Al's data, she says, indicates that the salary curve for most people in their 20s is very steep. Then it starts to flatten in the 30s, and then in your 40s you get into the land of the 3% raise. In real dollars, those 3% raises are not actually raises, they are just keeping up with inflation. The information is grim, but she gave some tips on what to do with that information and tips on how to maximize it.


#2 SPECIALIZE. By your mid 30s, if you don’t have a specialty, it’s hard to get your salary into the next bracket. You earn more money if your talents are more scarce. Also, don’t give up hope if you have no idea what you’re doing in your mid-20s. As long as you figure things out by the time you’re 30, you will get a premium for 15 years of experience before your salary stops rising.

#3 BE A LAWYER. (YES!) Though basically everyone, including the American Bar Association, reports that law school is a ripoff, Al says that the only profession where your pay increases after 20 years is in law. Because laws change very slowly, especially procedural law, and so much of being a good lawyer is your on-the-job training.
#4 REWRITE YOUR RESUME. If you’re at the beginning of your career, focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. This makes you look like you’re in a higher pay bracket so you will get larger salary increases. (Good resume editing tips here, at Quint Careers.)


#6 RECOGNIZE YOUR LIMITATIONS. People eventually start to realize that they are not going to get to the very top. They see that only one out of 100 web designers is the director, and only one out of 50 directors is a VP. Al calls this the funnel effect, and he says many people recognize this and start to trade time for money; people see that chasing the increasingly smaller raises is not as fulfilling as doing a wide range of other things with their time.
Don't let these tips get you down; now that you know what you are up against, use them to your advantage!
Taken from: Brazen Careerist
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