Salery/career progression formula?

[NordicPrincess]

do you know if there is some way you can calculate what pay youl be on or should aim for based on a certain salery? so for example if you are earning x at 20yrs what you should be looking at being on at aged 50?

Or how much more you should ask for or look for at every new job to keep upping earning potential?

likewise how long do you stay at a job before asking for more money or progression etc...

depends of the job

Read somewhere years ago that your salary should match your age.

Oh heck, by that calculation I am in my teens with three kids [hmmm]

Depends on the role. For my job, I keep an eye on what vacancies there currently are, as those give you an indication (as in, they'd ask for x years experience with y salary range) of what is being offered in the market. Generally (in my field), if you same with the same employer your salary can stay pretty static, or only increase in line with inflation (unless you're promoted), whereas when I moved employers my salary went up by nearly a third (was underpaid in previous role, got promoted on moving). Also, every couple of years they do a review of the industry and publish the findings.

Totally depends on what you do.

stay with the same employer

Ask for progression when you think you are ready for it- there is a reason some people sit in the same job for 20 years.
If you want more money they will want to hear your reasons why- I do X now as well, I am responsible for Y and I wasn't before.

Likewise if you want career progression, which role do you want to aim for? Why do you think you will be good at it.
How can they help you achieve the qualifications and skills that you need.

Don't forget as well in this current economic climate with cut backs pay increases training and promotions are simply not available for some companies to offer.

Not sure, because will depend on salary ceiling for some jobs, but I once read that you ought to be earning your age (ie, so if 27 you should be earning £27k). This was in Glamour magazine, and I always wondered if different rules applied in London (where salaries tend to be higher), and what about when you get older? Is it reasonable to expect to earn £55k at 55? Surely in some jobs there is no way you will ever be earning £55k? Obviously some people earn way more than £55k in their 20s (investment bankers spring to mind), whereas some will be on minimum wage and not even earning £14 or 15k.

its not for me really as i am earning the age of a 4 year old as i work pt in a low paid job i love-something to keep me sane and in employment.

Its for my DP, hes a mobile mechanical engineer with a very good cv working on massive gov science projects and nuclear stuff. However the job hes got now while less interesting is the best paid hes been, its a good company too. I think the one up would be supervisary role. He is unsure of how long to stay in his job before asking for promotion or looking to move job.

any ideas?

thanks for your replies.

Oh and hes 2k a above his age before overtime

Abs is definitely right about moving employers being the surest way to make a salary go up. It's easier to be employed on more money that you were previously than to get a payrise while doing the same job.

But yeah, it depends absolutely on the job you do and the type of company you do it for.

You may also need to balance that against job security and add on benefits including pension, lump sum, subsidised housing, school fees etc.

its a very secure job, no subsidised housing. school fees?

Read somewhere years ago that your salary should match your age.

Flippin heck....I'm going wrong somewhere!Unless it was my 18th I celebrated in Oct not my 40th!!

he should start applying for promotions before he things he will actually get it. Lets them know he is keen and makes them start to think of hims as 'promotable'.

Well, in the area I work in you do annual reviews (previous job it was quarterly - very painful), so when you are target setting at the beginning of the year, you should say "I want to be promoted this round", and then you should agree with your manager what the best next steps are (unless they say - no freaking chance). In my area there are quite clear grades (Analyst, Associate, AVP etc. etc.) and there is some indication as to how long you should spend at each grade. If you're behind, it's normally because:

• you don't want to progress (does happen)
• someone's blocking your progression
• you're not proactive enough about it.

He should maybe look at (and talk to) more senior people, who could give him an idea of what their career progression/path was like.

Muddle's right as well. I was advised that you should start working at the "level" above before asking for a promotion, or just after. So when it comes to decision making time by management, it's a no-brainer. They just go "Nordic's DP's already doing all the work of a supervisor, so we should just promote him". BUT - he should make it clear that he wants to be promoted.
In my old role, I had the bad combo of me saying at the beginning I wanted to, but not chasing up constantly on it, and managers who were deliberately wanting to stop me from progressing. It ended up with me doing all the work at, and to the standard of, the grade above me, but without being promoted. For the managers it was great - they had someone working very hard, and they didn't have to recognise it [bitches]

If salary should match your age DH should be dead lol

Leave every 2 years.

If you stay where you are you never get anywhere. Yoyu have a salary review and say if you don't get a payrise/bonus you will leave. You end up getting another job, and the current employer will match the salary (hopefully), so you can then choose to stay or leave.

You have to be mobile, you also have to apply for jobs outside your comfort zone.

Dh Armed Forces Getorf, and has done well without leaving. Regular and very clear career path, good benefits and pension. Has been in for 31 years; just over 3 to go. Mix of engineering and international/diplomatic skills.

Problem is hes a mobile engineer. That means he gets blacbberried a list of jobs for the month and drives about doing them. He has a once monthly meeting with facilities manager and other engineeers and managers. How does he move up from a job thats so insular?

He gets in his van, meddles with things, they work and off he goes for a ealry lunch. Its not like in an office with a clear ladder.

any engineers or engineering wives here?

I think career progression can be difficult within engineering as many companies only allow career progression by going into management which does not suit everyone. Most good companies will have an alternative technical progression path. If this is the route he wants to take, and his company do not offer such a progression route (and hence don't really value people who want to pursue such a route) I think he should consider moving on.

Yes scary I think that AF is probably completely different, is worth staying in forces as long as you can.

DD is going to join the RAF at 18, there seem to be so many different choices of careers, all of which transfer to civilian lives (I am an aeronatical engineer, have worked with loads of ex-RAF engineers etc).

Although am an engineer have moved away from design work, best way of progressing to management is going into procurement/commercial - hence I manage procurement resourcing projects now. If you stay in design work you do tend to stay at one level.

Actually I reckon that moving constantly only really works in private sector.

I would say in public sector internal progression would be easier.

he did his degree in building services-which is all management. I just dont know how he can decide to become a supervisor-on what basis could he argue for this?

If he would like to go down this path, I think it's just a matter of letting his superiors know this is something he would be interested in, and ask to be considered for future openings. Also he could ask if there was any training he could do to prepare himself for such a role in the future. Letting them know he is keen is the main thing - they may have no idea that he would be interested in such a move.

In the current climate I think you need to sacrifice job security for salary.

When I was younger I moved around a bit. Probably a big reason why I am on a decent salary.

However, as the kids grow, you get a mortgage and generally grow older, other things like job security & pension become more important.

Nordic - I am married to an engineer. See above for pensions, subsidised accommodation and assistance with school fees.