Knowing your worth.

This industry, like almost any other, has not only food and food production, it has every other aspect of business activities. Every office involves sales, human resources, OSHA, inventory, purchasing, hiring and firing, communications, profit and loss, accounting, and many more.... and so does every food business except we produce food as well.

 

Being a chef is like being a chemist and a artist at the same time. We apply cooking skills i.e. applied chemistry to food products and then make them artistic. All the personnel issues that comes with dealing with a staff happens everyday in a kitchen. You are in the trenches with the same people day in and day out relying upon them to bail you out and you to do the same in return. And that is long before you even open the doors to invite in clients.

 

So, how do you know what your work is worth? How do you judge if the company is paying you fairly or not, or even if you are paying yourself enough when you are in charge of the budgets? With the new age of information and immediate access, it is a good idea to go ahead and do some research into pay scales, after all, it can be done from the smart phone in your pocket.

 

There are lots of websites that have calculators online that you can use to assess your marketability. www.payscale.com  is one of these sites that ask you about your demographics, region of work, education, and skill sets, to determine what is an average salary for the job you either are seeking or already have. If you are seeking a new job, this can be used to determine if the company in question is adequately compensating its employees or you can check to see if it is time to request a raise from your current employer. When asking for an increase, this information can be invaluable as you can confidently give evidence as to why you feel that a raise is needed.

 

Every town and city is different. As I have been working in Chicago these last 20 plus years, I can tell you that the cost of living here is quite high compared to other markets and therefore you can ask for a higher wage than average because the cost of housing and food here is higher. A company cannot keep good staff if they cannot afford to live in the area as they will move away to more affordable regions to keep from risking homelessness or cut off utilities. It's simple mathematics.

 

Once you have entered the information and gotten a salary rage and a average salary for comparable work in your region, you must honestly ask yourself if you have adequately proven yourself in the position, or in the case of seeking new employment, have you had a strong track record to successful work history. If you are armed with this knowledge but haven't put in the extra work to get at the top of your pay scale, then you aren't likely to be able to leverage it into an increase or a new position paying top dollar.

 

Every one's experience comes at a price both for you to gain it and for your employer to use that knowledge by hiring you. The total of all you have done, have been trained to do, and the length of time you have been doing your job all comes into play when assessing the fairness of your compensation. Be honest with yourself and others when discussing this topic. Knowing your worth and what the next organization can and are willing to play, can make all the difference in your favor.