Evaluation of a “Service Role”

If you were asked to value yourself–actually produce a price tag to hang from your wrist–what would it say? And by the way, how would you determine what a “fair” market price might be when it comes to how much an employer might pay for you?

Establishing a price tag for an inanimate object is definitely much easier than ascertaining a number for services rendered by a thinking, breathing, living human being. Nonetheless, many of us are hired based on the services we provide and the knowledge we have worked hard to acquire that can then be shared and transferred to better support the skillsets and proficiencies in others.

Is it tenure that we measure? Is it how many events we have publicly attended? Is it who we hang out with and rub elbows with? Is it the articles we have written and the presentations we have given?

I’d say all of this contributes to our perceived “worth”. Familiarity contributes to a big part of this, but what might really be the catalyst that enables a realistic price to be put on one’s services? What does your track record look like? Have you been a trend-setter, a pioneer or are you “beefing” up areas that others have already explored? Have you discovered a niche–something that might be virtually untapped by others that you yourself have pioneered through trial and error. Have you done the “dirty work” that has paved a path for others to follow? And even more valuable, have you saved others from a possible failure or “wrong-turn”?

Can you physically show successes you have been instrumental in attaining in black and white? Is just stating “this is what I do” truly enough to justify the price tag you command? See if this is something you can relate to:

Passion vs. Position

Ethics vs. Ego

Innovator vs. Imitator

When the product is “YOU”, there are no discounts.