So says this week's Salary Talk guest, Kevin Hogan, the author of the international best-selling 'The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say 'Yes' in 8 Minutes or Less.' Hogan has spent his life delving into the subtleties of persuasion and discovering how to influence people in every way possible. And today, he's sharing his secrets with all of you. For instance, did you know people are more than twice as likely to say yes to your request if you've spoken it into their right ear? And your chances of positively influencing someone increase exponentially in dim lighting. Conversely, peo... view article details

It's half an hour before an executive schmooze-fest at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Ken Morse is giving last-minute networking tips to a crowd of MBA students and invited guests. As managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Morse teaches aspiring business leaders the nuts and bolts of growing and sustaining a business. His lecture on networking is one of the highlights of the semester.Networking - or making professional contacts through friends, family, and other associates - is the most popular way to find a new job, according to a Salary.com poll. It is also an indispe... view article details

If you open up a biology textbook and look at the pictures, you'll find a number of dull images of DNA, chromosomes, and photosynthesis that have been putting you to sleep since high school. Unless you’re looking at a book with new and enthralling scientific illustrations by Nicolle Fuller. As an independent science artist, Fuller conceptualizes and creates the scientific images found in magazines, scientific journals, and textbooks. Her artwork runs the gamut from paintings of ancient dinosaurs to intricate depictions of highly complex cellular systems. What every one of her pieces has in com... view article details

Salary.com estimates that at least one employee in ten has viewed compensation information on the Internet within the last year. That number is expected to grow, as salary sites have become a routine component of both the job search and the career management process. In response to questions from HR professionals about what to do when an employee knocks on the door with a salary printout in hand, Salary.com has prepared this advice for and from employers on responding to online data.There probably is no way for employers to prevent employees from using salary sites, and no advantage to doing s... view article details

In researching the pay for an executive position, it's best to consult several of the many sources of data to get a sense of the range for the job. Don't aim for the top of the range, because there could be unfortunate consequences if you become too expensive.It's relatively easy to get executive pay data for public and nonprofit companies. Publications such as The Wall Street Journal publish information about CEO compensation. A more detailed and more immediate source is your company's annual meeting proxy (DEF-14A filing) if the company is public. You can get it from your company's investor ... view article details

Where do you get your salary data? Why isn't the Salary Wizard dispensing 'accurate' numbers? Should pilots who keep secrets about flying their client's mistresses around get bigger raises?These are just some of the questions you asked us. And we brought in the big guns to get you all the answers.While most of you are already familiar with Aaron and Wendy---the hosts of Salary Talk---this week we bring in Patrick and Mike, two other Salary.com employees, to get all of your questions answered. While Wendy gives a great primer/refresher on properly using the Salary Wizard, Patrick talks about th... view article details

Q. Our union is preparing to negotiate a new contract with management. Do you have any suggestions for using market data to improve the negotiation?A. Salary negotiations during collective bargaining don't have to be a painful exercise. Approaching the conversation from a similar perspective can level the playing field.Companies normally conduct or sponsor market studies to determine appropriate pay levels for their employees. Normally, union representatives participate in such exercises. Beyond that, as a member of a union, you can ask to see the jobs being benchmarked in a market study. Make... view article details

Q. I've accidentally come into possession of a confidential printout of my fellow employees' pay rates. After reviewing it, I've come to the opinion I am being well underpaid. In the near future I am up for review, which always is nothing more than a formality for a decision already made. What are the possible legal ramifications of possessing this information? How, if at all, may I ethically use this information to my advantage?A. Above all, be very careful.Since you found the information, I would not use it when discussing your salary with your manager nor your HR department. Unless your cow... view article details

Higher education may be getting more expensive, but a college degree is necessary to compete for jobs in many industries. College should be healthy mix of passion and pragmatism, and it’s important to pursue the things you love while recognizing the fields that give you the best chance of finding a job upon graduation. According to research by CareerCast.com, here are the majors with the best career prospects. We also provided the median salaries of various jobs in each industry based on Salary.com data. 1) Accounting They say numbers don’t lie, but did you know they can also get you a job? T... view article details

When Daft Punk released “Robot Rock” in 1997, surely they were portending the state of the job market 20 years later. In the modern war for talent, tech – and tech jobs – seem to be all the rage these days. If you’re looking for a job in the IT world, or are a current employee looking to make a change, it’s important to keep your eyes peeled for in-demand roles on the horizon. Based on a report by Robert Half, here are six entry-level IT jobs worth looking at in 2019. We've also included the average entry-level salaries for these kinds of roles, as well as their average total earning potential... view article details