Fearless Money

Despite my hopeful post a couple weeks ago, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to get another day job. Darn.

One thing that’s been bothering me about the job hunt is how readily and how early people ask about my "rate". I hate answering that question, and I’m starting to think I should refuse until a later stage of the interview. The truth is, I have a cutoff number, below which I seriously cannot go without entering a downward financial spiral.

Everything above that is negotiable depending on how much I like the job, its security, the people involved, and the potential for advancement. None of that nuance is communicated by the flat "what’s your rate?". Writing this out makes me realize I need to be firmer and simply refuse the question until I know enough to negotiate properly.

From now on, the only time I’ll answer it is if it is going to be a "1099 contract", when I’ll say $65-70/hour. If I have to hassle around, pay quarterly taxes and get my own insurance, someone’s gonna pay for that. I suppose I could do it through my new LLC though. That’s a useful thing about having a company of your own that I hadn’t considered. Hmm.

Inspiration

Last week, I read an inspiring and thoughtful article about how to negotiate for a better salary. I’m still trying to apply it to my own circumstances. I think I simply need to claim my own considerable strength and really go for the wage I deserve. If that means way more responsibility than I’m used to, so be it, if that means I have a written, negotiated performance incentive, so be it.

Another article from the same site gets more directly to the point with this advice:

Here’s an E-Z way to make more money the next time you change jobs: Do NOT tell the HR department or hiring manager of the company with which you’re interviewing how much you make in your present job. Trust me, they’ll always ask “How much are you making now?” Do NOT tell them! They’ll look irritated and ask again, as if you might not have understood their question. But simply stick to your guns and politely say “Until we reach an agreement, I’d prefer to keep my W-2 figures private. I understand that the salary range for this job is $___, and that is acceptable for me.” End of story.

OK! I’m sold on the strategy, now I just need a job.

Technorati Tags: employment, unemployement, pay, salary, negotiation