via
http://bit.ly/2JkK35Edanipup:
catiematie:
princessofbadassery:
humanityinahandbag:
Today I did something that terrified the fuck out of me. But ladies, we all gotta do it at some point.
I got a contract for fulltime work given to me.
I looked at it.
I realized, calculating the amount they wanted to offer, that it would actually be less than I’m making part-time now.
So what did I do?
Let me tell you, every single piece of me wanted to stay quiet and settle and work my way up the ladder.
Until I realized that
I am worth more than they were offering, and it would be an insult to value me at any less than my actual worth.
I have a masters and a year’s worth of teaching under my belt.
I am a qualified professional who wants to make more than assistants pay.
Their reasoning for the pay was insurance. I’m given insurance that’s worth a great deal, so I shouldn’t worry too much because that added up to a bigger salary. Except insurance doesn’t do jack shit if I can’t pay for an apartment or car costs or student loans.
What did I do?
First
I breathed. I took a breath. I washed my face and had a quick cry in the bathroom. Ain’t nothing wrong with a real fast cry.
Second
I left a note on my bosses desk asking if he could speak to me about my contract whenever he was next available.
Third
Once in my bosses office, I calmly handed him my contract back and said, “I’m very honored that you thought of me for a position, but I cannot accept what you’re offering me. I have a masters and I’ve taught in this school for a year, and I’d been under the assumption that I’d be receiving a different position than this.” He asked me what I was looking for. I said, “I would work for no less than [MY RANGE]. And if you cannot offer me that, then I’ll have to continue working for you full time until I can find another position elsewhere that can.” I thanked him very much for the offer. I was polite and upfront about my expectations for the position that I wanted.
I can’t tell you what will happen. But I can tell you that going in there and establishing myself as a no BS worker who looks out for herself and negotiates got me farther than if I’d said nothing.
I don’t know the outcome yet. I really don’t.
But I can tell you that he is currently rewriting my contract with higher pay.
Will it be high enough to keep me there? I don’t know.
But I do know that today was me putting myself forward and taking a chance, and chances, no matter how small, do pay off.
Ladies.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK ABOUT YOUR CONTRACTS.
IT’S FUCKING TERRIFYING.
BUT DO IT ANYWAY.
BECAUSE YOU’RE WORTH MORE, AND THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Friends, there is something I need all of you to know:
As a group, white, straight, cis, upper-middle class men negotiate their salaries every single time. Every time. They have for decades.
It’s gotten to the point where 8 times out of 10, companies will low-ball all of their new employees just like what happened with OP, expecting to get a counter-offer. This happens for a combination of three reasons:
1) Most hiring managers are white, cis, upper-middle class men who cannot fathom that anybody would not know they need to counter-offer, or would not feel the urge to, or would not know that they can.
2) Due to employment discrimination (yes, it’s illegal, but it still happens all the time), many new hires are also white, straight, cis, upper-middle class men who know to negotiate, further contributing to the idea that “everybody just knows”.
3) Corporate owners, executives, and upper management want to get away with paying employees as little as possible. If they know that women, people of color, queer and trans people and people from below the upper-middle class are less likely to negotiate, they see that as a bonus. This is part of why the wage gap exists, and part of why companies try to (illegally, in the United States) keep employees from discussing salaries with one another.
If you counter-offer after receiving a job offer, you will not shock anyone. The hiring manager may act shocked. They may act scandalized. They may try to shame you. But don’t be fooled: they are very likely able to pay you much more than what they offered you. Counter-offer every time.
My husband’s mom had two companies in a bidding war for her because she was offered another job at better pay, so she went to her boss and told them what the better pay was and that’s why she was giving notice.
They upped her pay on the spot to exceed the offer from the new company.
When she went to the new company and said she couldn’t accept their offer because her current position have her a raise above their offer, they upped their offer again.
They did that for about a week until nothing companies topped out and her current company won.
You are worth it. You can negotiate. You need to negotiate.
this is amazing, and i challenge you to apply to other areas of your life as well. all of them.
you are worth it.
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