What’s the “market rate” for my role? 

This is very commonly asked. After years in recruitment, my answer is now: 

There isn’t one.

However, for almost every role, there will be “a market range” where there’s lawyers earning less than expected, lawyers earning around the middle of the range, and lawyers earning significantly more.

The difference comes down to factors such as:

• Billing (high billers earn more)
• Profitability of your practice 
• Clients 
• Experience 
• Training others 
• Sector 
• Location
• Timing in hiring market 
• Supply and demand for your skills
• How well you negotiate

Salary guides and recruiter insights are useful, but they’re just that: guides. They can tell you roughly where you sit, but they can’t tell you what another employer would actually pay you.

The only reliable way to establish your current market value is to test the market.

That means:

• Attending chats/interviews 
• Receiving an offer
• Deciding whether to negotiate or accept 

Sometimes you’ll discover you’re underpaid.

Sometimes you’ll find you’re already being paid exceptionally well.

And sometimes you’ll realise there simply aren’t comparable opportunities available, which is valuable information in itself.

As a recruiter, I can give an informed opinion based on experience and market knowledge.

But until an employer is prepared to make an offer, nobody can say with certainty what your ‘market value’ is.

That’s why the best evidence of your worth isn’t a salary survey. It’s a job offer.

#Recruitment #Salary