How do I avoid a salary plateau?

[Sam1000]

In one word?

Change

If you do what you've always done, you get what you've always got.

Most people plateau because they continually do too much of the same stuff. They for instance get fixated on certain lifts (Bench Press, Chin-Ups, etc..) and do them for too long.

A lot of people make it a lot more complicated than they need to. All you have to do is change what you're currently doing on a semi-frequent basis.

[greenskeeper]

[sethmachine]

As an update to the "salary plateau", I learned recently I've been promoted and as a result will see a salary increase (probably 10%, but could be more). Because I was able to successfully petition for a 17% raise over a year ago followed by 2 other pay raises, my salary increase is magnified further, and I think I am quite happy with where I've ended up since I first started my job.

However, I think this will probably really be the last big jump in salary without changing jobs or another promotion.

[snafu]

Thank you for the update. Congratulations on several big jumps forward. As soon as this latest increase comes through, I hope you'll continue to watch for opportunities to show yourself as a staff member who add value to the company. What can be done to make clients happier without adding cost? What can be done to cut costs? What will improve staff morale? If it can be done sincerely, without being smarmy, compliment a colleague for a job well done.

[MooseBucks]

As an update to the "salary plateau", I learned recently I've been promoted and as a result will see a salary increase (probably 10%, but could be more). Because I was able to successfully petition for a 17% raise over a year ago followed by 2 other pay raises, my salary increase is magnified further, and I think I am quite happy with where I've ended up since I first started my job.

However, I think this will probably really be the last big jump in salary without changing jobs or another promotion.

Congrats & I’m at a large Corp that only gives 2-3% raises unless you get promoted or move to a new position. I’ve been here for 9 yrs and have had 9 different job titles. That’s the best way I’ve found to get a decent bump in pay. I’m sure I could leave and get even more but much like you I like the work/life balance.

[~bs]

Congratulations to the OP

Congrats & I’m at a large Corp that only gives 2-3% raises unless you get promoted or move to a new position. I’ve been here for 9 yrs and have had 9 different job titles. That’s the best way I’ve found to get a decent bump in pay. I’m sure I could leave and get even more but much like you I like the work/life balance.

Honestly, I think that's normal for most jobs. If youre not stepping up in position/responsibility, you get inflation raises. It doesnt really make sense for companies to give you huge raises for the same amount of work unless they're underpaying you in teh first place or if the pay structure is commission/bonus base.

[NetSkyBlue]

Moving on to a new job is really the best way to maximize your lifetime earnings, unless you've got a company that regularly promotes you to new roles at 20-30% pay bumps.

3-5 years at each company is pretty much standard nowadays.

My advice is look for positions that are within your skillset but also offer some degree of growth. Something greater than what you are doing now, that you can use to expand your experience, that will translate to an even higher paying position when you move on in another 3-5 years.

I just this past week accepted a new job offer, and I'll be making 57% more than I was three years ago, before I took the job where I'm at now. It's a 23% pay bump from where I'm at right now.

[disneysteve]

Moving on to a new job is really the best way to maximize your lifetime earnings

3-5 years at each company is pretty much standard nowadays.

I know this is true. I just find it incredibly sad. It really says a lot about why customer service sucks today. If employee turnover is sky high, a company never gets a workforce that is experienced and committed to the company or the job. Everyone treats their job as a temporary gig so why get too involved in things. It's unfortunate that this is what the employment scene has become - a series of temp positions over the course of your working years.

[NetSkyBlue]

I know this is true. I just find it incredibly sad. It really says a lot about why customer service sucks today. If employee turnover is sky high, a company never gets a workforce that is experienced and committed to the company or the job. Everyone treats their job as a temporary gig so why get too involved in things. It's unfortunate that this is what the employment scene has become - a series of temp positions over the course of your working years.

I kind of see what you're saying, but also, this is how very specialized and powerful positions get experienced people.

Say you start your career as the only bookkeeper for a small business, earning 30k a year. There's really nowhere to *go* from there, within the company, provided you want to keep doing accounting, if it's a very small owner-run business. You might get some cost of living raises (might), but there is no more promotion to be had.

So you work there for 5 years, get some good experience under your belt, and you take that to a middle-sized company where you are brought in at a higher level, earning 45k to start, and spend the next 5 years working your way up, maybe getting classes paid for, and doing higher-level projects that will get you the experience you need to move up to an admin or accounting department manager in your next job. Because there's nothing between "senior accounts payable" and "CFO" at your mid-sized company, and you certainly aren't CFO level yet.

At this new job, you're getting management experience, making 70k, and tackling much larger projects dollar-wise. Maybe you take more classes still.

And now finally, 15 years into your career, maybe you have enough experience to move up to a head of Finance or Controller position making 90-100k, possibly for your same company now that you work for a company big enough to have these positions.

10 more years, maybe you have it in you to take a CFO job somewhere for the last few years of your career. I don't know what CFOs make... 175k? 200k? (Probably a lot more than that at the REALLY big companies... I'm estimating maybe some place with a couple thousand employees...I dunno).

That's after 25 years of work.

If you'd stayed at your small-time bookeeper job with no upward mobility, even assuming you made 4% annual raises, after 25 years, you'd be earning a salary of $76,899.12.

I'm guessing that's an unlikely scenario - the little company can't afford that much, so you move onwards and upwards and they take on a new hire with low level experience. That company's role in the grand scheme of things is basically on-the-job training for new grads, in exchange for a smallish salary.

[disneysteve]

I kind of see what you're saying, but also, this is how very specialized and powerful positions get experienced people.

Say you start your career as the only bookkeeper for a small business

Oh, I get how it works. I still see it as unfortunate in many ways. There used to be something called loyalty, and it worked both ways. Employees were loyal to their job and their employers were loyal to them. Now, that's pretty much a foreign concept. Employees jump ship as soon as they get a better offer. Employers know this is the case so they don't do any more than they need to to keep employees happy. They know that as soon as someone offers them an extra 50 cents an hour, they'll be out the door.

Of course, this raises overhead across the board. More money is spent recruiting and training new employees. There is lost productivity as those new employees deal with the learning curve. And client/customer/patient interactions are negatively affected along the way.

I certainly don't fault someone for switching jobs to better their situation. I just did it myself recently. It's just unfortunate that it needs to happen because there are definitely down sides to that process.

[NetSkyBlue]

What is the alternative, though? Never progressing past what you were doing for a job when you were 25? Larger companies may have room to move up and stay in the same area of work, but small businesses still make up a significant portion of employers in the country/world.

Who wants to keep doing the same ole thing for 40 years and never take on bigger challenges and grow professionally? Maybe I just have greater ambition than the majority of employers have room to grow.

[~bs]

Oh, I get how it works. I still see it as unfortunate in many ways. There used to be something called loyalty, and it worked both ways. Employees were loyal to their job and their employers were loyal to them. Now, that's pretty much a foreign concept. Employees jump ship as soon as they get a better offer. Employers know this is the case so they don't do any more than they need to to keep employees happy. They know that as soon as someone offers them an extra 50 cents an hour, they'll be out the door.

Of course, this raises overhead across the board. More money is spent recruiting and training new employees. There is lost productivity as those new employees deal with the learning curve. And client/customer/patient interactions are negatively affected along the way.

I certainly don't fault someone for switching jobs to better their situation. I just did it myself recently. It's just unfortunate that it needs to happen because there are definitely down sides to that process.

depending on the industry i guess, but many times employees are largely seen as disposable, to be used up and thrown out after a few years. Then a fresh crop of employees are brought in young grads out of college, where the process rinses and repeats. The employees know the disposable "at will" mentality of the employer, and treats them the same way. As soon as something better opens up, they'll jump ship.

I think it's common for up to 95% of people to not stay in a single company as a career for the long term.... unless you're talking about government jobs or other blue chip company jobs with strong pay and benefit packages.

I also think the demise of private pensions has a lot to do with people willing to jump jobs every few years. With the advent of the 'take it with you' 401k, there's no reason to stay loyal to a company for 10, 20, 30 years if there's no incentive for it.

[disneysteve]

depending on the industry i guess, but many times employees are largely seen as disposable, to be used up and thrown out after a few years. Then a fresh crop of employees are brought in young grads out of college, where the process rinses and repeats. The employees know the disposable "at will" mentality of the employer, and treats them the same way. As soon as something better opens up, they'll jump ship.

I think it's common for up to 95% of people to not stay in a single company as a career for the long term.... unless you're talking about government jobs or other blue chip company jobs with strong pay and benefit packages.

I also think the demise of private pensions has a lot to do with people willing to jump jobs every few years. With the advent of the 'take it with you' 401k, there's no reason to stay loyal to a company for 10, 20, 30 years if there's no incentive for it.

There are definitely forces on both sides, employee and employer, as well as governmental and financial things that have changed over the years to lead to where we are today.

Years ago, staying in one place for decades was quite the norm. Today, it's almost unheard of.

[prosper]

What is the alternative, though? Never progressing past what you were doing for a job when you were 25? Larger companies may have room to move up and stay in the same area of work, but small businesses still make up a significant portion of employers in the country/world.

Who wants to keep doing the same ole thing for 40 years and never take on bigger challenges and grow professionally? Maybe I just have greater ambition than the majority of employers have room to grow.

You sound like a future entrepreneur