The number of people who accept a job and then complain about the pay afterward amazes me. Didn’t they know the salary before accepting the job?
While money isn’t everything, feeling you’re getting paid fairly for your work is vital to your self-esteem and overall well-being. Getting the salary you want is your responsibility.
Speaking of getting the salary you want, you probably hear all the “entitlement talk” about getting paid what you’re worth, which is highly subjective. The “get paid what you’re worth” movement causes many people to overestimate their worth to employers.
Finding a job that offers the compensation, benefits, and perks you desire starts with showing your value to employers. The passive (READ: lazy) attitude of, “I need more money, so I should be paid more,” is common. The onus is on the job seeker to show their value.
Before embarking on your job search journey:
Critically assess your skills and experience. (create a list)
Brainstorm how you’ll show employers your track record of adding value to employers.
Research salaries in your job market.
Establish a realistic target starting salary, along with the benefits you want.
Envision how you’ll present yourself (e.g., resume, LinkedIn profile, interviews), so you’re answering the question: Why are your skills and experience worth paying for?
Career success begins with self-awareness. Being self-aware during your job search is crucial to accepting your weaknesses and evangelizing your strengths. Hence, you’ll gravitate toward jobs that capitalize on your strengths employers are willing to pay for. (Employers don’t pay for weaknesses.)
As well, firmly knowing your strengths will empower you to convincingly explain (READ: sell) why your skills are worth paying for. On the other hand, knowing your weaknesses will help you determine what weaknesses hinder your career so you can work on overcoming them.
Keep a work journal.
20 years ago, I started keeping a work diary, which has proved invaluable. I highly recommend you do the same. When you’re preparing for an interview or want to ask for a raise, you’ll be thankful you’re keeping a work diary. Before leaving for the day, note your day’s accomplishments, results you achieved, conversations you had, challenges you overcame, milestones you reached, new skills you acquired, fires you put out, etc.
Your work diary will be invaluable when preparing for interviews, especially when it comes to providing examples of your achievements and creating STAR stories. Additionally, your journal will be your best friend when you ask for a raise since you’ll have many reasons why you deserve one.
Whether you’re negotiating a starting salary or asking for a raise, you need to build a case. Your work diary will provide the evidence (e.g., process improvements, revenue generated, monetary or time savings) you need and may have forgotten.
TIP: When talking about your accomplishments and results, use numbers to convey your value.
NO (responsibility statement): “I inputted customer orders.”
YES (accomplishment statement): “I inputted no fewer than 60 customer orders per day, with an accuracy rate of 99.5%.”
The achievement statements demonstrate how candidates deliver value to their employers, the value that’s worth paying for.
Establish firm boundaries.
When you set non-negotiable boundaries regarding compensation, benefits, vacation and sick days, and working hours, you’re in control of your job search and career.
I’ve lost count of how many interviews I’ve ended because a box on my non-negotiable list—I have 20 boxes—wasn’t being checked off. I don’t want to be one of those employees I mentioned earlier who accept a job and then complain that they’re underpaid.
Getting the salary you deserve requires you showing your interviewer how your knowledge, skills, experience, and abilities will benefit the company and—this is critical—not settling for anything less than the salary you want.
It seems logical that if you only take jobs where you’ll be paid what you feel you’re worth, you’ll always be paid what you feel you’re worth. Never hesitate to say no to a job opportunity. If an employer or job doesn’t feel right or ticks off all our “wants,” walk away! When you walk away, you free yourself to continue looking for the job and employer that’s right for you.
Employers understand money. Next time you interview, demonstrate how you made money for your previous employers or saved them money. This is how you create value for your services. (As an employee, you’re providing a service to your employer.) The more value your services provide, the more money you can ask for your services.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send Nick your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
