Are you getting your piece of the pie?

Many people believe that as long as you love your work that is all that matters. While there may be truth to that statement, there are other areas that are vital to true fulfillment in a career. Work/life balance and benefits are both necessities in today's workplace. And yes, salary is also very crucial. This is why knowing your worth as a professional in the marketplace is so important to career success.

Employment Review^®'s Annual Salary Survey asked professionals what they earn. A large number of professionals responded to the survey from more than 40 industries, which was hosted on BestJobsUSA.com. Some of the topics included education, raises and years of experience. Respondents from all over the U.S. as well as Canada participated in this year's survey. Some of the largest number of respondents came from California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, Michigan and Massachusetts.

The results remained exactly the same from last year's survey regarding the number of male and female respondents. According to the results, 58 percent of the respondents were male while 42 percent were female. The largest number of participants came from the 21- to-30-year-old range with 31 percent of the respondents, and the 31- to-40-year-old range followed with 30 percent.

Education has an incredible impact on an individual's earnings potential. The survey shows that 40 percent of the participants received bachelor's degrees, followed by 30 percent earning high school diplomas; 15 percent received a technical degree; and 13 percent earned master's degrees. Only 2 percent of those taking the online survey earned doctoral degrees.

When comparing salary levels among professionals in a variety of industries, it all boils down to where you live. For example, the survey showed that an engineer in the aerospace industry with three to five years of experience can earn anywhere from $70,000-$79,999 in Connecticut, while an engineer in California can make anywhere from $60,000 to $69,999, and a professional from Missouri can earn $30,000 to $39,999.

Salary levels also vary for human resources (HR) professionals in the manufacturing industry. For people with 11 to 20 years of experience, a HR manager from Michigan can earn $70,000 to $79,999, while HR managers in Tennessee and Texas earn anywhere from $60,000 to $69,999 and a HR manager living in Indiana makes $40,000 to $49,999.

A sales professional in advertising with three to five years' experience can earn as much as $50,000 in Virginia or as little as $30,000 in South Dakota. Also, a project manager in telecommunications with 21 to 30 years' experience can earn as little as $40,000 to $49,999 in Colorado or more than $100,000 in Florida.

Taking a look at the high-tech industry, a computer programmer with zero to two years of experience makes $50,000 to $59,999 in Georgia, $30,000 to $39,999 in Iowa and $20,000 to $29,999 in California. A software engineer with three to five years of experience can earn as much as $60,000 to $69,999 in the sunshine state of Florida, $50,000 to $59,999 in Massachusetts and $40,000 to $49,999 in Colorado.

Sometimes salary levels don't vary at all, no matter what area of the country the professional resides in. For instance, customer service representatives in the banking and finance industry with six to 10 years' experience earn somewhere between $20,000 and $29,999 in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma and Virginia.

When asked if their salaries are competitive, 52 percent of the men say that their wages are, while 48 percent say they are not. Interestingly, more women (52 percent) say that their salary is not competitive compared to 48 percent who say that their salary is competitive.
Did the respondents feel their earnings are based on their abilities? Just like last year's survey, the majority of both men and women believe their raises are based on their abilities - 79 percent of the men and 74 percent of the women, respectively.

As far as raises are concerned the results haven't changed from last year's survey. The survey participants were able to choose from four categories: annual, automatic, performance or other. Once again it was not a shock to find that the majority of both male and female respondents received their raises annually: 39 percent females and 38 percent of the males. Raises based on performance evaluations garnered 20 percent of the female responses and 25 percent male responses. Automatic raises garnered 4 percent of the female responses and 5 percent males responses, while other types of raises earned 12 percent of female responses and 11 percent of male responses.

Many professionals in today's workplace are still trying to find that perfect balance between work and family. Based on the survey results it was surprising to find that more people aren't working overtime due to the shift in the economy and the large number of layoffs. Just like last year's survey, slightly more than half of the females (52 percent) and males (53 percent) work 40 hours per week. Meanwhile, only 25 percent of females work more than 40 hours and 42 percent of males work more than 40 hours.

For those people who are interested in finding out about different salary levels in a large variety of industries, take a look at Employment Review^®'s comprehensive Annual Salary Survey Guide online at BestJobsUSA.com. Being well informed on different salary levels is beneficial when job searching, and having this information at your fingertips will put you on the fast track to success. - SHERRI PFEIL, Staff Writer