Talent Market

Talent Market is a nonprofit whose mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector

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Talent Tip #22: You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Advanced Degrees, Higher Salaries, and Marrying Orthopedic Surgeons

June 14, 2011

As a follow-up to last month’s tip about graduate degrees, I wanted to tackle the topic of how advanced schooling affects salaries in the free-market nonprofit community.

When I inquire about desired salary, here are two common responses I get:

  • “I am currently at 50k, but I’ll be finishing up my master’s degree next month. Therefore, I’d like to earn 70k in my next position.”
  • “I understand the pay range for this role is 50-60k. However, since I have a master’s degree, I’d like to be in the 65-70k range.”

Well, I’d like to marry a dashing orthopedic surgeon with a small ego, a big dog, and a stellar sense of humor, but that’s probably not going to happen, now is it?

The bottom line is that many free-market nonprofits are willing to pay more for advanced degrees, but only if the degree is relevant to the role at hand or if they see added value in the additional education. And if the role doesn’t call for an advanced degree, don’t expect the organization to go above their stated salary range for you just because you have a few extra letters beside your name.

Again, I want to be clear that I’m not trashing graduate degrees in general. Depending on the job/career path, an advanced degree is often quite useful if not absolutely necessary. But what I see too often is folks with more schooling wanting more money despite the fact their degrees are not relevant to the job at hand.

Now, let’s get serious: does anyone know any cute, single orthopedic surgeons for me?

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About Us

Claire Kittle Dixon

Claire Kittle Dixon
Executive Director
Claire has more than a decade of experience in the talent development field. She…
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Katelynn Barbosa
Director of Talent Engagement
Katelynn started her career in the Koch Associate Program and then litigated at the Institute for Justice…
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Katy Gambella
Director of Outreach
Katy began her career at the Institute for Humane Studies and later joined the Cato Institute…
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Stephanie Keaveney
Outreach Manager
Stephanie’s career started at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal…
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Lydia Ocampo
Outreach Specialist
Lydia started her career with Young Americans for Liberty. During her time with YAL…
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Wait, You’re a Nonprofit?

Talent Market is a nonprofit. We’ll wait here while that sinks in. We know it’s a crazy concept, but it’s been working like a charm since 2009.

Talent Market’s mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector.

We provide consulting and recruiting services at no cost to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that clearly and directly focus on advancing the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, free trade, free speech, property rights, rule of law, and limited regulation. (We do not work with political organizations, organizations with mission statements that do not clearly advance free-market principles, organizations that focus on social issues, or organizations that have a focus outside of the United States. We are not a job board. ) 

Talent Market believes that the road to prosperity is paved with freedom and that the success of our movement hinges on the talent that will take us there.

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