Learn Truth About Increasing Your Salary in Less Than 1 Hour

By Jeremy Chatelaine

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment

FACT: The base salary is totally unrelated to performance in the job, it's linked to agreed expectation based on perceptions before employment starts. Therefore the work you put on *prior* to joining a new company is key to a high salary.

In total honesty, there is nothing like changing job to build up a higher salary. All big increases are generally linked to a change of job. Working up the corporate ladder in the same company may work for some (you can read how Jack Welch did it in his great book "Straight From the Gut"), others will try to focus on asking for a pay raise, but it doesn't work for everyone.

So, here is an uncommon, yet powerful piece of advise to improve your salary by getting great offers:

Develop relationship with head-hunters BEFORE you need a job

This is an important step that will provide you with a clear edge over many many employees. Contact head-hunters and ask them to have a chat face to face. Tell them you may be looking to move soon (in 3-6 months time) and would like them to build a view of the market for you. Specify that you handpick recruiters you work with and would like to have a conversation with them.

Not all will accept ("call me again when you will be looking for a job" type of answer), and that will allow you to quickly filter our the inexperienced head-hunters that aren't in the business of building relationship (if they aren't ready to develop relationship with you, just imagine how they consider their relationship with the firms that offers jobs, it's just not going to fly), they are in the quick sales business and for them, if you don't search for a job, you are worthless.

Do not worry, either they won't last or they have rubbish jobs that quality head-hunters will already know of. Keep searching, there are people around that are great to meet with. If you manage to find the right one for you and develop a relationship, they will return your calls even when the market gets though and will provide you with a trusted view of the market and become great advisers.

I had some pretty bad experience with some recruiters and decided not to work with them. It's best to find out BEFORE you are truly searching for a job.

They should listen, take notes and at the end of the discussion have a clear idea of what you are looking for. Meet again every 6 months or quarterly depending on how fast you want to move job, put it in your calendar and take care of those relationship.

Don't be afraid to consider buying books and guides on the subject and calculate the odds of improving your salary versus a little investment in money and time to read them.