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For starters, we suggest consulting a professional salary survey -- several, if possible. Yahoo! HotJobs' salary calculator gives compensation ranges within particular geographic areas. If you're a radiologist in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, for example, you can compare your pay stub to the median income of neighboring colleagues. As soon as you have some general figures, you might want to read an excellent article by Caroline Levchuk called "How to Determine Your Salary Range." As the article notes, it's important to remember salary ranges vary according to a number of factors, such as company performance and the overall economic
picture. If you do feel you're being underpaid, an essay entitled "How Do I Get a Raise?" may be of help. Career expert Christopher Jones suggests walking into your supervisor's office with plenty of hard proof of your worth: positive emails, assignment lists, and comparative salary research. To help further strengthen your case, back up your research with as many sources as possible. Visit the U.S. Department of Labor's statistics page. Check out professional association web sites -- you'll find dozens of these at JobStar's meta-index of profession-specific salary surveys.
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