. But on the other hand, your boss may just say no — and you should be prepared for this. Think about how you will respond if this happens. A constructive reaction could be asking what you would need to do to get the raise. You could also look for other, better-rewarded opportunities in your organisation. But if there is no obvious path to higher pay (for example, if your organisation has frozen salaries), the best thing to do is express polite, professional disappointment — and dust off your CV.
What if I discover I’m being overpaid?
Good news. But rather than just sitting back and enjoying it, you should investigate. First, try and discover if you really are being overpaid. Are you a star? Do you have extra responsibilities or an unusual background? If you really are being overpaid, that brings its own peculiar problems. One is that it can be very difficult to leave a job if you know you won’t find a similar salary elsewhere — you are wearing “golden handcuffs”. Another is that you are unlikely to get much in the way of pay rises. So while you should enjoy your good fortune, you might also be thinking of what you can do to add to your job and develop yourself so that your salary makes sense. As it is possible that at some point you will be paid less, you might also want to focus on saving money while you are in this fortunate position.
Rhymer Rigby is a business writer and columnist. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Oliver Rowe at Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com.
LEARNING RESOURCE
From Financial Expert to Strategic Business Leader: Leader Evolution
Leaders develop through a set of clearly defined stages that require different ways of thinking, different perspectives, and new skills. This workshop lays out the road map for finance and accounting professionals who want to advance their career.
COURSE
MEMBER RESOURCES
Articles
“How and Why to Add Video to Your CV”, FM magazine, 9 July 2025
“How Values-Driven Companies Create a Recruitment and Retention Edge”, FM magazine, 28 April 2025
“Upskilling Doesn’t Always Lead to Internal Progression”, FM magazine, 2 April 2025
“Want to Change Sector? Here’s What to Consider”, FM magazine, 21 November 2023
Podcast episode
“Power Skills and Core Competencies for an Evolving Profession”, FM magazine, 18 June 2025