Market value calculator: 12 steps to double your salary

The 12 steps

Score what is true today. A plan to do something next month is level 0.

Step 1 of 12

1. Step 1

   Weight 10

   Your vector

   Can you name the one role you are going for, the kind of company, and a date?

   Every later step is built on it: the title, the pitch, the list of companies.

   0 · MissingI am open to anything interesting.1 · Standard for 2026I can name the next role.2 · StrongRole, kind of company and a date, written down and said out loud to at least two people.

2. Step 2

   Weight 8

   Your title and your number

   Does your headline combine a business domain with a technical scope, and do you know your number?

   The title is the first thing a recruiter, a CTO or their AI reads. The number decides where the negotiation starts.

   0 · MissingMy headline is my current job title, often with a programming language. I have no number.1 · Standard for 2026A role-based title, and a salary range in my head.2 · StrongDomain plus scope on LinkedIn and the CV (Team Lead becomes Fintech Engineering Manager), and one number I can defend with evidence.

3. Step 3

   Weight 5

   Your dream companies

   Do you have a written list of 10 to 15 companies where a CTO or VP could hire you?

   A list turns a job search into a plan you can work through the network.

   0 · MissingI apply to what is posted.1 · Standard for 2026I have some names in my head.2 · Strong10 to 15 names written down, filtered by product or deep tech, size, hybrid or remote and country. I know who decides at five of them.

4. Step 4

   Weight 12

   Your one-minute pitch

   Can you say your largest outcome, your differentiator and your potential in one minute?

   Every coffee, intro and interview opens with it.

   0 · MissingI recite my CV.1 · Standard for 2026I can introduce myself in a minute.2 · StrongLargest outcome, differentiator, potential. Rehearsed, and it makes the other person ask a question.

5. Step 5

   Weight 10

   Your digital footprint

   What does someone find when they look you up?

   The person who recommends you, and the one who hires you, open your profile first.

   0 · MissingA LinkedIn timeline of job titles. No public work.1 · Standard for 2026LinkedIn updated with outcomes.2 · StrongLinkedIn with the new title and proof, plus GitHub with a pet project or an AI skill other people use.

6. Step 6

   Weight 12

   Your network

   How many people who have seen your work would vouch for you to a CTO?

   The best roles are taken through the network before anyone writes the ad.

   0 · MissingMy current colleagues.1 · Standard for 2026About 20 people would take my call.2 · StrongI listed 50, reactivated 10 this quarter, and 10 would vouch for me.

7. Step 7

   Weight 8

   Be heard

   How often do you speak or publish outside your company?

   Speaking, presenting and communication are priced skills, and they put you in front of the people who decide.

   0 · MissingI have not spoken or published outside my company.1 · Standard for 2026One talk, podcast or post a year, and I belong to a community.2 · StrongThree or more public appearances a year: a meetup, a podcast, a conference.

8. Step 8

   Weight 12

   Your AI level

   Which of the five AI levels describes your week: Ask, Brief, Repeat, Connect, Supervise?

   Someone who ships with AI daily is scarce in a market where nearly everyone claims to.

   0 · MissingLevel 1 or 2: I ask and I brief.1 · Standard for 2026Level 3: saved prompts or skills I reuse every week.2 · StrongLevel 4 or 5: AI acts in my tools, or runs a process under rules I wrote.

9. Step 9

   Weight 8

   Outcomes, not outputs

   When you describe your work, do you say what you did or what changed?

   Leaders buy outcomes: product, impact, mission, value.

   0 · MissingProjects, deadlines, tasks.1 · Standard for 2026A few outcome statements with numbers.2 · StrongThirty or more outcome statements, and the outcome words come out by themselves, also under pressure.

10. Step 10

    Weight 3

    B-list first, then A-list

    Do you practise on the companies you could live without before you talk to the ones you want?

    The first conversations are the worst ones. Spend them where they cost nothing.

    0 · MissingI would go straight to my dream company.1 · Standard for 2026I know which are practice and which are targets.2 · StrongI finish B-list conversations before any A-list one.

11. Step 11

    Weight 5

    Interview dry runs

    How many recorded dry runs have you done with someone who hires?

    A real interview is not the place to find your weak spots.

    0 · MissingNone.1 · Standard for 2026One mock interview with a friend.2 · StrongThree or more, recorded, with feedback from someone who hires.

12. Step 12

    Weight 7

    Negotiate, then protect your first months

    Do you negotiate with evidence, and do you have a plan for your first 3 to 6 months?

    Negotiation is a thirty-minute skill that pays for about a decade, and the first months decide whether you keep the job.

    0 · MissingI take the first offer and start.1 · Standard for 2026I ask for more, and I think about the first weeks.2 · StrongAn anchor with evidence, silence after it, a walk-away I mean, and a written 30-60-90 day plan.