How People Win Better Roles and Get Paid By Higher Salaries

Put it together to win.

I recall applying for an internal position across a different function.

My current boss at that time was very supportive. He helped me prepare for my big day by simulating the job interview.

I made severe preparations by writing down all the career milestones that could help me win the job.

After the first interview, I was given another chance to have a second interview because I got nervous and couldn’t address important questions.

When I received the hiring manager’s rejection, I was disheartened to learn about the feedback from the interview.

The hiring manager told me I spoke a foreign language (referring to my accounting dialect and experience background).

The role I was applying for required speaking to different executives who have no finance background, so I was told that I needed to work on my communication skills more.

I got hurt, but I took the feedback seriously. I did not get the job, and they settled for an external candidate.

Here is another one.

As a young manager, I recall peeking at our company’s employee payroll database.

Yes, what I did was wrong, and I wish I had not bothered to see the list. It was hard for me to understand the word confidential at that time.

Looking into the file was tempting, leading me to envy how other people get paid.

Despite having similar titles and job grades, I saw unexpected names that were paid better than me.

After seeing the file, I would associate heads with a currency behind my head.

I was close to running a hate campaign. But thank God I could get back to my senses and reflect on these experiences.

I do not intend to give a pep talk here, but allow me to tell you quickly that there is no reason to become bitter; instead, you can know deeper and become better.

Life is all about acceptance, knowledge, and becoming.

Here are some reasons people get paid higher based on my personal experience and observation from my clients.

The bunny hop

I call this strategy a bunny hop or simply a job hop.

Being a job hopper or frequently changing jobs myself led me to earn higher wages quickly.

I got my first team lead role around a year and a half, and upon my second year in corporate, I was hired as a manager. I hopped to three companies in two years to make that a reality.

What I noticed is that this works for an analyst looking for a senior analyst role, a team lead, or even a junior manager.

But later, when I was vouching for a senior role, the recruitment officer and hiring managers began to question my hopping activity.

Managers, in summary, reflect stability. It meant that companies did not want to invest in people who would just stay with them for less than a year or less.

Going back to its advantages, for obvious reasons, hopping jobs helped me fast-track my career from staff to supervisor to first-level manager.

It also meant that my compensation climbed faster and better.

Beating the 15% rule

I had a friend coming from the local insurance industry.

Let’s name him Jaypee.

Jaypee was an Assistant Vice President in the Finance function at that time and applied to a foreign bank and eventually got a job as a Service Delivery Manager.

Let us say that he earned $30,000 a year when he was working for an insurance company.

Here in my country, the magic number is 15%.

If the job offer is around 15% on top of your current pay, that’s a good number. $30,000 multiplied by 15% is $34,500.

Not bad, right?

When he received the job offer sheet, he was surprised to receive a whopping $40,000 offer.

That’s huge for somebody working in Asia with less than ten years of work experience.

That is because the employer had the budget, and the standard tiering of the job grade and open roles is structured so that regardless of your previous salary income, you must eventually land in that compensation bracket when you jump into the new job.

Each job grade usually represents a budget bracketed into a minimum, medium, and maximum tier, traditionally associated with your experience and the number of years holding the role.

Special skills, kills

This is not set in stone, but most organizations have variations in their approach to internal promotions and the standards used to evaluate and pay employees.

While some companies may have strict and possibly judgmental criteria for promotion and salary assessment, others sometimes focus on potential, performance, skills, and cultural fit.

This is what I notice from talents who can demand higher compensation in the market

• A tech guy in a niche industry who specializes in machine learning or core banking
• A medical doctor with an advanced degree and practice earned and spent abroad
• A chief executive that can turn around companies or scale businesses successfully.

I remember a former employer, an investment bank, that favored giving a higher rate for board passers over usual four-year graduates with honors.

Upon processing a recruitment firm’s invoice, I saw a whopping bill charge for sourcing a key executive who happens to be experienced in Risk and Data Analytics.

Teachers in our local country get paid more for obtaining further studies such as master’s and doctorate degrees.

Professionals command high salaries by leveraging their skills, experience, value to the organization, market demand, and negotiation abilities.

Connecting to the proper sources.

While hopping jobs and employers, I developed a good relationship with an HR search consultant/executive recruiter, a.k.a. a head hunter.

Let’s call her Darah.

Darah became my bridge, eyes and ears on open roles that fit my objectives and echoed the budget of the company that would be a potential fit for me.

The benefit of having a search consultant working for a huge human resource recruitment firm is that they have direct knowledge and access to companies’ open roles and budgets.

Headhunters play a pivotal role in recruitment, acting as intermediaries between companies seeking top-tier talent and professionals looking for career opportunities.

One of the key strengths that set headhunters apart is their deep understanding of a company’s open roles and the budgets allocated for these positions.

Corporate Client relationships. Headhunters forge strong relationships with companies, gaining specific insights into their hiring needs, organizational culture, and role requirements.

It allows headhunters like Darah to grasp the nuances of each open role, ensuring they can effectively match candidates with positions that align with their skills and career aspirations.

In-depth Job Briefings. Before these headhunter companies kick off their recruitment process, headhunters receive detailed job briefings from their clients.

These briefings provide a comprehensive overview of the role’s responsibilities, required qualifications, experience levels, and the salary range or budget set aside for the position.

Armed with this information, headhunters can meticulously screen candidates, ensuring they meet the client’s criteria and salary expectations.

Market Research and Insights. Headhunters stay updated on industry trends, salary benchmarks, and competitive compensation packages.

Through progressive market research and analysis, they equip themselves with the knowledge to advise clients on competitive salary offerings and negotiate salary packages with candidates based on prevailing market rates and industry standards.

They also set the tone for companies to reflect what acceptable rates are occurring in the market.

It was a blessing for me that Darah was my buddy and also served as my mentor by giving me feedback and tips on how to present my skills and story to hiring managers of their clients.

A headhunter like Darah possesses a wealth of knowledge about a company’s open roles and budgets, making them indispensable partners in your career progress, in addition to the recruitment process.

Recruitment consultants are true hidden gems for professionals keen to progress.

What if you do not have recruitment friends in your circle?

LinkedIn is an excellent place to find one.

Recruiters are busy; they have deadlines and quotas to meet. To build a good relationship with them, you must also learn how to give value to them.

How?

Stick to two or three headhunter connections on LinkedIn and give them referrals to create a mutual relationship.

That is how business works. That is how the relationship works.

It is two-way.

Previous colleagues and bosses are also effective channels to source information about open roles in companies.

If you happen to have a good working relationship and record with them, then leading toward a great opportunity will not be a problem.

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