Jack Chapman wrote Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute.  He’s be sharing ideas with Jill and up to 1,000 people (it will fill up) … AT NO COST.  You want to get on this webinar.  Here’s the email I got from Jill:

LAST CHANCE to SIGN UP / F-R-E-E Webinar
Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute

When: Thursday, July 22, 1pm EDT, 12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT
Presenter: Jack Chapman, author of Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute
Register:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051

In 20 minutes my client, Pat, made an extra $20,000.  His [new] employer told him, “If I had any doubts about you to begin with, they’re all gone now.

Pat used Jack’s “No Dollar Left Behind” compensation method.  It begins weeks before you actually get an offer when you are asked, “What range salary were you thinking of?”  Or, “What are you earning now?” A single misstep at this juncture can cost thousands a few days later.

One of the most lucrative negotiations you’ll ever do is for a created job that has no salary attached.  Jill Konrath says she has… “created opportunities in big companies and small ones.  In most cases these organizations didn’t have a penny in their budget for my services.”  You can help a company see your value, create a project or job for you.  And you will be in the strongest negotiating position possible: They know your value, and you’ve got no competition.

You’ll learn:

• when to discuss salary at all and how to hold off until then,
• who goes first and why,
• what the unfailingly single best reply to an offer is,
• how to evaluate your worth in the market place on the one hand,
• and on the other hand, how to get the top of that range.

…And we’ll include special advice related to Jill’s Job Creation Scenarios.

You KNOW you’ll be in negotiations one of these days.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  Come and learn the art and science of salary negotiation.  “Dig your well before you’re thirsty,” as Harvey Mackay would say.

REGISTER NOW for Thursday’s webinar on Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051

Even if your busy, sign up.  You can always listen in at a later time.  We’ll send you the link as soon as it’s ready for prime time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack Chapman is the author of  Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minut e, known as the bible of salary negotiations.  Now in its 6th edition it covers the broad principles and the nitty gritty details of getting the salary, raise, options, benefits, commissions, sign-on, bonus, residual, etc., income for yourself.  With 30 years in career and salary coaching, Jack has a wealth (literally) of information to help you negotiate.

Jack Chapman is the author of several job search books, and best in class webinars and workshops.  Some examples include: Job Search 2.0, SpeedSearch, and Revolutionary Resume Replacements.

Register today!
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051

Go check it out!!!

First is Long-Term Unemployment: 80 Percent Of People Jobless Last Summer Still Out Of Work from the Huffington Post.

Second is 7 Wildly Successful People Who Survived Bankruptcy from Mental Floss.

They tie together… some thoughts:

• 8 out of 10 have not gotten jobs since last summer?  That is a disgrace, and says something about the economy and any efforts of the gov’t … as well as any stats coming from the gov’t about how great things are.
• If you scroll down on the HuffPo article you’ll see a graphic about the breakdown, including how many people simply “dropped out” of the “job search.”  Right below that it says that 61% of the people who got jobs didn’t get real career jobs they wanted, rather something to just get by until they got something they wanted (or needed).  In other words, of the 21% who got employment, MOST of them got step-jobs (or, they are underemployed or unhappily employed).
• 70% are depleting their retirement funds (think about the systemic results of this!!) and 45% are financing unemployment with credit cards (ouch!  high interest, prone to bankruptcy, and who’s going to foot the bill for any unpaid credit card bills??).
• There are a bunch of other stats/info on the HuffPo post, even with regards to age discrimination… go read it.
• Mental Floss bankruptcy article – you should recognize all 7 names on there, and probably the others from the comments.  For those 7 it was not the end of the world.  I’m not suggesting you go declare bankruptcy today, but what you are going through will not be the end of the world, even if it feels like it is.  Each of those people had to have gone through personal turmoil during that period – shame, humility, depression, blame… many of the same feelings that job seekers go through.

I hate to think “it is what it is” because I feel like “it” is what we make it… but sometimes… many times, life happens and we don’t have control over what happens.  We do have control over how we respond or react… those seven people came out of bankruptcy quite well.  And many people who have been unemployed since last summer have the skills, capacity and drive to develop their own businesses… whether it is a “small” consultancy or a large business… every business starts somewhere, right?

At what age do you think age discrimination (for older workers) starts?

What should older workers do about age discrimination?

Age discrimination is TOUGH.  When I started my job search I was 32.  I felt OLD compared to the college kids that were getting interviews… I figured they had smaller families (we had 3.5 kids – yeah, pregnant wife and laid off – not cool), no mortgage (I had recently moved from small-town to real city and my house price doubled), etc.

All that meant they could work for less… maybe not happily, but for me I had a minimum that I could not go below (or else I’d have to work two+ jobs).

At the same time, I felt pretty young compared to others I was competing with.  As I started networking I found out that others who were trying for the same jobs I was shooting for had about 20 years experience more than I had.  Same credentials, same degrees, but they had many more years experience than I had.  I was TOO YOUNG.

Talk about being between a rock and a hard spot.

Head on over to the two links above to check out over 50 comments about age discrimination, and suggestions and advice.  If the questions are closed feel free to leave a comment here on this post.

Age discrimination = YUCK!

If it weren’t for the whole “copyright violation” thing, I’d reprint this article in its entirety. It’s called “The Salary Game,” by Donald Asher, and I love, love, LOVE it. It made me laugh out loud, and it reminded me strongly of the absolute impenetrability advised in my favorite section of J.P Donleavy’s hysterical book, The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners. (That would be “Upon the Sudden Reawakening of Your Sordid Background.”)

The simple truth is, employers start with the upper hand when it comes to salary. They know what their budget is, they know what range of compensation they set, they know what the last person got paid, they know how much money they need to save on the next person they hire, and if they’ve got a bead on two otherwise identical candidates, they’ll go for the one who’ll take the lower salary.

What’s more, money’s still one of the greatest taboo topics in our nation. Sure, we constantly hear about the millions that celebrities make, but when it comes down to you and me – regular folks who happen to be good at what we do and deserve to be well-compensated at it – we often find ourselves uncomfortable when it comes to asking for the money we deserve. Not out of greediness, but from a place of sheer authenticity and integrity.

So when it comes to salary and negotiation, I beg these three things of you:

1. Read, re-read, and find more. Commit Asher’s article to memory, and keep seeking out more ways to handle the salary conversation.

2. Role-play. Find someone you feel comfortable with, and practice putting these tactics into action. You want them to feel so natural coming out of you that, when you get into the real situation, you get the hiring managers to automatically bend to your will.

3. Focus on the value, not the cost. Sales-type questions, like “What would you have to see in the first 60-90 days to know you’ve made the right decision?” take the focus off salary (an expense in their eyes), and put it on results (their income). And making a point throughout the hiring process to focus on results and performance makes it easier for a hiring manager to choose you over a candidate who may take a lower salary but isn’t as results-focused. That way, there’s a clearer ROI with you than the other person, and an easier decision.

Suddenly, salary questions are getting a bit more complicated.

If ever there was a time to consider the broader job offer package and what it delivers, this is it. From flexible work hours to telecommuting, 401(k) matching to stock options, the base salary you get from your employer (or the one you offer to a prospective job candidate) is becoming less of a factor in the job decision these days.

Don’t get me wrong – base salary isn’t becoming irrelevant by any stretch of the imagination. I’m simply pointing out the fact that, in previous job surveys, quality of life plays a much higher role in job satisfaction than salary alone.

You probably knew that, but did you take it to the next level? Considering what’s going on in our economy, and knowing how expensive it is to find and recruit new talent, isn’t it that much more important to look at the whole pay package now?

And how much more satisfied will people be if their companies take into account the current economic situation when crafting job offers and reviewing best practices for benefits to existing employees?

Look at gas prices alone. Employees can literally save hundreds of dollars a month if they have a 9/80 or 4/40 work schedule; if the company promotes carpooling, vanpooling, or public transportation options; and if employees are allowed to telecommute one or two days a week.

Telecommuting still isn’t what you’d call “widely available” to people, but it could be with one simple tweak to expectations. Just set a goal. Say, “I’ll let you stay home to work today, but I want X, Y, and Z done to show for it.”

Check out this CNNMoney.com story to learn more about how folks are feeling in this economy….

For anyone to be calling “Recession!” right now is the equivalent of calling “Shotgun!” for the front passenger seat before anyone’s decided to even leave the house.

All the talk in the media about recession is essentially scare-mongering. No, I’m not saying things aren’t bad, or that we aren’t in a recession now. (They’re right, we probably are.)

But it’s getting completely blown out of proportion. I’m convinced that the so-called “pundits” who are blathering on about it will actually do more harm than good. They’re going to take the negative effects of a recession and turn it into a vicious circle that ends up making the eventually-declared recession a lot worse than it could have been, if they’d have exercised a little restraint.

Wall Street may be seeing chaos, and it’s possible some of the shareholder retribution will involve layoffs or job cuts. The employment numbers coming out this year don’t seem to bode very well either.

But employment surveys we’ve quoted before have said as recently as September of 2007 that the balance of power – especially at the management, executive, and professional level – is tipping in favor of the resume senders, not the resume receivers.

What does this all mean for you, the mid-career job seeker? It means that, for the most part, nothing has changed.

Networking? Just as important as it always was.

Updating your resume? Still necessary.

Defining for yourself what your ideal job or next step there looks like? You had to do it before, and you have to do it now, and you’ll have to do it until you die. Or retire.

And now (perhaps more than ever), you need to focus on the value you deliver. Document your results. It’ll offer you some cover in the job you already have, and it’ll concretely demonstrate what you can do for the next employer who evaluates your job candidacy.

Wanna succeed in the face of a recession? Just follow through.

(Okay, I’ll freely admit that half the reason I was flipping through the content of the magazine was because both the Sudoku and crossword puzzles had been completed by the person in the seat before me. How often are flight attendants supposed to change out the magazines in the seat-back pockets, anyway?)

Back to the story. Asher’s February article, “The Salary Game,” revolved around the plight of an anonymous 36-year-old female executive, making $80K, who had just found out she was making $62K less – yes, sixty-two thousand dollars less – than a male colleague for doing essentially the same job.

Now, this could be a gender thing, a bad negotiation thing, a company trying to keep every penny it can, or a combination of any or all of these. But while the gender thing is more of a macro discussion, we can at least address the micro – the tactics of negotiating salary.

I’m not going to reveal Asher’s tactics here – honestly, it’s worth the click through to read it yourself. He suggests multiple deflective responses to employers asking you your salary requirements during the interview process, and I laughed more because of his awesome suggestions than my fellow airplane riders did to the in-flight movie. (Lars and the Real Girl, since you wondered.)

His point: Save honest-to-goodness salary negotiation for the one time in the hiring process when you have the power – when they say they want you, and make you an offer:

Then, when it comes to actually negotiating the terms, be nice but firm. Appeal to market rates, which you know from your prior research. The pertinent number is not what you earned before, but what it would cost them to hire someone else besides you. That’s the market rate.

(As an aside, USAirwaysMag.com seems to archive their issues online, which is great news – you can dive deeper into Asher’s writing. Not every inflight mag offers their content so freely online.)

And how do you feel about it? Do you think you should be getting more? Are you dissatisfied with all or part of what you’re getting? Or just vaguely uneasy, thinking that you could be doing better, but you’re not sure how to resolve that sensation?

Well, to answer those kinds of questions, I put myself in your shoes and started putting in Google searches. I tried “salary audit,” and discovered that unless auditing is your vocation, that’s not the search to be making.

After more searches, though, I couldn’t really find something simple and straightforward about evaluating whether you’re getting paid what you’re worth, so – what the heck – I’ve just decided to give you the simple steps here:

1. Head over to Salary.com. You can afford a personal salary report, so go ahead and get one.

2. Check with your trade group, licensing body, or industry association. It’s likely these groups are tracking average salary information in your field, so reach out and get some more info from them.

3. See what the government has to say. The Bureau of Labor Statistics at the Department of Labor has a whole passel of information to share with you. Gotta get something back for those tax dollars, right?

4. Ask your network. Sure, money’s not a subject everyone likes to talk about. But if you’re forthcoming and have some good relationships with other professionals in your field, you’ll likely be successful in gathering more information.

5. Don’t forget the benefits. Some make a tangible difference in the total value of your job. You’re more likely to get useful information out of your network on this one.

How’s that for a good start? Got any other advice for evaluating your salary situation? Share it here!

In the case of today’s salary-related post, a combination of the two has led me here. Amy Quinn at HR World has been letting me know about some articles they’ve recently posted, and I’ve been exploring their site a bit as a result.

This article, which I found under their Payroll section, was possibly one of the most interesting things I’ve read all year. How could you not love a piece entitled “Tales of Outrageous Compensation,” anyway? Especially when the feature by Christina Wood starts off with this attention-grabbing opener:

“The world of compensation can be strange and unpredictable. Some people do invaluable work for a pittance while others make more money than any human could possible spend simply for being who they are. Even when salaries find some normalcy, there are creative compensation arrangements out there that prove that every paycheck is as individual as the relationship between the people paying and the one receiving the paycheck. Read on for some of our favorite tales of outrageous compensation.”

And unlike the “craziest story you ever heard of” holiday party story I flagged in the last blog post, these stories either come from journalistic sources, from consultants who were there when it happened, to managers and executives who went through it and lived to tell about it.

What’s the craziest compensation tale you know? And to keep it honest, make it yours or someone you know personally (no “I heard a friend of a friend of a colleague said…” stuff). Do tell!

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“The survey results from 2005 to present show an increasingly competitive job market for professional-level and highly skilled positions,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “To recruit successfully, companies must ’sell’ applicants on the benefits of working for their firms. Organizations that are adept at promoting the positive and unique aspects of their corporate cultures to prospective hires have a significant advantage over their competitors.”

There’s a full report to be downloaded there if you like getting into the nitty-gritty of things. Personally, one of the things I love best about this report is how it manages to touch on a range of topics related to management-level work – many of which are categories within this blog.

For example, one of their findings is that “voluntary turnover” (i.e., “I quit!”) rates have been increasing over the past couple of years. And though the surveyed employers are trying to fight back with salary and job benefit changes, employees surveyed say that they’d respond better to work-life balance changes.

In short, if you’re an executive, manager, or professional type who’s either in the job market now, or planning to be soon, things are looking up for you. Take heart, and make sure your resume is a winner with a free critique.