One career conversation changed my life!…but it but cost me at least $10,000. How could this happen when I did all the right things? I went to an excellent Engineering school and worked really hard then God blessed me to get a contracting engineering job at one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world. I worked really hard by starting early and staying late because my parents told me to be successful I needed to work twice as hard and do what I say I am going to do.
My of my first lessons was, people are always watching you and making decisions about opportunities that will be presented to CERTAIN employees based on conversations that do not include the employee. Why is this relevant?
One day I was in the airport with some of the Sr. Leaders at my location and one of them said I have been watching you and you WILL work for me. I said ok and I was so happy someone actually noticed my hard work. I didn’t think about it again because my piers had told me contract engineers in my department did not get permanent jobs. I believed them because several of them had been contractors for years. I continued to work hard because I figured when I had enough experience I would get a permanent job somewhere, that was another mistake I will elaborate on at a different time.
After that conversation this Leader continued to talk to me and brought me into her department as a contractor. This REALLY made me feel special and I thought how could this get any better.
Ok here is the good news, it did get better one day in a casual hallway conversations one of her managers asked if we were to offer you a permanent job how much would you want. What a minute, could this really be happening, and what do you mean how much do I want? Don’t you tell me how much you are going to pay me? Why didn’t they ever tell me this at the college career center?
I thought about my pay as a contractor and convinced myself why I couldn’t ask for that fee because it is too much. Plus, I really wanted the job so I gave him a number I thought was fair. I just figured it was a reference point and since they really liked me (giggle) they would offer me more if it were to low right? A couple of weeks later the same manager brought me into his office and said congratulations, I want to give you a gift and it was an offer letter. Guess what the offer was…exactly what I asked for. You couldn’t tell me anything I was on top of the world. Until I learned many of my piers were getting paid up to $10,000 more plus they had better benefits. I went from on top of the world to feeling cheated.
As a Career Coach, I am grateful for all of the experiences I have had. I realize you don’t know what you don’t know and I don’t beat myself up or wish I had a do over. Instead, I have taken my experiences to serve others with the lessons I have learned. A couple of months ago I helped one of my clients who had been “Noticed” by a company online. She reached out and I helped her realize her value and negotiate a salary for her first professional job. I feel blessed to have helped her get her dream job and she increased her pay $15,000. How cool was that? #YourCareerAgent