Should you discuss salaries with your co-workers? Sure. When you know the guy in the next cube is raking in an extra $500 every month, you can use that knowledge to try to bump up your own salary.

Younger workers are far more comfortable sharing this info, and many companies have become less restrictive about letting people talk, says Robert Hohman of glassdoor.com, a new Web site that offers company-specific salary details. You have to post your own pay to see the info on the site, which now has at least some salary data on 11,000 companies. You can get more-general information at Web sites like payscale.com and salary.com, and check for salary surveys through your own professional association. Or wait until the boss is on vacation and try the old pass-an-anonymous-memo gambit.

Then what? If you’re making less than your co-workers, don’t run into your supervisor’s office with a demand. Instead, say “I know I’m falling on the low end of this company’s pay scale for the job. What do I have to do to get a higher salary?” Try to come away from that discussion with specific goals and a review in three or six months. And start applying for jobs in competing companies. Nothing gets you bumped up faster than an offer from the outside.