If your paycheck makes you cringe or your financial reality just isn't meeting your goals, consider taking action.

By Kerri Penno and Susan Hopkins

As 2005 begins to wind down, you should reflect on the past year. Take a moment to look at where you stand, personally, professionally and financially. Some of you may find yourselves dissatisfied with your current position. If so, then now is the time to act on your options—moving up or moving out.

Moving to Management

If you love your facility, coworkers, location and workplace environment, an undesirable paycheck should not drive you out. Sit down and talk with your supervisor, manager or director. Ask about room for advancement and what you can do to earn a promotionand a salary bump.

Lawrence J. Bologna, MT(ASCP), MS, MBA, FACHE, director of laboratory services, The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ, said that a person seeking a managerial role needs a combination of technical expertise and leadership abilities. "Certainly, the leadership abilities far outweigh the technical, but I find that staff respects you more when you understand the technical concept," he noted.

Taking a section head position is not only a way to pad your salary, but also a strategic move to climbing the laboratory career ladder. "Making a move to section head is pretty much required if you eventually want to become a general supervisor, manager or director, which would then command better pay and give you the opportunity to move up to other areas of healthcare," Bologna advised.

Consider this: In the 2005 Salary Survey, in which 1,535 respondents submitted information, generalists reported making an average of $54,739 and chief technologists an average of $53,317, while section supervisors reported annual incomes of $57,019, and administrative directors and managers reported $71,383 (Table 1).

Specialization

The laboratory field is a diverse one, with various modalities and subsets within each department. Laboratory personnel, too, distinguish themselves in different ways, with certification, education and specialization. As the ADVANCE Salary Survey shows, all of these factors can affect salary.

While pathologists, whose place typically falls under the laboratory umbrella, have much higher salaries than their technologist peers, Bruce A. Friedman, MD, professor of pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, explained that pathologists often have doctoral degrees. While a med tech can test the waters by becoming a pathologist's assistant—and Dr. Friedman said it is not unusual for a medical technologist to attend medical school and become a pathologist—there are other paths to a more lucrative specialty in the lab.

For example, there are three different routes a laboratorian can take to become eligible for a specialty certification in chemistry—SC(ASCP)—offered by the ASCP Board of Registry (BOR). The first entails appropriate categorical certification, a baccalaureate degree and 3 years of full-time acceptable clinical laboratory experience in the specialty within the last 10 years. The second route requires a master's degree in chemistry or another accepted field, and 3 years of acceptable experience in the specialty within the last 10 years. The last route includes a doctorate degree in chemistry or a related field, and 2 years of fellowship or 2 years of clinical experience in the specialty in the last 10 years.

To view a full list of the procedures you must have experience in and the other requirements to obtain a specialty in chemistry, visit the ASCP BOR at www.ascp.org/bor.

Consider this: According to the Salary Survey, many specialists are enjoying higher salaries than the average laboratorian. Survey results ranked clinical chemistry ($60,153) specialists and blood banking ($57,936) specialists above the average salary of generalists ($54,739). If information systems are your forte, the survey showed your salary might average as high as $60,655. Those that listed a pathology specialty averaged $87,542 (Table 2).

Looking Elsewhere

If your current employer has no managerial openings or you're simply looking for a change, think about looking at other facilities or even changing locations. R. Rodney Momcilovic, MT(HEW), MBA, laboratory manager/quality management, University Hospital, Augusta, GA, said being willing to relocate is an excellent way for people to progress in their careers. "The financial reward of moving may not be great enough for some. But you learn more, get to see different systems, and I think you end up as a broader-based person and can market yourself better in the long run."

Make sure you take into account the other benefits a facility has to offer, such as location, cost of living, stability, reputation, health plan, upward mobility and the opportunities you will have to experience. Moving to another facility gives you an opportunity to negotiate for a higher salary. Ask yourself why you should be paid more, Momcilovic advised. "People who have high-end skills such as computer capability, multi-tasking and business administration skills can be successful in the lab field."

Consider this: Section supervisors living in the Pacific Region (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington), reported annual earnings of $68,356, while their counterparts reported salaries of $50,816 in the East South Central RegionAlabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee (Table 3).

Achieving Your Goals

So, if you are looking at the ADVANCE Salary Survey, your annual review or last week's paycheck, and find that the numbers just aren't adding up the way you would like, don't despair! With the current shortage of technologists and laboratorians, there has to be an opening somewhere that can provide you with compensation closer to your ideal salary. Simply flip through the recruitment advertisements in the back of this issue to see hundreds of positions across the country, offering varying salaries, benefits and sign-on bonuses.

Check out the regional salary ranges if you are contemplating a big move. Look at the specialty rankings if you are interested on narrowing your career focus. If all else fails, get certified! Salary Survey participants who are certified reported wages, on average, that were more than $4,000 higher than their uncertified peers (Table 4). Or, if you think you have what it takes, see if you can climb the career ladder at your facility, and reach that financial goal.

Good luck!

Tables

Find additional tables providing results from the ADVANCE 2005 Salary Survey at www.advanceweb.com/mlp.

Kerri Penno and Susan Hopkins are assistant editors at ADVANCE.