Quote:
Originally Posted by maverickstruth
Take myself, for example. When I entered the workforce, it never crossed my mind that I could (or should!) negotiate my salary. As I moved up in the organization (a highly unionized environment), I was restricted in terms of how much my salary could increase based on the things you identified - fixed steps, etc. - so that initial salary really 'set' my salary for many, many years (until I decided to leave that organization)..
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I know a lot of people, men and women, who would never even consider counter-offering a company's proposal when looking for a job, including people that I have specifically advised, when asked if a job offer seemed good, to do so. I think much of it depends upon how you view a job - if you think the company is doing you a favour by hiring you, because you NEED a job, you are unlikely to negotiate, whereas if you have the attitude that you're doing them a favour by adding your value to their benighted, unorganized chaos, you feel no compunction in asking them to pay for the privilege.
I think, in this scenario, a sense of entitlement is actually a bonus. As a tall, white male, I just expect I'm worth a lot of money to hire, and am confident that if I need a job, I won't be long in finding one. (And I'm only half-kidding - if you've never had trouble finding jobs, you assume you never will, and I'm sure having the trifecta of good birth luck has contributed in some part to developing that attitude). If I was, instead, a short black immigrant woman desperate to find *any* job, and with a history of rejection, I doubt I'd be as insouciant and blase about negotiating offers.