One of the most common pitfalls in compensation work? Using years of experience as the primary factor when matching jobs to salary surveys or assigning a career level.
Yes, experience matters, but only as context. It should never replace a proper evaluation of job responsibilities and overall job purpose.
Let’s break it down.
When market pricing a job, many people search for survey matches based on the job’s title and years of experience listed in the job description. But that can lead you astray. Here's why:
Example #1 - A Marketing Manager with 5–7 years’ experience might be an individual contributor in one company that is focused on content calendars and social media posts. In another, that same job title might lead brand strategy, manage a team, and own a multimillion-dollar budget.
The difference? Scope and impact.
Years of experience do not tell you that. Job purpose and responsibilities do. They’re the best way to determine the appropriate match in a survey and to market price the role accurately.
The same applies to career leveling.
Example #2 - Imagine two engineers, both with around 8 years of experience. One focuses on well-defined tasks and relies on others for decision-making. The other leads complex architecture design, mentors less experienced engineers, and regularly engages with product leadership.
Despite similar tenure, they clearly belong at different career levels. Why? Because career level is based on the type of work being done and the impact of that work, not how long someone has been doing it.
So, what should you do?
· Read the full job description. Understand the purpose of the role. Look at the decision-making authority, problem-solving complexity, breadth of influence, and knowledge required.
· Then compare it to salary survey benchmark jobs and their descriptions and the career level definitions. Do not use the years of experience as it is often an arbitrary number of years.
Doing it right helps ensure accurate market pricing, internal equity, fair and defensible compensation decisions, and a consistently applied job architecture framework.
Years of experience are a data point, but it should not be the primary decision driver. Anchor your pay decisions in what the job does, not how long someone has done it.
Let’s move beyond tenure-based assumptions and make compensation decisions rooted in the work being done and its impact.
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