Graphic design salaries are as tricky to set, offer and negotiate as any employee salaries. You want to be able to offer a competitive salary but you also want to be fair to your bottom line.
Like other creative fields, graphic design is known to be highly competitive. While the field itself attracts many talented individuals, it's important as a business owner to understand how important a role salary and benefits play in a candidate's decision to accept employment.
Salary not only helps land an employee but also helps retain existing employees. Several graphic design salary tools are available to help you determine a reasonable salary. When looking at setting pay, consider this graphic design salary information:
1. Many graphic designers prefer to work on a contract or freelance basis instead of on a continuous graphic designer wage.
2. Location and the size of your company factor into graphic design salaries.
3. A job candidate's years of experience and the particular job position will also account for differences in graphic designer salary.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Research the going rates for graphic designer salaries
Graphic designer salaries, or at least a base rate to start from, can be found online. Much salary research, usually in the form of surveys, is available on different industries, including graphic design.
I recommend: Salary.com offers an appropriately graphic look at average salary for a graphic designer. Use this site to look at bonus compensation and benefits packages as well. View pay according to years of experience, type of employer and location at
PayScale.
Consider adding software to your graphic design salary tools
Add software technology to your list of graphic design salary tools to utilize when it comes to setting up graphic designer wages. Most of the software packages available allow the user to test them out before purchase to ensure they will be applicable.
I recommend: Download a demo version of the
Economic Research Institute's salary survey software. It features competitive salary, incentive and total compensation range reports. Read up on the features offered by
Mercer PayMonitor software. Toward the end of the information page, you can view a demonstration.
Contract or salary, learn how to negotiate graphic designer pay
You may find that effectively negotiating graphic designer pay can be a slippery slope. Arm yourself with the latest research and techniques so that you can find the candidate's limitations without breaking the deal.
I recommend: Read the tips offered by
RetailManagerCareers.com. You can apply this information to any salary negotiations and use it as a checklist.
Salary.com details specific goals to keep in mind when negotiating salary. Following this advice may help you land an incredible graphic design job candidate.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Among design industry workers, graphic designer wages will continue to be the most competitive, as graphic designers can expect to see the largest increase in design jobs through 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The official source of Graphic Design Salary Tools is
the Graphic Design Salary Tools page at Business.com
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