Last Tuesday I attended a Life After Scripps event called “Bridging the Gender Gap”. This workshop, hosted by the vivacious Annie Houle, offered guidance on “benchmarking your starting salary and negotiating to earn what you deserve”. From my Core 2 class, Economics of Gender and Politics, I walked in knowing that women face gender bias and stereotyping in their careers. Our employers may assume that once we’re pregnant, we’re probably not coming back; whereas once a man has a family, he probably will work harder.

There were a lot of facts and figures in Ms. Houle’s presentation, but here are some of the key takeaways I brought home with me:

1. A small difference in pay will grow larger and larger over the years, because bonuses are calculated as a percentage of one’s salary. Thus, it’s hugely important to negotiate one’s pay from the start of one’s career.
2. There are a lot of ways to be compensated by an employer—without the compensation taking the form of a salary. Besides pension plans and health insurance, Ms. Houle suggested considering health clubs, business travel insurance, paid holidays, and promised review dates.
3. When negotiating compensation, center your argument on the job and your skills and qualifications instead of your financial needs.
4. Never say yes to the first offer. Ask for time to consider it and discuss it with your family, and if necessary, an attorney.
5. Get everything in writing.

Ms. Houle also walked us through the steps of benchmarking a starting salary for an entry-level position as a communications editor. (“Benchmarking” simply refers to figuring out a realistic salary range.) This sort of knowledge is essential to making responsible financial decisions. In an effort to put what I learned from the workshop into practice, I decided to repeat the benchmarking process for the job I hope to have after graduation.

I started by determining a job title. I intend to declare as an economics-accounting major and an art history minor; I’m currently researching positions as an art appraiser or an accountant for a firm like Sotheby’s or Christie’s. For the purposes of this exercise, I decided the most appropriate title would be “Accountant I”, according to the choices given on the WAGE Project’s website (click on “Calculate What Your Job is Worth”). The median salary range given for the San Francisco area is $55,992, with the 25^th and 75^th percentile earning $50,493 and $62,024, respectively. The San Francisco Center for Economic Development website states, “Securities and investment firms in particular have high employment concentration, as do commercial banks—national leaders Wells Fargo and Bank of America among them. The City is also home to the Federal Reserve Bank and the Pacific Stock Exchange.” The economic conditions for accounting work in a city like San Francisco would offer greater opportunity for employment than a small city like, for example, San Mateo. As for benchmarking benefits, the WAGE Project website said that the base salary should be ~69% of the total compensation, with ~31% coming from benefits. Immediately after graduation, I would not be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA); I hope, however, to be on track to receiving certification. Because of the skills and experience I will have upon graduation, I believe a realistic salary range—if I do choose to become an accountant in San Francisco—would be between $55,000 and $60,000, though I would strongly consider compensation in the form of funds for education.

It was very interesting to see just how much compensation varies from one level to another (Accountant I to Accountant II) and from city to city (In San Jose, the median salary range for the Accountant I position is $56,038). I would recommend looking up the area on Google Maps and trying different cities as part of one’s research.

*This was meant only as a very rough surface treatment of the benchmarking process. If you are in the process of researching and would like more information, please make an appointment with a career counselor at CP&R!