Archive for the ‘Job Compensation and Benefits’ Category

Effectively Negotiating Salary Packages

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Part of the job search process can include salary negotiation. With a basic knowledge of negotiation, your anxiety will be reduced and your success rate for negotiating will increase. There are several ways to make the process of salary negotiating effective. Start by taking a good look at your own salary requirements as well as developing an understanding of what your skills are worth in the current employment market.

==> Research salary ranges before you begin the interviewing process. Contact the professional association which represents your career field for salary information. Look at your monthly cash requirements. Keep in mind that your pay cheque after taxes is approximately 28% less than your gross monthly salary. Include savings and contingencies in your budget planning.
(You do not need to tell anyone your salary requirement: it only provides you a foundation on which to make decisions.

==> Enter the salary negotiation portion of your interview with a firm understanding of your skills and what they are worth to different segments of the economy and in a variety of industry settings.

==> The first inquiry about salary may come in the form of an application. When completing application forms, be sure to use “open”, “negotiable” or “competitive”. Avoid stating a specific figure.

==> Factor the organisations entire compensation package (ie. Tuition benefits, superannuation, health plan, and any perks) along with salary in your negotiation discussion. Compute the dollar worth of these benefits and add this figure to the salary for a more realistic picture of how the organisation compensates. If it is important to you, you may decide to negotiate benefits rather than an actual dollar increase.

==> When an interviewer asks for salary history or salary range, he/she is interested in establishing a starting point for negotiation. The important thing is to avoid basing your desired salary on your current salary. Do not lie about your past salary reference checks can easily provide this information. Provide information about why your salary may have been lower, if appropriate.

==> When starting a salary range, it is acceptable to extend the range to approximately $5,000. This shows that you are within the employer’s price range but interested in somewhat more compensation.

==> Determine opportunities for promotion. Job progression is an important factor in making salary decisions. Ask how promotions and salary reviews are handled.

By taking a good look at your own salary needs, understanding the current market, and approaching salary as something that you and the employer will agree on as mutually beneficial, your chances of successfully negotiating a salary are greatly enhanced.

Posted in Career Development, Career Planning, Finding a Job, Interview Preparation, Job Compensation and Benefits, Pakistan Job Market | No Comments »

Ten Reasons For You Should Never Get a Job

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

Here are some reasons you should do everything in your power to avoid getting a job:

1. I don’t need limited income and want to earn 24/7

2. A job only gives you experience at that job, but you gain ”experience” doing just about anything, so that’s no real benefit at all. Consider this. Which experience would you rather gain? The knowledge of how to do a specific job really well — one that you can only monetize by trading your time for money – or the knowledge of how to enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life without ever needing a job again? Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the latter experience. That seems a lot more useful in the real world, wouldn’t you say?

3. Getting a job is like enrolling in a human domestication program. You learn how to be a good pet. Humans are not meant to be raised in cages.

4. Employee income is the most heavily taxed there is But you can bet that from your employer’s perspective, all of those taxes are considered part of your pay, as well as any other compensation you receive such as benefits.

5. Many employees believe getting a job is the safest and most secure way to support themselves but your boss take it other way around (think on this point).

6. When you run into an idiot in the entrepreneurial world, you can turn around and head the other way. When you run into an idiot in the corporate world, you have to turn around and say, “Sorry, boss.”

7. You don’t need to begging for money, If you have a business and one customer says “no” to you, you simply say “next.”

8. Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. Believe it or not, there are locations on this planet where free people congregate. Just be wary of those jobless folk — they’re a crazy bunch!

9. It takes a lot of effort to tame a human being into an employee. The first thing you have to do is break the human’s independent will. A good way to do this is to give them a weighty policy manual filled with nonsensical rules and regulations. This leads the new employee to become more obedient, fearing that s/he could be disciplined at any minute for something incomprehensible. Thus, the employee will likely conclude it’s safest to simply obey the master’s commands without question. Stir in some office politics for good measure, and we’ve got a freshly minted mind slave.

10. Have you noticed that employed people have an almost endless capacity to whine about problems at their companies? But they don’t really want solutions – they just want to vent and make excuses why it’s all someone else’s fault. It’s as if getting a job somehow drains all the free will out of people and turns them into spineless cowards. If you can’t call your boss a jerk now and then without fear of getting fired, you’re no longer free. You’ve become your master’s property.

When you work around cowards all day long, don’t you think it’s going to rub off on you? Of course it will. It’s only a matter of time before you sacrifice the noblest parts of your humanity on the altar of fear: first courage… then honesty… then honor and integrity… and finally your independent will. You sold your humanity for nothing but an illusion. And now your greatest fear is discovering the truth of what you’ve become.

Still want a job?

Posted in Future Dreams, Job Compensation and Benefits, Job Search, Pakistan Job Market | No Comments »