IMHO the big breaks (40+%) happen at major transition points: Promotion, post-grad-degree & new job. Everything should be aimed at those big 3 for long term compensation increases.
It's very hard to generalize on specifics. If you're freelancing, contracting or consulting, it's largely a function of how much your billing rate increases. If you're in software it's more a function of how the firm is doing, and how much credit you get for it. (If it's a weak link to how you get the credit, it's hard to point to)
One other note - there tend to be caps at levels within firms, so you can catch up if you're underpaid, but it's hard to break above without one of the big discontinuous jumps I mentioned above.
ok - one last note... You get paid best if you succeed in "line" jobs where you are contributing directly to money coming in, rather than "staff" jobs. This means that good Sales people always do well, and they'll get better comped than someone purchasing advertising from outside vendors. Likewise, a developer on a core product with get paid better than someone with the same degree and experience working in internal IT.
Salary reporting sites frequently get their data from H1-B applications, so the #s are reliable, but you have to be careful about timing. Someone working in banking technology in 2007 will get paid much more than the same job today.
It's very hard to generalize on specifics. If you're freelancing, contracting or consulting, it's largely a function of how much your billing rate increases. If you're in software it's more a function of how the firm is doing, and how much credit you get for it. (If it's a weak link to how you get the credit, it's hard to point to)
One other note - there tend to be caps at levels within firms, so you can catch up if you're underpaid, but it's hard to break above without one of the big discontinuous jumps I mentioned above.
ok - one last note... You get paid best if you succeed in "line" jobs where you are contributing directly to money coming in, rather than "staff" jobs. This means that good Sales people always do well, and they'll get better comped than someone purchasing advertising from outside vendors. Likewise, a developer on a core product with get paid better than someone with the same degree and experience working in internal IT.
Salary reporting sites frequently get their data from H1-B applications, so the #s are reliable, but you have to be careful about timing. Someone working in banking technology in 2007 will get paid much more than the same job today.