11/18/2019 0 Comments Negotiating Job Offers (Income/Skills)Don't stress, this is a good thing. They like you!
Before we get into the job offer (and a blog I will cover later), hopefully you have done your homework on your worth within that industry and that location, via numerous methods, that you have applied. You probably gave them a ballpark salary range, or you wouldn't have got this far. Phone screens and interviews went well. You caught the clues they liked you, you got the phone call they want you on-board and now you get the official letter with the details. Take a pause, let it sit, let it resonate. This is a good thing. After a day or so, come back to the offer letter and look at the details. 1- Salary: You gave them a ballpark figure and they came back with an offer. Does the offer fit this salary range? Is the offer a match for your skill set? Do you have other offers and how does this compare? Have you researched the salary range for this position in your location? This is how you consider the salary. 2- Bonus: Is there a bonus offer? How does this supplement the rest of the package? Think about why. You are in a world of finances and cashflow now. A bonus now may save the company money in one area. It also may look nice up front to you, but is that best for you in the long run? Way the pros and cons of upfront money versus the long haul. 3- Relocation (HOR move): Have you used your Home of Record move? You can leverage that if you have not and instead get more of a bonus or negotiate it into your salary. If not, how far are you moving? How much do you have to move? This is a large cost to organizations, so if you can offset it, it will be a nice bargaining chip. However, you may need it just as much, so something worth considering. 4- Stock options/401k match: Depending on the size of your company, you may or may not be able to negotiate this. Sometimes, private organizations have "stock" options and you may be able to negotiate that. What is the company history and background? What are your short and long term goals? Is money upfront less risky? Maybe the money upfront helps you fund a side hustle. 5- Time off: Similar to 4, may or may not be negotiable. Tread carefully here, coming out the gate asking for more time off may start the buyer’s remorse thinking off the bat. 6- Insurance: Again, similar to 4, 5, may or may not be negotiable. As healthcare costs increase, this is something you may want to seriously look at and consider however. What is your health, the health of your spouse, are you planning on kids, surgeries, etc? 7- Work from home: Have you considered this a benefit? What is it worth to you and why? Tips 1- Have your statistics ready. Have reasons why you are asking for each and be able to support it. 2- Prepare from the starts. 3- Try not to discuss salary until the offer is made...keep it broad. 4- Try not to be the first to throw a number out. 5- Don't try to negotiate if they met all your demands. 6- Be willing to walk away. 7- Don't negotiate until the offer is in writing. 8- Do not haggle. You are not buying used car. Take each category separately for the reason/stats you found. Example: This is not a store, and you are not bartering. The employer tells you that the annual salary for that position is $150,000, and you thought you deserve more, so you ask for $175,000. The employer expresses the possibility that they may be able to provide $160,000 for the position, then you jump in with $165,000. When he said that $165,000 is already over their budget for that role, you ask for more vacation days. Let’s face it: this looks tacky. You just made yourself look tacky, cheap… and unprofessional. How to avoid this mistake: Again, you should have already researched on the salary for that position, and how much budget the company allotted for it. Name your target figure, and ask whether it is within their budget range or not. If they say no, then believe them. Take this exchange, for example: Candidate: I am aware that you have budgeted $150,000 for the position. However, I believe that my level of experience warrants a higher rate, should I accept the job. HR: How much do you have in mind? Candidate: Can you make it $165,000? HR: Due to budget constraints and limitations, we can only go as high as $160,000. Candidate: I see. Then, may I give you my answer on Friday? You asked for a salary for a reason and a number of days off for a reason, don't be tacky and change it because one area was not met. It isn't really good faith negotiating and looks tacky as stated above. These are all things to consider when accepting or putting a counter-offer in. And again, relax, they like you and negotiating is part of your life now, after all, you are in the business world now!
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This week I will keep it short and sweet!
As Veterans in the business world, we would be the first to say that no one owes us anything. Likewise, we have served our time, and likely our mentality is no one owes us anything. Now I mean this in the business sense. We certainly joined the service for a reason and likely enjoy giving back, be it to our community, through mentorship and coaching, continued public service, etc. However, time and again, I still have a few things that bother me a bit. 1- Entitlement 2- Us versus Them Entitlement. For those out there who feel they are owed something, you probably need to get over it. You still get your fair share of handshakes, hat tips, nods, and so on. But from the business world perspective, you are not owed. Personally, most are grateful for your service, but it still comes down to dollars and sense (no I don't mean cents). It is a financial and data driven decision if it makes sense to support veterans in the business world. So continue to leverage your veteran status and use that to network and stay tight to your former brothers and sisters in arms, just do not expect anything in return, that way when you do receive something, it is that much more rewarding! Which ties me to point 2. It is not non-military versus former military. Get away from the “they” just do not get us, because you know what, “they” do not. You are the one percenter, not them. Rather, use that time to educate them. Likewise, when you get that opportunity, leverage it to educate your organization on Veterans. Take the lead and pay it forward and certainly, do not make it an us versus them. Here I mean, NCOs versus Officers, Navy versus Army, and on and on. Help them out, mentor, learn, coach. Remember how hard it was for you and help that veteran and your organization bridge that gap. It just may be the most rewarding thing for yourself and the service member. So more than looking for the non-military wink or salute, look for opportunities to help one another out any way that you can. That way we can continue to each be proud veterans and we can each fulfill some of that emptiness from when we left the service! "There are more people today working at jobs that they don't like. I'll tell you honestly that the successful man is a guy who works at a job, who likes his work, who can't wait to get up in the morning to get down to the office, and that's my criteria. And I've always been that way."
The following is a quote from "The Millionaire Next Door." Though it pertains to how to become a millionaire, I find it relevant to the military transition. See, you are much more likely to succeed in doing something you enjoy. Now, you must parlay that with your skill set. If you don't have the skill set, you may need to settle on something you are qualified on and working on a side-gig or getting an education or whatever is necessary to fulfill your interest. The earlier you start this process of learning who you are, what you want, and how bridge the skill gap the better. In a recent conversation with Dan McCall from Lucas Group, he recommends starting 2 years out. Now you can see all these blogs starting to connect. Start your transition early, how to grow a side-gig, etc. along with podcast (should I go after certifications or MBA?). Furthermore, you can click on my vlog link to watch the video on assessing Income vs Location vs Growth and comparing that to Skills vs Culture vs Interests. This should help tie this all together when you start balancing if chasing this interest versus that interest is a legitimate career path or does it need to grow as a side gig. It becomes clear and evident when writing resumes, interviewing, conversing, etc. if someone is engaged in interested in a topic. Body language, voice, eyes, it is all different. Likewise, the quality of the answer is different. So you can start with conversing with people and take not of your interest in the conversation. Do you enjoy talking about the topic, feel excited to learn more, listen and ask questions? Unless you have numerous examples or skills related to that topic, start crossing it off you list of interests. It becomes easier to know what you are qualified for and what you like once you have eliminated all the waste, call it the Lean way of finding your interests, reducing the waste! To circle back to the above quote, that may mean finding something that interests or it may mean being self-employed, or it may mean money. You can basically directly correlate interest to income and growth. So if you interested in location, you will probably sacrifice interest, at least initially. You may have to work at it on the side. But if you want income or particularly growth, you are much more apt to go further if you enjoy going to work and taking the extra time working on something. We often know why we want to get out of the military. We certainly get a lot of advice on what we would be good at or what we are qualified for. But most people don't ask about our interest first, before tying it to our skills. Do yourself a favor and start with those interests and find out how they pertain to the business or corporate world. Read books, magazines, news, newspapers, etc. Start as early as possible and the more you keep coming back to things, the more likely you are to be interested in that topic and therefore achieve a successful transition. I failed, at least initially, at my military transition. I failed because I really didn't know what I wanted, and ultimately, who I was. I failed because I didn't listen to the right people and trusted the wrong sources. I failed because I tried to please everyone instead of myself. I failed because I had an exit plan, but not an entry plan. I failed because I was scared, I couldn't translate any skills and I would lose my job quickly without the security of the military. I failed because I prioritized the wrong things. I failed because I didn't focus on the right things.
I didn't know who I was. I thought I was a leadership master who was going to run a Bass Pro Shops one day in the future. If I could lead people in combat, I could influence people to make a difference anyplace. Well, those who volunteer are in a different class than those making near minimum wage. Each Soldier is a professional, not every worker is. Within months after my transition, my working out and healthy eating ways by night started to intertwine with the fact I was supposed to sell more sugar to the next customer passing through the door. I couldn't live with myself personally and I realized, I was a leader of leaders, not a leader of workers. I didn't listen to my brother-in-law, who had extensive knowledge and experience in the retail industry. He told me exactly how it was and what it would be like and how he wasn't sure if I was a fit. But I took career tests that told me Retail Management and I wanted to believe the recruiters and prospect of making some major cash soon. I tried to please everyone. I think I had over 100 different versions of my resume. I chased after this and that certification. I tried to make myself marketable to every possible situation, job, company. What I didn't do is focus on what I wanted and learned myself more. I didn't really analyze my skill set, my values, and my interest and then strategically go after my fit, instead, I tried to shape myself into each peg and fit every hole. My exit plans. I knew why I wanted to leave the military. I had about five major reasons that I truly believed in. I still believe in them to this day and by no means regret leaving the military. What I do regret is not focusing on what I wanted more, instead of dwelling on the past. It was like I had to keep selling to myself the decision, because of course, I constantly had people asking are you sure you want to do this...heck, people still ask me to this day. I had no entry plan, I took certifications, networked, worked my resume, etc. I did all the "right" things, however, I did not do it with an organized or direction or specific mission or goal in mind. I would be the equivalent of going on convoy to just drive around with no training intent, no mission to move supplies or personnel, just saying let’s go for a ride! I didn't assess my skills. I took the approach like I was in the military. I am a jack of all trades. Put me in the job and I will learn it quickly and excel at it. Well that doesn't work. News flash, you are hired for what you can specifically do! My skills list went from 50 or whatever ridiculous number it was to about 20. And of those 20, half are routinely practiced, the other skills I have, but I am less proficient at, they are supplementary job skills, not primary ones. Now, I know who I personally am (above) and professionally am and can focus my efforts accordingly. Because I have this confidence of who I am, I am less worried about translating my skills and less worried about job security, which takes a lot of the stress out of it. That, and I realized that every role isn't P&L, it isn't make money for us now or else you are fired next week, no mistakes! In fact, I would say the military called for far more perfection. I prioritized the wrong things. I prioritized the resume formatting, the PMI certification because I thought it made me more marketable, reading book after book about interviewing. I think I wrote down and prepared answers for nearly 200 interview questions. Let me tell you, there really isn't 200 questions, they all go more or less the same, and if you take time learning who you are (personally and professionally above) and network before the interview, chances are, you will be comfortable and more conversational, and therefore, be able to manage the interview more, rather than letting the interview manage you. I didn't focus on the right things. I wanted growth and my wife wanted location. I sacrificed some income. What I didn't consider was the mission or the culture. As I mentioned above, the culture was a clue about some of the indeed reviews and I quickly realized it was a beat down, drag out culture...it was survival, no real team effort...every man for himself, which was drastically different than my time in the military. The mission wasn't right because of my personal beliefs I forgot all about. Location was great and I was on a growth plan, but I was miserable every day. 4 or so years to become a leader of leader seemed like forever, especially while in the prime of life and starting a family. I thought I know what our priorities where, but I was dead wrong. It took all these failures, and a little break, to get the opportunity to launch my real transition. I sacrificed location, I sacrificed planned growth (though I quickly made up for that by making a name for myself). I gained some income, but I lead no one, which is kind of nice for a change. I am more of fit trying to reduce waste and save rather than making money for an organization. Just as important but feels like a lot less pressure personally. My point being, sometimes you must make mistakes to learn from them and learn who you really are. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes, but realize you will make some, learn from them, don't dwell on them and keep focused on the road and goals ahead. With some planning, honest assessment and hard work, you can make it there! 10/23/2019 0 Comments Diet and Exercise (Growth/Interests)So you have transitioned out of the military, ready to start a new chapter in your life. You may be starting a new career, maybe starting school at night, potentially settling down with someone, buying a house, starting a family. Maybe some of the above, maybe all of the above, but the bottom line is change is coming. Eventually, I will get into pay, taxes, retirement, etc. but first, I want to focus on diet and fitness.
Along with some or all of the above mentioned, you are probably close to or at the next age step in your life. You are no longer a kid who can eat trash all day, watch football, drink beer and get up and run it off Monday morning with the unit. Not only are you older, but there is no unit. So you get used to sleeping in a bit longer with no PT and it feels good, but the diet does not change. The job you get probably isn't that intensely physical, or not like it was in the military, so you begin to lose some of the additional caloric burn you had before just doing your job. Bonus, every Thursday you team visits the local mom and pop lunch spot to talk business and they make a mean lasagna. Finally, of course, there are the project, or sales, or team celebrations or just a bunch of people getting together for after work drinks at the local watering hole on Friday's. Next thing you know it, you have made that successful transition. A year as has gone by, you are in the groove at work, the military is just a thought in your mind, heck you have even grow out your beard for the first time, Nice! Unfortunately, you get that bathing suit back out for the summer and you have transitioned in another way...you no longer fit! Now to some, this may be perfectly fine with you, but my point is, a lot of what you took for granted gets away from you, and fast. Couple that with father time, and well, you need to have a plan. I say all this because it happened to me. I got out and still did some running, but the gym membership I had didn't last very long with the hours I was working. And at first, I worked at Truck Stop and got free sodas and discounts at McDonald's and Subway. Now I was running around a lot at work, so the impact was not immediately felt. However, I then moved to a job that was not as physically active nor demanding when I was active. On top of that, my wife get pregnant and I am not the one who likes food going to waste. So as she ate some of this and some of that, I scooped up the leftovers. In the matter of two years, I jumped from 174 to 200. I had no plan, I thought I was wrong, I was not used to a more inactive lifestyle, and I kept eating like it without doing much exercise outside of 2 mile run four times a week. HERE IS MY PLUG----I BECAME KETO! Now, though I will share my journey, my point is not to sell keto, it is to make you aware, which ever direction you decide to go, I just used keto and therefore, it is my example My wife and I decided to get serious about 9 months after the birth of our daughter. Within the first month, I had lost 12 pounds through diet and 30 minutes of weights, five days a week. We started dirty keto, just limiting carbs, which helped at first, but then we stagnated a bit. We reduced the dairy (eating a lot of cheese seemed so awesome at first). That helped shed off a bit more. Then, to become more healthy, we began cutting out the processed foods (no more jimmy dean sausages with my eggs). A few more pounds came off. As the weight started coming off and the carbs cleared my body, the energy increased. First, no more lulls after lunch, then the constantly sustained energy. A boy this was needed, I now had a toddler running around and couldn't afford to sit down from the hours of 5am to 9pm. My back started hurting a bit less and less and with the energy, I got a standing desk at work. Now my back feels great and I burn more calories. Next thing I knew it, I was lifting weights more aggressively (still in the same 30 minutes) without taking breaks in between rotating sets and muscle groups. I started shattering personal records. But as it all related to work, I was running circles around my peers, high energy and not tired and not glued to my desk. In earlier, out later and still not coming home crashing, but playing with my daughter. My hole life in improved, especially when the alcohol began to get cut out. I did not want unnecessary carbs from beer and without the carbs, two drinks felt like 12, which again, I couldn't afford the next day with a child running around screaming. So the drinks got all but cut, which also helped on the pocket (and that was a benefit as i adapted to paying taxes and taking home less money). Now I am fully in. Last business trip, as the team ordered, they look at me and said, "You are highly disciplined, I don't know how you do it." In which I replied, "I have been doing it for 8 months, I don't have to think about it, it's just my way of life now, it is that easy." The moral here is simple, understand a lot will change and have a plan before you a few years down the road looking in the mirror wondering what happened. And if for nothing else, I guarantee you will see it in your work performance and you if you see, so will your boss. Finally some good news, this is not the military, if it is seen, you will be rewarded (monetarily or promotion) almost immediately, not just on track or one year above your peers! Eric provides his 4 Mindset Tips for a Successful Side-Hustle.
Tip 1: Do what you know. The best investors will tell you never to invest in something that you don't understand, well the same can be said for a successful side gig. Any business is comprised of 3 primary components, funding, knowledge, and hustle. While you might have the other two covered, you likely won't be successful unless you know what you're doing. Whether you already have a strong knowledge base established or you intend to acquire it, make sure you don't jump into a new endeavor completely unprepared. Even paying a mentor to get you on the right track could end up multiplying your success in the long run. Seek out experts in that business and absorb knowledge from them like a sponge. You will still learn lessons simply through the process, but an appropriate level of foundational education can save you a tremendous amount of time, money, and anguish. Be sure to never stop educating yourself though. If you're starting a sales business, attend a sales class or seminar. If you want to get in to real estate investing, look for a local mentor and listen to podcasts. Trying to learn the entire business A-Z while simultaneously putting all your capital in will be stressful, exhausting, and can lead to significant imposter syndrome. Build a strong knowledge framework, then start allocating funds and hustle. Tip 2: Know when to rest. Sure, there are plenty of people out there that will tell you to work your face off like Gary V. While he is a thoughtful leader and influencer, he does what works for him. We all must know when we need to rest. Crashing from exhaustion and starting over the next day will only go so far before you hit burn out. Always plan time in your day to rest. Your heart spends nearly 2/3 of its existence in a state of rest despite our thought that it is always beating and working. The actual muscle contraction is simply a short interrupt to its resting state. Take advice from your heart and get more rest. Carefully timed rest periods rejuvenate us. Mental fatigue often does not have a linear build-up, but rather a compounding exponential curve. The further you push to the point of exhaustion, the faster you will arrive there. So, remember to allocate rest time for yourself and to do mental recuperation. It's important to note that when we sleep our cerebrospinal fluid has increased flow which cleans our brain of waste protein toxins created through expended mental processing. Tip 3: Commit! Don't go into any endeavor trying to dip your toe in the water. This will often lead to failure. You must give it your full effort if you want to reach success. Don't take this as a contradiction to tip 2, you still need to rest appropriately, but if you don't fully commit to the plan then you can expect to get poor results. Dive into your side gig like it's going to be your main source of income and tell everybody you know what you're doing so that they hold you accountable. Telling others will force you to adhere to what you say. If you keep your plan a secret, then you will have an increased probability of aborting the plan since you don't have any external parties holding you to it. Now think about a time where you had to make a tough decision. Did it feel more stressful while weighing the options, or after you chose a course of action? Typically, the stress exists in the process and dissipates after the decision is made. So, quickly commit to your plan and then move on to the next step in your business. Tip 4: NEVER quit! How many people do you know that learn how to walk without falling? There isn't a person out there that can claim this. Trial and error are how we learn. Our mistakes teach us the way to do things the right way and/or improve our technique and strategy. Never forget that. You haven't failed until you quit. Let me say that again, you haven't failed until you quit. Any obstacles in between are refining your process. When taking on a side hustle, there will be times where you want to quit. If you aren't having success, examine the business. Are others successful in this business? If not, did you choose the wrong business and need to pivot? However, if others are successful, what are they doing differently? Modeling other's successful techniques is a time-honored and tested method. While it might not give you the edge to set yourself apart, it might bolster your current business enough to start exploring new approaches. Changing directions to enhance your business is not quitting. Giving up and throwing in the towel will not get you what you want. So, stick it out, weather the storm, and be ready to adapt to change. Adaptability sorts out our standing in all competitive areas of life. You can connect with Eric on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-roberts-28b2b893/ |