Angela Poundmaker-Gromova, in Halifax on Nov. 25, was capable of safe the next paying job after took a course in progress advertising and marketing, a discipline that makes use of knowledge evaluation to drive buyer acquisition and retention.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
By age 36, when Angela Poundmaker-Gromova completed her communications diploma, she had already labored in hairstyling, hospitality, movie and tv. In her new profession, she discovered herself caught in a collection of entry-level jobs at a stage in her life when she had extra work expertise and higher delicate abilities than her friends, and extra coaching on new applied sciences than her superiors. She additionally felt underpaid.
To safe a higher-paying function, Ms. Poundmaker-Gromova took a course in progress advertising and marketing, a discipline that makes use of knowledge evaluation to drive buyer acquisition and retention. Along with these abilities, the course taught her the way to put together for an interview and negotiate wage, and the way to retool her LinkedIn profile to greatest place her for the sorts of jobs she needed.
She was recruited shortly afterward and obtained a brand new advertising and marketing trade job. She now makes considerably greater than in her final place and has a significantly better work setting. “It was life-changing,” mentioned Ms. Poundmaker-Gromova, now 38 and a resident of Halifax.
After years of steep inflation and excessive rates of interest, many Canadians are searching for methods to extend their salaries to meet up with the upper price of dwelling. In a current report by human sources agency Robert Half, 92 per cent of Canadian employees mentioned they’re involved about inflation outpacing wage progress, with 51 per cent saying they really feel underpaid. The corporate’s survey of 1,750 employees aged 18 and up, carried out in June for its 2025 Canadian Wage Information, discovered pay is the highest factor employees are searching for in a brand new job.
However on condition that it’s additionally a time of weak employment progress, is now an excellent time to attempt to discover a new job – or to ask for a increase? Specialists counsel beginning by determining how your wage compares with that of others who do related work, and discovering methods to broaden your worth as a employee, whether or not by way of including new abilities or overperforming in your function.
Jodi Kovitz, chief govt officer of the Ontario-based Human Sources Skilled Affiliation, mentioned her group’s members are fielding increase requests typically as of late.
“Wage issues pushed by inflation are completely outstanding,” mentioned Ms. Kovitz, whereas including the unsure financial system has made it difficult for some firms to supply raises throughout the board, and so are selecting to focus as an alternative on rewarding prime performers. “We’re seeing extra focused wage changes.”
It’s vital for many who plan to advocate for a increase to ensure they’ll present the worth they carry to the group, she mentioned. If somebody arrives at a gathering with their supervisor prepared to explain how they’ve gone past expectations, and has achieved market analysis that reveals folks in related roles are getting paid extra at different firms, their possibilities of success are larger, she mentioned.
Ms. Kovitz additionally suggests utilizing such a dialog as a option to plot out a future path on the firm.
“You possibly can say to your supervisor, ‘I would love to remain right here, and right here’s why,’” she mentioned. “As a pacesetter, I’m rather more inclined to need to put money into, from an vitality and improvement perspective, into somebody I see as a possible successor to somebody who’s a pacesetter on my group.”
Jermaine L. Murray, a recruiter and profession coach, mentioned this assembly generally is a place for the worker and supervisor to agree on the employee’s strengths and weaknesses, and set milestones for the following six months.
“As soon as this assembly concludes, ship a follow-up electronic mail as each a thank-you and a affirmation of what happened,” suggested Mr. Murray, founding father of Toronto-based JupiterHR.
“Then deal with knocking every milestone out of the park over the following six months. Two weeks earlier than the six-month mark, schedule a follow-up assembly to go over the milestones and to get suggestions in your efficiency. If achieved accurately, you’ll have buy-in out of your supervisor who will advocate so that you can get a increase.”
Mr. Murray additionally encourages employees to use for jobs in the event that they really feel underpaid, if solely to get a way for what they may make elsewhere. However he cautions that altering jobs includes danger, and ought to be achieved with cautious consideration.
“When you settle for a brand new job with out doing all of your due diligence since you’re determined for change, the possibilities of it backfiring rise considerably,” he mentioned.
Sarah Stockdale – the chief govt officer of Growclass, the expansion advertising and marketing coaching firm whose course helped Ms. Poundmaker-Gromova get a higher-paying job – mentioned focused upskilling might help somebody change firms, or earn extra the place they presently work.
“You can begin by wanting round and seeing who has the job that you really want, and what are the talents they carry,” mentioned Ms. Stockdale, who relies in Toronto. She notes that abilities associated to synthetic intelligence can enhance one’s wage considerably. PwC’s 2024 AI Jobs Barometer report discovered jobs that require “specialist AI abilities” carry as much as a 25-per-cent wage premium over related positions that don’t require use of AI, and provides employees a a lot stronger discount place.
Ms. Stockdale mentioned many tech employees who had been laid off lately took the primary job they may get after their layoff, and are actually feeling “underpaid and undervalued,” particularly in instances the place employees with the identical job titles aren’t being paid the identical quantity as a result of some had been employed in stronger financial occasions.
“That may fire up lots of anger and resentment,” she mentioned, and encourages these on this place to method the difficulty by in search of to know the scenario, somewhat than being confrontational. “Compensation discrepancies aren’t at all times intentional.
“You need to be on the identical group: You and your supervisor versus the issue that probably there’s a spot in your compensation,” she mentioned.
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