If You Think You're Underpaid, Here's What You Should Do: 'They Just Asked For It'

Most of the time, the difference in pay from one person to the next doesn’t have anything to do with skills and experience. According to career services experts, if you want a higher salary, all you need to do is ask.

What To Know: Kelly Harry worked as an account executive in ad sales for a major news organization in New York City early in her career. According to CNBC, she was making 2 1/2 times less than her co-workers in similar roles and she didn’t have any idea until it came up in casual conversation.

The conversations prompted Harry to research comparable salaries for her position, which led her to realize she was “severely underpaid,” she said.

Harry told CNBC that she didn’t think to negotiate her salary when she accepted the position, and she’s not alone. According to a Pew Research survey from last year, 60% of U.S. workers said they didn’t ask for higher pay when they last accepted a job position.

That’s a striking statistic, especially considering that most of the time higher pay is only one conversation away.

"The difference between someone who gets $55,000 and $60,000 a lot of times is just because person number two just asked for $60,000," said Maddie Machado, founder of Career Finesse.

"It's not because they're better at their job. It's not because they're more experienced. It is simply because they just asked for it."

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If you think you are underpaid, the best thing you can do is ask for higher pay, but it’s a good idea to go into that conversation prepared.

Harry compiled her strengths and researched average market rates for her skills and experience based on location.

"When you go for that salary adjustment, you want to bring in other data points [showing] the impact that you've brought to the company, because at the end of the day, they could just find somebody else who's cheaper to do your job as well,” Machado said.

If the salary adjustment conversation doesn’t go as you hoped, you shouldn’t feel trapped. You can look for other opportunities and if you end up with another offer, you can use it to try to leverage more pay from your current employer. If that doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to move on. That’s what Harry ultimately did.

"I ended up finding another opportunity, which happened to be way better,” Harry, now an assistant VP, said. “It was remote, a … healthier environment.”

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Photo: Alexsander-777 from Pixabay.

This story is part of a new series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.