‘You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate’

‘You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate’

Ideally, we’d all earn what we deserve and our employers would give us raises according to our skill level, experience, and professional value — we’d never even have to ask. Of course, reality doesn’t usually work out that way. As author Chester Karrass has said: “You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.”

Photo by anton petukhov.

Quoting Karrass, financial expert Farnoosh Torabi explains that, as difficult as negotiating can be for some of us, it can make a huge difference in your earning potential. She uses her own career as an example:

I live by these words each time I strive to earn and save more. A story I often share is the one about doubling my salary when changing jobs back in 2006. I was up for the senior video correspondent role at TheStreet.com.

At the time, I was earning around $45,000 at my TV news job as a producer and sometimes-on-camera reporter. And, crazy as it sounds, I asked to more than double my salary with the new gig. I asked for $100,000.

My manager offered $85,000 (which would have been an incredible raise!). But I replied, “How about we agree to $90,000 right now and I don’t bother you in six months?” Next thing I heard? “We’ve got a deal. Welcome to TheStreet!”

It’s easy to get upset that your employer isn’t paying you what you believe you deserve, but getting upset doesn’t do much good. Negotiating, on the other hand, can make a difference. Check out the rest of Torabi’s advice at the link below.

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