After 16 years in the field, I have a resume that I am darn proud of.
But no one ever taught me, in graduate school or anywhere else, how to
negotiate salaries and benefits to reflect my background.
I found a book called "How to Make $1000 a Minute" by Jack Chapman. It
is the best $8.95 I ever spent (I checked it out of the library twice
then realized I had to have my own copy). It gives sample dialogs and
scenarios about when to talk money, how to do it, and how to respond to
their responses. It tells you when to keep your mouth shut!! For
someone basically shy about everything, money intimidated me terribly.
I rehearsed the parts I thought most relevent, and sure enough, got 25%
over the inital offer on one job, and 33% over the inital figure on
another. My subsequent raises will be figured on those starting
figures. The book also includes things like benefits and raises, which
I hadn't considered, but which were flexible on one job, and not
flexible on the other(so we went back to the salary issue).
This book reads easily and is entertaining as well as educational. It
was on the shelf at my local Bookstar bookstore, but is easily ordered
if not on-hand.
