Your value is not just about the salary you can expect in the marketplace. It is only partly a matter of testing the job market waters. And your value in the talent marketplace is far from static, just like stocks and bonds. The most complete measure of your true value includes the underlying factors that determine real value in the employment market. You must understand four key factors:

1. Demographics: you need to assess where you fit in the aggregate supply and demand of professional talent.

2. Market liquidity: is your supply in demand? You need to gauge the number of professionals seeking positions versus the number of open positions seeking professionals.

3. Organization volatility: you  need to evaluate how fluctuations in business valuations enhance or diminish your value in the marketplace.

4. Intellectual capital: you need to consider how the financial markets value intangible assets, notably intellectual capital, relative to hard assets, or book value.