Today I did something that terrified the fuck out of me. But ladies, we all gotta do it at some point.
I got a contract for fulltime work given to me.
I realized, calculating the amount they wanted to offer, that it would actually be less than I’m making part-time now.
Let me tell you, every single piece of me wanted to stay quiet and settle and work my way up the ladder.
I am worth more than they were offering, and it would be an insult to value me at any less than my actual worth.
I have a masters and a year’s worth of teaching under my belt.
I am a qualified professional who wants to make more than assistants pay.
Their reasoning for the pay was insurance. I’m given insurance that’s worth a great deal, so I shouldn’t worry too much because that added up to a bigger salary. Except insurance doesn’t do jack shit if I can’t pay for an apartment or car costs or student loans.
I breathed. I took a breath. I washed my face and had a quick cry in the bathroom. Ain’t nothing wrong with a real fast cry.
I left a note on my bosses desk asking if he could speak to me about my contract whenever he was next available.
Once in my bosses office, I calmly handed him my contract back and said, “I’m very honored that you thought of me for a position, but I cannot accept what you’re offering me. I have a masters and I’ve taught in this school for a year, and I’d been under the assumption that I’d be receiving a different position than this.” He asked me what I was looking for. I said, “I would work for no less than [MY RANGE]. And if you cannot offer me that, then I’ll have to continue working for you part time until I can find another position elsewhere that can.” I thanked him very much for the offer. I was polite and upfront about my expectations for the position that I wanted.
I can’t tell you what will happen. But I can tell you that going in there and establishing myself as a no BS worker who looks out for herself and negotiates got me farther than if I’d said nothing.
I don’t know the outcome yet. I really don’t.
But I can tell you that he is currently rewriting my contract with higher pay.
Will it be high enough to keep me there? I don’t know.
But I do know that today was me putting myself forward and taking a chance, and chances, no matter how small, do pay off.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK ABOUT YOUR CONTRACTS.
BECAUSE YOU’RE WORTH MORE, AND THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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