Salary Guides: Do You Really Need It?

There are several indicators and tools for measuring the performance of industrial sectors operating in the Global Inc and one such important and noteworthy gauging tool is the salary guide. Popularly named as compensation guide, the industry experts carve the analytical document with the aid of market researches, trends and industry specific data. Global auditors like Deloitte and Robert Half, to name a few, analyse the economic scenario and the condition of the employment market and then finally draft a salary guide that not only helps an employer, but also proves to be a torch bearer for millions of job seekers around the world.

Let us have an inside perspective on the salary guides, right now:

Salary guides: A deep probe
Salary Guide is for everyone; employers and surprisingly for the common man as well. The guides or in simpler terms, industry-specific analytical document is mainly a manager’s read and is also utilized by team managers and authorities who manage and plan pay packages for officials working in an organisation. A typical salary guide examines the latest hiring, remuneration that contains benefits and variable components, for the given year. Moreover, the guide covers the prevailing trends across the industrial sectors.

The guide will either be country-specific or it will be encapsulating the ongoing salary and employment trends on a global platform. The analysis also encompasses remuneration progression valid for different professional levels within an organization.Whichever the case is; a typical salary guide will replicate a country’s fiscal boom or its dud factor in a clear and concise way.
Here’s a snapshot of a salary guide prepared by Robert Half:


Source: Robert Half

The guide not only informs about the salary progressions, but also helps in accomplishing staffing goals. The employers make use of the industrial data and thereby plan out the hiring goals.

Have you ever wondered as to how can this guide be useful to you? Don’t you think such analytical data can affect your professional progressions? Strange it may seem but the fact is that you, as a job seeker, can take full advantage of such compensation related documents.
Let us explore the possible ways in which you can reap benefits from a salary guide:

Salary guides: What a common man needs to know beforehand?

Yes, that’s true; a salary guide can be helpful to all you employment seekers and people who are interested in furthering their career. You may not have realized this very fact, but a complicated industry based analysis like a salary guide can bring a lot of luck in your professional lives and can enliven every second professional decision. Here are some of the benefits that you can reap from a quarter or annual based report:

1. Offers a brief view of economy
This is really helpful if you are planning to move to some other country for job as then you can have a clear picture whether to go for the employment option or not. Moreover, the economic condition prevailing in a particular quarter can have a deep impact on the pay scales as well. Let us take an example of Canada:


Source: Robert Half

If the column marked in red is analysed properly then you can notice that in comparison to 2013, the pay package for a Chief Information Officer went up by 5.3%. This clearly indicates that monetarily, Canada is showing improvement and the prevailing fiscal scenario is actually good now.

2. Gives Region-Wise Remuneration View
You came across a job opportunity in southern part of a flourishing country but you are unaware about the prevailing industry performance in the area. There is nothing to worry as the salary guides are crafted to comprise a descriptive region-wise salary analysis. Now, you can download any reputed salary guide for a given year and can take note of the booming regions of a particular country.

3. An Overview of Industrial Sectors
Let us take a bright example of the United Arab Emirates. Nobody can deny the fact that the present global employment market is being dominated by some of the economically powerful Arab federations and UAE is one of them. If you are the one who is looking out some of the excellent career opportunities in UAE or Dubai or Abu Dhabi, go and download a guide targeting such countries and find out the reigning industrial sectors.

Arab deserves a mention here as the countries are witnessing a high migration rate and a lot of foreign direct investments.

4. Offers Correct Market Insights
Are you apprehensive about joining a particular industry or department within an organization? You needn’t have to worry now as you can easily make use of online space and download a salary guide comprising market insights linked with different working departments. The insights will cover major events related to the particular department and the hiring trends associated. Examples are Accounts & Finance, Oil & Gas and much more.

5. Introduces the Company to You
With the help of a salary guide, you can also get to know the trending skills and what employers actually look out for apart from regular skills. This can be really helpful as you may get a chance to enhance your candidacy right before you go ahead to take on the interview.

6. Tells You What’s Hot & What’s Not
A salary guide not only gives you statistical data but also offers detailed job description of trending job roles in here. You can take a lot of help from such guides and thereby pitch for just the apt role for you at the right place and that too at the right time.

You can further your career or pitch in for the right employment opportunity if you choose to pick the right strategy and tools. Apart from the correct job board and a bright resume, you need some hard numbers and statistical data so that your job hunt or switch is backed by deep facts and figures. You can trust a salary guide and reap a lot of benefits from it.

About the author: Vineeta Tiwari, a professional writer and blogger, has deep interest in world economy and job markets. She has written research-based articles on hot economies and expat activities as well. Currently, she is professionally associated with Naukrigulf.com.