What New Pay Transparency Laws Can Teach You About Your Career
Salary ranges are appearing in more job postings. Here's what I encourage you to pay attention to.
A Shift Is Happening
Have you noticed more salary ranges showing up in job postings lately?
That's not your imagination.
Over the past few years, states and municipalities across the country have passed pay transparency laws requiring many employers to include compensation ranges in their job postings or limiting the use of salary history during hiring. Virginia's new statewide law took effect on July 1, 2026. Maine followed on June 28. Here in Ohio, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo have each adopted local requirements that continue moving employers toward greater transparency.
This is great news.
It helps tremendously when you're negotiating a job offer.
I'd encourage you to think about salary ranges differently. They're valuable when you're negotiating a job offer, but they're just as valuable when you're planning your career.
One of the five habits I teach in Own Your Career is Know Your Worth. Over the years, I've watched too many talented professionals wait until they're unhappy or unexpectedly looking for work before they start researching their value in the market.
I'd love to see that change for you.
The information available in today's job postings can help you make better career decisions long before you submit your next application.
An Invitation
The next time a job posting catches your attention, don't ask:
Should I apply?
Instead, get curious.
Ask yourself:
"What can this posting teach me about where my profession is headed?"
That small shift is incredibly powerful.
Instead of seeing job postings as advertisements, you'll begin seeing them as one of the best sources of career intelligence available.
Knowing Your Worth Begins Long Before You Need It
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from clients is that knowing your worth starts when it's time to ask for a raise or negotiate a new offer.
From my perspective, that's far too late.
Knowing your worth is something you build over time.
It starts with understanding where you are today.
Do you know your organization's salary range for your role?
Do you know where your compensation falls within that range?
Have you looked at what similar positions are paying in your market?
Are employers asking for different skills today than they were two or three years ago?
These aren't questions meant to make you second-guess your employer.
They're questions that help you stay informed about your profession.
The more information you gather over time, the more confident you'll become when important career decisions come your way.
Job Postings Tell a Bigger Story
This is one of my favorite exercises to recommend.
Even if you love your job...
Even if you aren't planning to leave...
Spend a few minutes each week reading job postings in your field.
Seriously.
I hope you'll make it a habit.
Not because I'm trying to convince you to find another job.
Because every posting tells you something about the market.
Pay attention to what keeps showing up.
Are employers asking for new technical skills?
Different certifications?
More leadership experience?
Greater comfort with AI tools?
Cross-functional collaboration?
Project management?
After a while, you'll begin noticing patterns.
Those patterns tell an evolving story.
And stories are much more valuable than any single job posting.
Become a Student of Your Profession
One of the themes that runs throughout Own Your Career is personal responsibility because no one will ever care more about your career than you do.
That's why I encourage clients to set up job alerts even when they have absolutely no intention of changing jobs.
Sound strange?
Here's why I recommend it.
Every week, those job alerts give you another opportunity to learn.
You're watching your profession evolve in real time.
You're seeing how employers define success.
You're noticing what they're willing to pay for.
You're discovering where expectations are changing.
You're collecting information that can help you make better decisions over the next year, not simply over the next month.
Read the Whole Posting
It's easy to stop reading after you see the salary range.
Don't.
Sometimes the most valuable information isn't the compensation.
It's buried a little farther down the page.
You may notice that employers increasingly expect experience leading cross-functional projects.
Or that AI tools are becoming standard in your profession.
Or that one certification appears over and over again.
Or that positions paying $20,000 more than yours require one competency you could realistically develop over the next year.
Those are the moments I hope you'll pay attention to.
Because now you're no longer simply reading a job posting.
You're building a roadmap for your own professional development.
That's one of the best ways I know to truly own your career.
Absolutely. I think this is now the version I'd consider your working draft. It flows naturally from Part 1, advances the reader's thinking instead of repeating it, and sounds much more like your coaching voice.
What Do You Do With All This Information?
Reading job postings is only the first step.
Information alone doesn't change your career.
What you choose to do with that information absolutely does.
As you begin paying attention to salary ranges, required qualifications, and recurring skills, you'll notice a long list of things employers seem to value.
That can feel overwhelming.
My advice?
Don't try to improve everything at once.
Instead, look for the patterns.
If the same certification appears in posting after posting, pay attention.
If leadership experience consistently separates higher-paying positions from the rest, take notice.
If AI tools have become an expected part of your profession, that's valuable information.
The market is helping you prioritize where to invest your time and energy.
Develop Skills With Intention
One of the biggest mistakes I see professionals make is developing skills without a clear purpose.
Someone recommends a certification.
A coworker earns another degree.
A webinar pops up on LinkedIn.
Before long, you're spending time and money because something sounded like a good idea.
There's a better way.
Let the market guide your decisions.
One of the habits I teach in Own Your Career is investing in yourself through continuous learning. That doesn't always mean pursuing another degree. It might mean taking advantage of your employer's tuition assistance, earning a certification, reading books in your field, attending industry conferences, or learning from experts you admire.
The goal isn't to collect credentials. It's to intentionally develop the knowledge and skills that help you reach your vision and be recognized for the value you bring.
When you choose your next development opportunity based on what employers consistently value, you're investing with purpose instead of hoping something eventually pays off.
Turn Learning Into Experience
Learning something new is only half the equation.
At some point, you'll need to demonstrate that you've used it.
Let's say you've noticed employers increasingly want experience leading cross-functional projects.
You don't necessarily have to change jobs to gain that experience.
Volunteer to lead a project.
Offer to coordinate an initiative between departments.
Join a committee.
Mentor a new employee.
Look for opportunities that stretch your skills while you're still in your current role.
One of the things I've learned throughout my career is that some of the best opportunities to grow don't come with a new title.
They come with a new responsibility.
Those experiences become the stories you'll someday tell in interviews, networking conversations, and performance reviews.
Track Your Growth Along the Way
Here's where I see many talented professionals get stuck.
They do great work.
Then they move on to the next project.
Six months later, they struggle to remember exactly what they accomplished.
Sound familiar?
Another foundational Own Your Career habit is tracking your accomplishments as they happen.
I call this your Daily Debrief.
Spend five minutes at the end of each workday capturing something you achieved. Over time, those successes become easier to quantify and much easier to communicate. That preparation not only makes updating your résumé simpler, it also prepares you for future opportunities.
Don't wait until performance review season to remember what you've achieved.
Create a simple document.
Keep a running list.
Capture projects, measurable results, positive feedback, lessons learned, and moments you're proud of.
Future you will be incredibly grateful.
If you'd like to learn more about how I use the Daily Debrief with clients, I've written about it in "Why Can't I Get Promoted?"(Internal link to article.)
Walk Into Your Performance Review Ready
With the Daily Debrief habit as your secret weapon, imagine how differently your next performance review could feel.
Instead of trying to remember your accomplishments the week or night before it's due...
You're already tracking them.
Instead of wondering whether your compensation reflects the market...
You've been collecting the supporting data all year.
Instead of speaking in generalities...
You're sharing stories, measurable results, and examples of your growth and their business impact.
Performance reviews are one of the best opportunities to demonstrate your professional evolution using stories, data, metrics, and measurable results rather than opinions.
And you don't have to rely on your leader to remember your results.
Confidence doesn't come from finding the perfect words during the meeting.
Confidence comes from knowing you are prepared long before the meeting ever appears on your calendar.
Own Your Career Before You Need To
One of the biggest lessons I've learned throughout my career is that the professionals who seem "lucky" are usually the ones who have been investing in themselves all along.
They've been paying attention.
Developing new skills.
Building relationships.
Tracking accomplishments.
Understanding the market.
So when an opportunity appears, they aren't starting from scratch.
They're ready.
That's why I shared these new pay transparency laws with you. They're more than a hiring trend.
Yes, salary transparency makes negotiating a job offer easier. But that's only part of the story.
The real opportunity is what those job postings can teach you about your profession, your growth, and your future.
Use that information wisely.
Become a more intentional steward of your career.
Know your worth before someone asks you for a number range.
That's how you prepare for the opportunities you can see coming.
And especially the ones you never saw coming.
Becoming the Expert on You
Most professionals spend far more time preparing to do their jobs than they do preparing to manage their careers.
Let me demonstrate what I mean.
You'll attend training.
Learn new software.
Master new processes.
Earn certifications.
Stay current in your profession.
Yet many talented professionals never spend the same intentional effort understanding their own value.
They struggle to describe their accomplishments.
They underestimate the skills they've developed.
They wait and hope someone else notices their contributions.
I don't want that for you.
And I don't think you want that for yourself either.
I want you to become the expert on one person: you.
Know what you've accomplished.
Know how you've grown.
Know where your profession is headed.
Know the value you bring.
When you do, conversations about promotions, performance reviews, networking, interviews, and salary become much less intimidating because you're no longer trying to remember your story.
You've been deliberately writing it all along.
A Few Small Habits Can Change Everything
You don't have to reinvent your entire career tomorrow.
You don't need another graduate degree by next month.
You don't need to wait until you're screaming to get out of a toxic workplace to start paying attention.
Instead, start with a few intentional habits.
Read job postings in your field every week.
Notice what employers consistently value.
Choose one area for professional development.
Practice your Daily Debrief.
Invest in relationships that help you learn and grow.
These habits may seem small on their own.
These intentional investments in your career and your vision compound over time.
That's how careers are built.
Through hundreds of intentional decisions that move you incrementally closer to the future you envision.
The Opportunity of Pay Transparency
When I first started writing this article, I thought I was writing about pay transparency laws. I wanted everyone to understand how these changes impact them and the opportunities available to them.
Then I realized I was actually writing about something much bigger.
These new laws are giving us access to information many professionals never had before.
That's worth celebrating.
Information is only valuable when we choose to use it.
Now it's in your hands.
When you come across an interesting job posting, don't simply glance at the salary range and move on.
Become curious.
Look for patterns.
Think about your own growth.
Ask yourself what that posting can teach you about your profession, your industry, your future, and ultimately, your career.
That's what becoming a more intentional steward of your career looks like.
Continue Owning Your Career
If this article resonated with you, I'd love to invite you to keep learning.
When I wrote my book, my vision was simple: to help more professionals become intentional stewards of their careers instead of waiting until circumstances forced them to act.
In the book, I share the five habits that have helped thousands of professionals become more intentional about managing their careers, increasing their visibility, preparing for opportunities, and confidently communicating their value.
If you're ready to go deeper, here are a few places to start:
Read Own Your Career.
Explore the Career Resources hub for practical tools, articles, and podcast episodes.
Read "Why Can't I Get Promoted?" to learn more about the Daily Debrief habit.
If you're looking for personalized guidance, schedule a Reinvent Your Career Strategy Session. Together, we'll build a strategy that helps you own your career with confidence.
Because no one will ever care more about your career than you do.
And that's exactly why it's worth investing in every step of the way.
