"Too many unqualified resumes are like too much cheap champagne."  (Workforce.com)

After I stopped laughing, I started to think about its obvious ramifications.  Headache, inability to remember exactly what happened last night, general nausea.  While the quote obviously comes from the recruiters' point of view, it has impact for the jobseeker as well.  You don't want to be the crummy stuff when someone is going through that pile of resumes.

Let's Give It a Shot

I'm not a big believer in the gulp-and-go approach to job search.  Sure, I think it's good to have stretch goals for that next job, but let's be reasonable here.  If you've never done more than basic programming or network administration, it's unlikely that you'll get much consideration for the position of Director of IT at a Fortune 500 company - let alone a mid-sized regional firm.

It doesn't matter what you keep reading about the marketplace for IT workers.  The reality is that you are worth what the labor market says you're worth.  And that may be significantly less than you've been led to believe.  We all read the trades and salivate over those hefty salaries listed in compensation surveys. Well, the truth is a little different.  And, those figures should be tempered by some knowledge of statistics.  (See, you didn't take that course for nothing.)

S⁴

Stands for: Significantly Skewed Salary Statistics.  Which surveys are affected by S⁴?  How about all of them.

Let's start with survey methodology.  First, what entity conducted the survey?  Figures from the U.S. or state Department of Labor will be methodologically correct.  These guys have been in the statistics biz for over 100 years and are meticulous about data collection.  Of course, they're also gov't bureaucrats, so the information will probably be ridiculously old by the time it's published. 

As a second issue, the Feds (who tend to lead for the states) are notoriously slow to recognize changes and alterations in job titles - which also affects how their salary data should be analyzed. Many computer occupations are lumped into the catchall title of Computer Programmer.  This means that an entry-level C++ Programmer is included in the same class as an experienced Oracle Database Architect. This is a classic case of S⁴.

The same thing happens with private survey firms, especially those that don't specialize in IT professions.  It's important to understand how data is gathered for these privately developed surveys.  Firms conducting these surveys send forms out to HR Directors, who fill them out, incented by the promise of receiving the survey results for free, or at least at a reduced price.  How much care and attention do you think goes into this process? (Please, no emails from outraged HR folks. I wasn't talking about you, no matter who you are.) It gets rolled up and then published as gospel.

Anybody who's been on an interview can tell you how much the average HR type understands about IT positions.  If you're lucky, they're reading from a script and taking down your answers verbatim to pass on to the technical manager.  How accurate can their responses be?  Of course, a lot of companies use these flawed surveys to peg salary levels, but that's another column.

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

Now, let's turn to the design of these surveys themselves.  You need to read the fine print before getting all excited.  Look at the size of the sample.  That means the number of companies that supplied information.  If it's small, that throws the survey results into question - unless of course, the companies are national or multinational and hire very large numbers of IT workers.  It's unlikely that you'll be able to get this information about most surveys, so be suspicious in every case.

The next thing to look at is which figure is being reported.  Is it the mean salary or the median salary?  If you remember your basic statistics, the mean is the average salary for the job title.  They take all of the salary numbers supplied by respondents, add them up and then divide by the number of respondents.  Here's one instance where a limited sample size can really affect the outcome.  Let's say that there are 5 companies in the survey and they pay their Network Administrators like this:

Company 1	Company 2	Company 3	Company 4	Company 5
$37,000	$57,500	$59,000	$61,500	$62,000

$277,000	=   $55,400
5

If Company 1 were eliminated, the mean would be $60K.  Quite a difference.  Now, what if the figure being reported were the median salary instead of the mean?  The median is the middle of the pack - where half of the responses are above and half fall below.  In the above case, the median would be $59,000.  Which one is fairer?  You make the call.

Bigger companies tend to pay salaries in line with the norm.  Smaller companies, unless they're well-funded startups (and we've all seen what's happened to many of them) tend to pay a little less.  Boutique companies - think small and specialized) may pay above the norm.  Obviously, the more particular a company is about skills and experience, the more they're going to have to pay.

Regional Differences

The last element you need to consider is the difference between salaries in various regions of the country.  If you're looking at a national survey, all of the regional differences have been homogenized out of the data.  This can result in an overly optimistic view in one area of the country, or an underreported view in another. 

Of all the private salary surveys I've seen, the most granular is the one done by Computerworld.  They divide the country up into 9 regions. Knowing the industry as they do, it's a fair assumption that their occupational delineations are also going to be pretty accurate.  On the other hand, they do only collect data once a year.  Depending on when last year's info was gathered, it's hard to say whether the dot.com crash was effectively factored into the numbers.

Within JobCircle's target area (the Wilmington - Philadelphia - New York corridor--and growing), there are also regional differences.  On balance, salaries are at least 10-20% higher at the north end of our region than in the middle and southern ends.  This reflects the higher cost of living in the NYC/North Jersey area.  Similarly, companies outside the more urbanized areas of the region are offering lower salaries, since they're not competing with as many other companies for talent … though the smart talent tends to leave and go where salaries are higher.

What Does It All Mean?

So which salary survey can you actually trust?  None of them.  You have to look at them as illustrative, with no real meaning for you personally.  It's a better idea to scan through online postings on JobCircle or through the want ads to see if employers are talking about salaries.  Don't get your hopes up, though.  Most postings list salaries as either "competitive" or DOE - depends on experience. 

Hm...aren't we back where we started?  Yup, that's why it's up to you to use surveys as general guides and really understand what your real capabilities are before you go after particular opportunities.  Talk to people, discreetly of course.  Ask what they know about salary ranges.  Go to job fairs and when you speak to recruiters, ask them what the ranges are for the kind of position you're seeking. 

This is particularly difficult for entry-level folks.  And if the letters I receive are any indication, a lot of people who pursue IT training as a means for career change are being seduced by unrealistic salary survey results.  They see exciting numbers and sign right on the dotted line.  Then, when they have difficulty finding any job at all, let alone one at that magic level, they're shocked and infuriated.  The salary survey these folks want to see is the one for recent graduates.

More

It'll be particularly interesting to review the salary survey numbers for last year.  The number of dot.com (and other) layoffs is going to have a sobering effect on the Wild West labor market we've had until recently.  What are you seeing out there?  Are the offer numbers dropping?  Write to me at jamie@jobcircle.com.  Next month, Doing the Due Diligence - how to check out that company before you say yes to their job offer.  Later.

Enjoy this article?  Read more of JobCircle.com's Career Coach articles.

Jamie Fabian spent more than 15 years as a human resources executive before changing careers to become a senior project manager for a growing IT consulting company.  Now in management consulting for a large Pharma company, Jamie would like to be seen as a hybrid of Tom Peters, Tom Jackson, and Tom Wolfe, but spends too much time working, driving carpool and watching mindless TV to write more than this column.  You can contact Jamie with questions and comments at jamie@jobcircle.com.