Negotiation 101

So its review time. The economy has tanked. Morale is low. You know that you should be lucky you have a job. And YET you also know that Bobby Bigwheel who sits next to you in cubeland is still making more money than you... undeserved. Its politically incorrect to bring this fact up and yet it pesters you as you work the same number of hours (if not more). Please welcome salary.com to your corner of the ring. For free (and if you really want a detailed report, for money), you can enter your job title, area code and education level to try and get a range of what the typical salary is out there. How does this help? When you enter your review (otherwise known as the boxing ring where throwdowns / bullying / all sorts of shennanigans are known to transpire), you can back up your request for a raise with "market data" that in fact you do deserve to earn more and you are in fact being paid below market standards. While this may only move the needle up $5K which equates to about $100 per paycheck, at least you are getting paid as much as Bobby.