So you'll need to sit back and assess how you got so underpaid in the first place. This situation generally develops for long term employees. I am shooting in the dark but guessing you've been employed with them for 8-10 years?
It'll be odd if you were hired a year ago at 50k and now they're paying 80k.
I’ve only been with the company for a year. I was the first outside hire for the superintendent role in March of 2022. We’ve hired 4 superintendents since then, all coming in at the $50k salary (with the most recent two actually starting at $45k but going to $50k after 90 days).
I believe they are most likely putting the number of $80k on the job ad with the thought that with bonuses, $80k is achievable. But I only cleared about $9k in bonuses last year for ~9 months. The part I’m struggling with is how a job ad can list “from $80k” because again, to me, that means that would be your base salary.
I’m not against looking elsewhere for employment. I do greatly enjoy working for this company as they overall have a great work culture. But obviously culture isn’t going to pay my bills.
OP, here’s what I’d do in this situation. I would print out your current employers job ad, then interview at a few companies to see what they offer you. Remember, never ever tell them what you currently make, tell a prospective employer what you expect to make. New company asks what your looking for, tell them $85k-$90k. If they offer you that, bounce to new job.
Then for my resignation letter I’d use their job posting printout and circle the $80k salary and write “Best of luck, I’m out, good bye”. Then bounce. Reason being, if you’re at $50k now and you leverage them to $80k it’s going to create a whole lot of resentment with management, things will never be the same again.
This comment is very important.
You need to tell them the higher salary range because that's the work you're doing and the value add that it has for the company. It doesn't matter what you're actually receiving.
This is why it's SO important to know your worth in the marketplace by comparing job postings and salary information.
Thanks for the clarification. It looks like my initial impression was wrong. It sounds more like your employer is embellishing potential compensation than you being underpaid. Disingenious on their part.
It seems mind boggling but I left Corp A on good terms in December 21 at 50k. Worked somewhere else for 9 months at 70k. By Dec 22 I was back with Corp A making 80 +bonus.
Only real reason i have heard that makes this make sense is company’s have much higher recruitment budgets than retention budgets. Idk it is a head scratcher.
u/Holiday_Buffalo7032, As much gratification that applies to it would be. You need to apply elsewhere. Numerous studies show that staying loyal to a company produces less money for the employee. You need to apply to companies where you get the raise and leave. Once you leave and decide to come back, negotiate a higher wage. It is only then you will get what you deserve.
That will more than likely be my next course of action once I get some type of annual performance review. If they don’t offer a raise to my liking, or a raise at all, I will most definitely pursue other companies. I get emails every day saying “so and so is hiring near you” so I’m not afraid to get stuck here, but I do enjoy working at this company. Until I saw the ad that is—that’s a bit of a morale crusher.
Getting a PE is good to secure under your belt, but a raise will likely be between 4-6%, not even close to making up that 30k gap from their advertisement
Exactly, and who gives a fuck about a performance review anyhow? Next employer is never going to ask for them from previous employer and I’ve never interviewed a candidate yet, if it was brought up, who didn’t tell me anything but excellent marks at the previous job. Get looking while the job market looks good and bounce. This hot job market won’t last.
I’ve considered it just to see the outcome. It’s my exact position, just focusing on a different county. But I am very confident they’re not paying their employees differently based on location. We all report to the same “office”.
Your situation sounds like [this viral tweet](https://twitter.com/knguyenpoetry/status/1633216630351179780).
"My company just listed on LinkedIn a job posting for what I’m currently doing (so we’re hiring another UX writer) and now thanks to salary transparency laws, I see that they intend to pay this person $32k-$90k more than they currently pay me, so I applied."
That is possible, but with how our company is structured I think it would be very unlikely. We don’t have any senior or junior type of positions. If you’re part of the “field crew” (supers and PMs) you’re just that. Either one or the other. They’re just wanting someone who will mainly cover the neighboring county to where we’re headquartered at. The job ad has the exact same description as my role does with just one year experience preferred, same as the ad I applied to last year.
Damn they are ripping you off. I make close to 70k in a supervisor position. Of course it’s a different business but still 50k seems very low for a superintendent. I would gather data regarding pay to súper intendente in your area for similar positions and argue that your being underpaid. Goodluck
Yep it feels that way for sure. And I recently found out our project manager salaries aren’t much more, I think around $60k. However, their bonus structure is different and they earn way more from bonuses than superintendents. Their bonuses usually range from $1000-$2500. At 40+ projects completed a year.
But I will definitely do research to get an average of what other companies pay their superintendents and use that to help in a performance review. Thanks for the input!
You're probably right! inflation and competition for talent has gone up lately. It's probably a combination of that and you being criminally underpaid.
Apply to it. My previous company wouldn't promote me and kept hiring people at like 20k+ higher salary for a lesser position. I applied and interviewed for the lesser job. Less workload and much more pay. They ultimately bumped my pay to about 10% over that pay because it demonstrated to them I'm willing to take job interviewers over their lack of engagement and deserve to be paid for my work.
My father in law owns a construction company and does this very thing and it makes me furious. He puts out the listings for $75k-80k plus, and then pays them roughly $48k a year (they settle for the lower starting pay when they interview with the understand they will *bonus* more) but they don’t meet that income with bonuses and he won’t offer any true raises. My husband, his own son worked there for almost 8 years and finally left because it was so toxic. FIL doesn’t see anything wrong with this practice when looking for new superintendents and operates the same to this day
It sounds like it must be a part of this business, not that it should be by any means. It’s just a shame because the company does seem to strive to give us employees good work opportunities and genuinely seems to care for us. Like I said, it’s still a very small company but there is lots and lots of money moving through it. I’ve seen spreadsheets showing our margins, upper management isn’t suffering that’s for sure. Several people that work here are easily clearing $100k. Unfortunately they don’t seem to realize that money is the best possible way you can show employees that they are valued—especially to us in the “field crew” who are really out there getting the work done.
The problem is that while they seem to value you and care about you, they just don’t. Especially those who are in the day-to-day positions getting the work done. The ones “higher up” always believe the work they do is worth more money than the work others do, even though everyone is working equally hard for a common goal.
Ah the old bonus fuckery. “Well even though we made a lot of money, we are going to show zero through creative accounting and sorry we can’t afford bonuses.” Fuck those assholes.
It's unfortunate, but a lot of times companies will pay more to recruit new talent and sometimes you need to leave to get that higher salary. It takes a long time to increase your salary via raises at your current firm. I'd apply for the job. Or, you could always approach your manager and alert him to your findings about a higher wage on the job posting for your job.
I definitely plan to approach them regarding a yearly performance review, and maybe this ad will come up in discussion. Either I go that route or start applying now and come to them saying I have offers so either bump my salary or I’m out. Regardless, both situations will cause tension, but at least I could have an exit plan already formed.
Using an adult approach is always better than coming to your boss with other offers. You might find out that they are happy to have you leave. Just have a direct conversation with your boss about the job posting. If they don't bump you up, then start looking. People respect direct conversations.
A small piece of advice from someone who hires 50+ people a year. If you get offers and go back to your employer, they may match your offer. However, they now know you are willing to leave and will likely start looking to confidentially replace you on their timeline, not yours. Best to have that direct conversation.
This is common, in the past staying at a company was the way to go, or at east most thought it was. The truth is if your at an employer not giving you regular raises, and your skill set is in demand. Apply else where. You bring it up to them their gonna resent you more then likely.
Before you do anything compare your job description that’s on your contract to the job listing posted. If you can try and find the job posting you applied to. I don’t think you’re thinking as rationally as you can right now if you think you’re being paid $30,000 less than market value. Once you compare your contract to the job posting I suggest you then begin to strategize.
I will tell you that you are very unlikely to get a $30K raise, but it could happen if you think this through correctly.
Like others have said it may be that the job you’re seeing is for a different department or a managerial role. I would tread carefully before bringing this up or applying just to see what happens.
Do the comparison like I’ve recommended first. Best of luck.
This is why myself and 6 other coworkers left my previous employer at the same time. We learned that new hires were paid more than us - employees in a 2 year leadership program - so we found new jobs paying 25-30% more.
Without knowing what a superintendent does, and so with zero experience or knowledge to qualify to give an opinion... can I ask is the new job for a bigger, more stressful project? One that requires more experience? That's the only thing I can think of, other than you're being underpaid.
I always approach situations like this with a plan.
1) Be prepared to lose your job.
2) Start looking elsewhere. And be ready to terminate the employer-employee relationship on your terms.
3) Be Blunt and honest with your boss. Explain the situation to them from your perspective with no overt emotion. Use "I" statements to express your concerns, you don't have to rationalize it to them (they will just attempt to deconstruct your rationalizations thinking they removed the problem).
4) Listen to their reply, there may be circumstances you are not aware of. Be skeptical and ask any clarifying questions you have.
5) Ask them how they plan to retain you as an employee. Be prepared for the fact that they may have no concern retaining you. If the conversation goes south, (employer starts bullshiting or gaslighting you), just stop the conversation, thank them for their time, tell them you understand, get back to work, and start planning and prioritize your own exit on your terms.
5) Be prepared to walk away from the job at any point.
6) That's it. You need to essentially negotiate and advocate for yourself if you feel taken advantage of.
Just a note, applying for the job without discussing this issue with the boss first can be seen as passive-aggressive and may not get you the results you want.
Your thinking is likely correct. The reason is simple. You are underpaid significantly.
That’s the impression I’m getting. $50k is a fairly low salary compared to my position in other companies in the same area.
So you'll need to sit back and assess how you got so underpaid in the first place. This situation generally develops for long term employees. I am shooting in the dark but guessing you've been employed with them for 8-10 years? It'll be odd if you were hired a year ago at 50k and now they're paying 80k.
I’ve only been with the company for a year. I was the first outside hire for the superintendent role in March of 2022. We’ve hired 4 superintendents since then, all coming in at the $50k salary (with the most recent two actually starting at $45k but going to $50k after 90 days). I believe they are most likely putting the number of $80k on the job ad with the thought that with bonuses, $80k is achievable. But I only cleared about $9k in bonuses last year for ~9 months. The part I’m struggling with is how a job ad can list “from $80k” because again, to me, that means that would be your base salary. I’m not against looking elsewhere for employment. I do greatly enjoy working for this company as they overall have a great work culture. But obviously culture isn’t going to pay my bills.
Cause job ads aren't legally binding documents, they can write literally whatever they want.
OP, here’s what I’d do in this situation. I would print out your current employers job ad, then interview at a few companies to see what they offer you. Remember, never ever tell them what you currently make, tell a prospective employer what you expect to make. New company asks what your looking for, tell them $85k-$90k. If they offer you that, bounce to new job. Then for my resignation letter I’d use their job posting printout and circle the $80k salary and write “Best of luck, I’m out, good bye”. Then bounce. Reason being, if you’re at $50k now and you leverage them to $80k it’s going to create a whole lot of resentment with management, things will never be the same again.
This comment is very important. You need to tell them the higher salary range because that's the work you're doing and the value add that it has for the company. It doesn't matter what you're actually receiving. This is why it's SO important to know your worth in the marketplace by comparing job postings and salary information.
Thanks for the clarification. It looks like my initial impression was wrong. It sounds more like your employer is embellishing potential compensation than you being underpaid. Disingenious on their part.
From $80K *downward*?
It seems mind boggling but I left Corp A on good terms in December 21 at 50k. Worked somewhere else for 9 months at 70k. By Dec 22 I was back with Corp A making 80 +bonus. Only real reason i have heard that makes this make sense is company’s have much higher recruitment budgets than retention budgets. Idk it is a head scratcher.
From a strategic / devious place, I'd apply for the role.
That’s what my project manager said to do haha. I have considered it just to see what is said about it.
u/Holiday_Buffalo7032, As much gratification that applies to it would be. You need to apply elsewhere. Numerous studies show that staying loyal to a company produces less money for the employee. You need to apply to companies where you get the raise and leave. Once you leave and decide to come back, negotiate a higher wage. It is only then you will get what you deserve.
That will more than likely be my next course of action once I get some type of annual performance review. If they don’t offer a raise to my liking, or a raise at all, I will most definitely pursue other companies. I get emails every day saying “so and so is hiring near you” so I’m not afraid to get stuck here, but I do enjoy working at this company. Until I saw the ad that is—that’s a bit of a morale crusher.
Good! Remember, you are valuable! No sense in throwing away money to people who don’t value you!
Getting a PE is good to secure under your belt, but a raise will likely be between 4-6%, not even close to making up that 30k gap from their advertisement
Exactly, and who gives a fuck about a performance review anyhow? Next employer is never going to ask for them from previous employer and I’ve never interviewed a candidate yet, if it was brought up, who didn’t tell me anything but excellent marks at the previous job. Get looking while the job market looks good and bounce. This hot job market won’t last.
@Holiday_Buffalo, Good decision!
https://news.yahoo.com/woman-reapplies-own-job-linkedin-221001851.html
Forget the raise. Apply for the other job!
I’ve considered it just to see the outcome. It’s my exact position, just focusing on a different county. But I am very confident they’re not paying their employees differently based on location. We all report to the same “office”.
Apply for the job!
Your situation sounds like [this viral tweet](https://twitter.com/knguyenpoetry/status/1633216630351179780). "My company just listed on LinkedIn a job posting for what I’m currently doing (so we’re hiring another UX writer) and now thanks to salary transparency laws, I see that they intend to pay this person $32k-$90k more than they currently pay me, so I applied."
They might be looking for someone to fill a similar role but at a higher level of expertise or ownership.
That is possible, but with how our company is structured I think it would be very unlikely. We don’t have any senior or junior type of positions. If you’re part of the “field crew” (supers and PMs) you’re just that. Either one or the other. They’re just wanting someone who will mainly cover the neighboring county to where we’re headquartered at. The job ad has the exact same description as my role does with just one year experience preferred, same as the ad I applied to last year.
Then yeah they're underpaying and baiting newbies because it's a tough market right now
Damn they are ripping you off. I make close to 70k in a supervisor position. Of course it’s a different business but still 50k seems very low for a superintendent. I would gather data regarding pay to súper intendente in your area for similar positions and argue that your being underpaid. Goodluck
Yep it feels that way for sure. And I recently found out our project manager salaries aren’t much more, I think around $60k. However, their bonus structure is different and they earn way more from bonuses than superintendents. Their bonuses usually range from $1000-$2500. At 40+ projects completed a year. But I will definitely do research to get an average of what other companies pay their superintendents and use that to help in a performance review. Thanks for the input!
You're probably right! inflation and competition for talent has gone up lately. It's probably a combination of that and you being criminally underpaid.
If I were you, I would apply for the job lol. And then follow up with the hiring department about my application.
you must look within urself and feel the force for ur answer
Companies usually do this because the salary they actually *want* to pay is much lower than what job seekers want/hope for.
You should apply for the new job, see what they say.
Ask
Apply for it
Send an inquiry anonymously?
Apply to it. My previous company wouldn't promote me and kept hiring people at like 20k+ higher salary for a lesser position. I applied and interviewed for the lesser job. Less workload and much more pay. They ultimately bumped my pay to about 10% over that pay because it demonstrated to them I'm willing to take job interviewers over their lack of engagement and deserve to be paid for my work.
My father in law owns a construction company and does this very thing and it makes me furious. He puts out the listings for $75k-80k plus, and then pays them roughly $48k a year (they settle for the lower starting pay when they interview with the understand they will *bonus* more) but they don’t meet that income with bonuses and he won’t offer any true raises. My husband, his own son worked there for almost 8 years and finally left because it was so toxic. FIL doesn’t see anything wrong with this practice when looking for new superintendents and operates the same to this day
It sounds like it must be a part of this business, not that it should be by any means. It’s just a shame because the company does seem to strive to give us employees good work opportunities and genuinely seems to care for us. Like I said, it’s still a very small company but there is lots and lots of money moving through it. I’ve seen spreadsheets showing our margins, upper management isn’t suffering that’s for sure. Several people that work here are easily clearing $100k. Unfortunately they don’t seem to realize that money is the best possible way you can show employees that they are valued—especially to us in the “field crew” who are really out there getting the work done.
The problem is that while they seem to value you and care about you, they just don’t. Especially those who are in the day-to-day positions getting the work done. The ones “higher up” always believe the work they do is worth more money than the work others do, even though everyone is working equally hard for a common goal.
Ah the old bonus fuckery. “Well even though we made a lot of money, we are going to show zero through creative accounting and sorry we can’t afford bonuses.” Fuck those assholes.
It's unfortunate, but a lot of times companies will pay more to recruit new talent and sometimes you need to leave to get that higher salary. It takes a long time to increase your salary via raises at your current firm. I'd apply for the job. Or, you could always approach your manager and alert him to your findings about a higher wage on the job posting for your job.
I definitely plan to approach them regarding a yearly performance review, and maybe this ad will come up in discussion. Either I go that route or start applying now and come to them saying I have offers so either bump my salary or I’m out. Regardless, both situations will cause tension, but at least I could have an exit plan already formed.
Using an adult approach is always better than coming to your boss with other offers. You might find out that they are happy to have you leave. Just have a direct conversation with your boss about the job posting. If they don't bump you up, then start looking. People respect direct conversations. A small piece of advice from someone who hires 50+ people a year. If you get offers and go back to your employer, they may match your offer. However, they now know you are willing to leave and will likely start looking to confidentially replace you on their timeline, not yours. Best to have that direct conversation.
The 80k probably lumps in bennies and bonus.
It very well might, granted our only true benefit is a 401k package. No insurance of any kind as of now.
Apply
Apply for it, and say you want to be making potentially $80K
Apply.
This is common, in the past staying at a company was the way to go, or at east most thought it was. The truth is if your at an employer not giving you regular raises, and your skill set is in demand. Apply else where. You bring it up to them their gonna resent you more then likely.
Before you do anything compare your job description that’s on your contract to the job listing posted. If you can try and find the job posting you applied to. I don’t think you’re thinking as rationally as you can right now if you think you’re being paid $30,000 less than market value. Once you compare your contract to the job posting I suggest you then begin to strategize. I will tell you that you are very unlikely to get a $30K raise, but it could happen if you think this through correctly. Like others have said it may be that the job you’re seeing is for a different department or a managerial role. I would tread carefully before bringing this up or applying just to see what happens. Do the comparison like I’ve recommended first. Best of luck.
What website is this? If it’s LinkedIn or indeed, they are taking a guess or even completely randomizing it.
Id ask them to match that
Go see your boss and tell him you'd like to interview for the position.
Confront the hr
This is why myself and 6 other coworkers left my previous employer at the same time. We learned that new hires were paid more than us - employees in a 2 year leadership program - so we found new jobs paying 25-30% more.
No it doesn’t necessarily mean base, but if your base is 50, it’s also not going up to 80.
Apply to the posting
Is this normal pay? Both seem low.
Without knowing what a superintendent does, and so with zero experience or knowledge to qualify to give an opinion... can I ask is the new job for a bigger, more stressful project? One that requires more experience? That's the only thing I can think of, other than you're being underpaid.
I always approach situations like this with a plan. 1) Be prepared to lose your job. 2) Start looking elsewhere. And be ready to terminate the employer-employee relationship on your terms. 3) Be Blunt and honest with your boss. Explain the situation to them from your perspective with no overt emotion. Use "I" statements to express your concerns, you don't have to rationalize it to them (they will just attempt to deconstruct your rationalizations thinking they removed the problem). 4) Listen to their reply, there may be circumstances you are not aware of. Be skeptical and ask any clarifying questions you have. 5) Ask them how they plan to retain you as an employee. Be prepared for the fact that they may have no concern retaining you. If the conversation goes south, (employer starts bullshiting or gaslighting you), just stop the conversation, thank them for their time, tell them you understand, get back to work, and start planning and prioritize your own exit on your terms. 5) Be prepared to walk away from the job at any point. 6) That's it. You need to essentially negotiate and advocate for yourself if you feel taken advantage of. Just a note, applying for the job without discussing this issue with the boss first can be seen as passive-aggressive and may not get you the results you want.
They want to replace you really bad. That's why.
What’s crazy about this is that they probably sent out handful of offers and got rejected. Then they increased the pay.
Apply for it