5 Signs You're Not Being Paid What You're Worth

Photo: Christina Jones Photography

Make no mistake, trying to figure out how your salary stacks up against others in your field is a challenge. The unavoidable fact is: people get cagey when it comes to talking money. (Personally, I believe that being more open about these things will only help us close the pay gap, but that's an article for another day.) 

If you suspect you're being underpaid, getting a free salary report from Comparably or PayScale and scouring Glassdoor is a great start. But that's all it is—a start. To figure out whether you're being underpaid, you need to pay attention to the signs. Or, as career expert, bestselling author, and former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan (oh, and four other magazines), Kate White says, "You need to be a mercenary for information."

Here are the top five signs you're not getting paid what you deserve.

1. You Never Negotiated Your Pay 

I know this is difficult to hear because a large percentage of women don’t. But accepting this fact is the first step. "That's your first clue," says White. "It's a sign that you probably are being underpaid because often if you don't negotiate, you're leaving money on the table." Now, if you didn't negotiate, all is not lost! Make a commitment to yourself to never take a job without negotiating again. 

2. You’re Doing More, But Not Being Paid More 

This one might sound obvious, but employees let it slide all too often. Just recently a friend's workload was effectively doubled without a plan for a salary increase or title change. When she went to her manager to make a case for a salary bump, he threatened to simply take away her increased responsibility. Don't fall for this. If you're doing significantly more than the role you were hired to do, you deserve appropriately increased compensation. And if you can't get it at your current company, go get it elsewhere. 

3. It’s Been Two or More Years Since You Got a Raise

"Here's the problem: the market rate increases faster than the rate within a company where people may be getting 3% raises," says White. "I saw it happen to people who worked for me at different times, and as the boss, you felt bad, but often the company tied your hands.” 

“When the new person was coming in and was able to negotiate for a certain salary, sometimes it was better than people on the same level,” she explains. “But again, a company won't necessarily let you say, ‘Hey if I bring this person in at X, I hate the fact that this other person is only making Y.’ So if you've been at a company for awhile, you can practically bank on the fact that you are not doing as well as people coming in from the outside."

4. You Find Out the Salary of Someone in a Comparable Position  

This is less a "sign" than a fact, but it's worth mentioning. Again, talking to people about salaries can be tough, but there are ways to get the information you need. 

"You could ask a mentor or someone who used to work at your company and has since moved on," says White. "And maybe you could say it in a bit of a cheeky way, like 'If I told you my salary, what amount would make you think, 'Oh my God, she's an idiot?’ You're never going to get someone who left, especially in a lateral move, to tell you what their salary was. But I think if you ask in that way, sometimes people like to answer those types of questions."

"Or find people who have comparable jobs in similar companies,” suggests White. “Without asking what they make, you can say something to them like, 'Would you mind me asking you the range of X position at your company? I love my company but I'm just curious what the range is elsewhere.' I think people will often answer that as well."

However, proceed with caution. 

"I've been in situations where people found out salaries by snooping around or having conversations about it in the office, but if your boss finds out it really makes you look small," says White. "So I would say that's something to avoid."

5. You Have a Gut Feeling 

I have found this to be true in my own experience, and White confirms to trust your gut. If after a few months of watching and listening, you have the sneaking suspicion you're being underpaid, you probably are. 

"I think a lot of times our gut feelings about things like this are absolutely accurate," says White. "It's almost as if you're picking up clues on a lot of different subliminal levels. Maybe a guy on your same level invited people from the office over for drinks and you saw his apartment and realized, 'Wow, that's pretty nice.' Or you notice the vacations he takes. And sure, maybe he's got a trust fund. But all those little things that happen—the way your boss might be evasive, the spending habits of people on your level—all those things end up being almost imperceptible clues that on some subliminal level make your stomach twist a little bit. And you just sort of know.” 

"It could be from things people inadvertently say, but the point is that it's not just one thing—it's a combination of those various, vague little things, and what they add up to that speak to you on a subliminal level,” says White. “And a lot of what they say about intuition is connecting the dots and I think you should connect the dots in this case and listen to your gut."

For more advice from Kate White on negotiating and more, pick up a copy of her tell-all career bible, “I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve.”

Written by Kelsey Manning for Levo. 

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This story was originally published on April 19, 2017, and has since been updated.

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How to Handle Your Year End Performance Review

Written by: Alexandra Dickson, CEO & Founder, Ask For It 

Year end performance reviews are coming up. Maybe you’re looking for a raise or are hungry for a new challenge? Whatever it is that you’re hoping for, you can prepare to ask for it in three simple but powerful steps. You can get clarity and gain confidence to negotiate before that next meeting with your boss.

Gather your evidence.

Evidence can be broken down in two ways — value you’ve created and value you’ve saved your company. Set aside some time to go back through your notes and notable emails from the year to refresh your memory and make it easier to speak to your accomplishments. Then assess: what value have you created for your team or company? Think bigger when it comes to value; it doesn’t necessarily have to mean sales or revenue. Value you’ve created could be launching a new initiative, bringing on a new partner or inventing a new campaign. Do quantify this if at all possible, whether in terms of dollars, number of people impacted, or any other relevant metric, but know that value doesn’t always mean money.

What value have you saved? Again, value you’ve saved could mean financial savings, or it could mean increased efficiencies. If someone on your team left and you’ve been taking on their projects rather than filling the position, there’s an example of value you’ve saved.

Do the right research

How will you know what to ask for if you don’t do some benchmarking? Your goal should be to get data points from both inside your own company and more broadly, in your industry.

You can start your research online using websites like Glassdoor, PayScale and Salary.com, but you need to go further to get really useful information. Make it a priority to speak to half a dozen people: three men and three women. Ask people who would know how much someone in your position typically makes. This could be your own colleagues, if you feel comfortable asking them, or someone who’s doing a similar job to you at another company, or even an industry mentor who hires people at your level. I realize this may make you uncomfortable, but trust me, it’s worth it. You’ll go into your negotiation with much more confidence and it will make it easier for you advocate for yourself.

Feeling tongue tied? Try this simple script:

“I’m doing research because I’m preparing to ask for a raise, and I think you have some information that could help me. Would you be willing to share your ballpark salary with me?”

Practice

Grab a trusted friend or colleague and ask them to do a little practicing with you. If you’ve never asked for a raise before, repeating your request out loud is an easy and effective way to give yourself the best chance of success. 

Not sure how to put it all together? Try something like this, and be sure to tailor it to your personal situation: “According to my research, similar positions in our industry pay about X. But I didn’t just take the salary guides I found online as gospel. I went further and spoke with some folks in similar roles, so I know my request is in line with the current marketplace.”

Use your review as an opportunity to cash in on your hard work all year long. Build your case, shore up your confidence, get in there and ask for it.

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Good Girls Revolt: How 4 Powerful Career Women Asked for Raises

Have you sunk into watching "Good Girls Revolt?" 

On Friday, Amazon released their newest binge-worthy show based on Lynn Povich’s 2012 book The Good Girls Revolt, about a gender-discrimination lawsuit filed by her and her peers at Newsweek in 1970. The series follows a group of young female researchers at "News of the Week," who ask for equal treatment. (Sound familiar? It should.) GGR operates in the past and present, addressing the on-going struggle of female employees and their inability to out-earn male colleagues--  or simply earn an equal wage. 

In the pilot, Nora Ephron (played by Grace Gummer) questions why she and other female researchers are scrambling over research assignments that will be handed off to the men. "All that's left to do is make yourself indispensable," says peer Patti Robinson (played by Genevieve Angelson) when Ephron first joins the team.  

So in honor of good girls revolting and equal pay, here are 4 boss women who have asked for more money, more flexibility, and more respect. 

LILLY LEDBETTER 

“I went over and interviewed with Goodyear in 1978, and I worked for Goodyear tire company for 19 years before I found out that the males were making 40 percent more than I was making for working the same job. Someone left me a little torn sheet of paper and tipped me off anonymously, listing my base pay and their base pay. The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it was how much I had lost on overtime. I thought about my retirement and my 401(k) and my social security, because what you earn is what determines your retirement. I was just humiliated and embarrassed, to say the least, that a major corporation could do me that way. The company I worked for told me when I [was] hired there: ‘If you discuss your pay, you will not have a job here.’ So no one ever discussed their pay. I never knew. I had no idea how much someone else was making … After I got that tip, I filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the wheels went into motion with the company.” — Self, January 2016

MICHELLE OBAMA 

“I took my last job [before my husband entered the White House] because of my boss’s reaction to my family situation. I didn’t have a babysitter, so I took Sasha right in there with me in her crib and her rocker. I was still nursing, so I was wearing my nursing shirt. I told my boss, ‘This is what I have: two small kids. My husband is running for the U.S. Senate. I will not work part time. I need flexibility. I need a good salary. I need to be able to afford babysitting. And if you can do all that, and you’re willing to be flexible with me because I will get the job done, I can work hard on a flexible schedule.’ I was very clear. And he said yes to everything.” —Parade, June 2014

SHERYL SANDBERG 

“When I was negotiating with Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for my compensation, he made me an offer that I thought was fair. We had been having dinner several nights a week for more than a month and a half, discussing Facebook’s mission and his vision for the future. I was ready to accept the job. No, I was dying to accept the job. My husband, Dave, kept telling me to negotiate, but I was afraid of doing anything that might botch the deal. I could play hardball, but then maybe Mark would not want to work with me. Was it worth it when I knew that ultimately I was going to accept the offer? I concluded it was not. But right before I was about to say yes, my exasperated brother-in-law, Marc Bodnick, blurted out, ‘Damn it, Sheryl! Why are you going to make less than any man would make to do the same job?’

"Was it worth it when I knew that ultimately I was going to accept the offer?"

Tweet this.  

My brother-in-law didn’t know the details of my deal. His point was simply that no man at my level would consider taking the first offer. This was motivating. I went back to Mark and said that I couldn’t accept, but I prefaced it by telling him, ‘Of course you realize that you’re hiring me to run your deal teams, so you want me to be a good negotiator. This is the only time you and I will ever be on opposite sides of the table.’ Then I negotiated hard, followed by a nervous night wondering if I had blown it. But Mark called me the next day. He resolved the gap by improving my offer, extending the terms of my contract from four to five years and allowing me to buy into the company as well. His creative solution not only closed the deal, but also set us up for a longer-term alignment of interests.” — Lean In, March 2013

GLORIA STEINEM 

“The most ironic that comes to mind is that Time magazine asked me to write an essay about the early women’s movement. It was a long time ago — it was maybe in the ’70s. First of all, they asked me to do it because they didn’t have a woman on staff. Secondly, I did it under deadline because it never occurred to me that they would pay me less than they did men writing the same essay. Time had a page in each issue in which there was a personal essay. When my agent got the check, he told me that I was getting paid less than men who wrote the same essay. So, I wrote the editor of Time and complained and he sent me a Gucci purse. I took the purse back to Gucci because I needed the money and tried to get cash for it and I couldn’t.” —Fusion, December 2015

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