How much do you deserve to be paid? Let's find out, fast and free.

Salary Wizard is a free website that will show you what other people make in your area. (Free for basic information, still very useful.)

http://swz.salary.com/

Simply enter in your demographics, and see what the average person makes in your area.
For example, let's enter in "Account Executive, Chicago". (I tried this on 4/27/2007.)

Here's what popped up:

LOWEST PAY SCALE: $54,700
MEDIAN (Most people): $67,815
HIGHEST: $ 82,509

So, if you're an account executive in Chicago, working full time, you should be making at least 54,700 per year, plus perks...theoretically.

There are other ways to gauge this information.

On Monster.com, peruse the HELP WANTED section and look to see what the average pay rate is for a job. Make a list! Keep in mind that when you shop around for a job, that is what the competition is offering.

As always, be aware of perks! Sometimes getting paid well but having a horrid job just isn't worth it. Would you rather have great benefits with less pay? Or maybe more flexibility? The choice is up to you, so good luck.

Now go out there and land that dream job!

Learn more about this author, Aster C. Lilly.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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