Are You Smart Enough to Be Underpaid - Spark Hire

Are You Smart Enough to Be Underpaid - Spark HireAre you smart enough to be underpaid? It sounds like an oxymoron, right? But when you boil it all down, it makes a lot of sense.A few years ago, a salary scandal put the City of Bell, California under national scrutiny, according to CBS Moneywatch. Residents of the city found that the City Manager made $800,000, the Police Chief made $457,000 and the Assistant City Manager made $376,288. Shortly after, the three resigned, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.Needless to say, residents of City of Bell werent happy with these outrageous figures, and thats in large part because they didnt believe these city salary employees deserved what they made.While you may leid be a city manager or police chief, this story could just as easily be about you. Though you may not be accountable to an entire city, you are accountable to your office peers, managers and clients, as CBS Moneywatch points out. If they were to find out your salary, would they think you were overpaid or underpaid?When it comes to salary employees, you want to be considered underpaid. Yes, thats right underpaid. CBS Moneywatch states that you want everyone around you to value the work youre doing so much that they believe youre underpaid. Heres how you can start.Work hard. You would think this was stating the obvious, but its more than just doing your job. To be a more valued employee, you need to go above and beyond. Dont just work within the limitations of your job description.Find ways to do more and provide more to clients. Think outside of the box, but always run new ideas and opportunities by your manager. Doing so will not only ensure youre helping the team rather than hurting but also clue your boss into the extra steps and work youre doing.Do the dirty work. Every team has those jobs, those tasks the ones that no one on the team wants to do. Be the employee that takes these on. They may not be glamorous or exciting, but typically, these are tasks that make you invaluable.In this case, youre not only adding value to yourself as an employee, but youre securing your job as well.Keep your head down. Becoming an employee that is overvalued and underpaid doesnt always feel great. In fact, its easy to begin feeling under-appreciated. When this happens, you simply need to keep your head down and continue working hard.Your boss isnt blind. And neither are your co-workers. Everyone will see what youre doing, and when its time to evaluate work performance, your hard work will pay off literally. Being an underpaid employee leaves room for big raises. And when other salary employees learn your figure, theyll say you deserve it.Do you strive to have your peers think of you as underpaid? Spark a conversation below.IMAGE Courtesy of Flickr byrh1n0