GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - The job market is hot right now and it could be the perfect time to try for a higher salary.
According to the Labor Department, in January wages rose at the fastest rate in eight years.
If you're looking for a pay increase at your 9-5 job, here are a few suggestions.
David Carlson, founder of the personal finance blog "Young Adult Money" and author of "Hustle Away Debt," recommends looking at crowd-sourced salary data sites like Glassdoor and PayScale.
These sites give anonymous employee reviews and salary comparisons–helping workers know whether or not they are being compensated fairly.
"Using a site like Glassdoor or PayScale to review salary data is a great way to kind of get some support for when you're going into those salary negotiations or just to get a gauge on... where are you really sitting compared to the rest of the job market, either at your employer or in general, for the job market that you're in," Carlson said.
He also recommends going for that higher salary during your annual review.
Even if you're not currently looking for a new job, Carlson says employees should look regularly at job openings in their field. Looking at job openings long before you plan to leave your current job may help you identify the skills and experience that are in demand.
"There might be some skills listed on those job openings that you don't have or that you can kind of spend the time developing in the next six months to year so that when you get to the interview phase and when you're applying for jobs, you already have that skill and you have examples of that to use when you're interviewing," Carlson said.