I gave an interview the other day to Daryl Hannah of Diversity Inc with some advice for those negotiating a job offer.  Here’s the piece he wrote.

TAGS: Interview skills, negotiating pay, Women and Money

Marci Alboher’s Shifting Careers New York Times blog post last week cited the same Penelope Trunk blog post mentioned here regarding transparency with regard to compensation. Marci wrote:

A few months ago, I went to hear Gloria Steinem speak. She said many memorable things, including this: If women were more willing to reveal their salaries to one another, they would make strides in eliminating the gender gap in wages.

She then asked for readers who are in situations where their salaries are either “published” or reasonably transparent to comment. As you can imagine, a lively discussion ensued. Themes I noted:

• people who work in environments where compensation information is available are fine with it — it doesn’t seem to bother them except when they feel that coworkers are taking advantage of the protection they have as a result of being unionized or government workers
• many believe that secrecy benefits the company (whose managers may be making subjective decisions free from scrutiny) and those who are highly paid, disadvantaging others including women
• lots of people just don’t want to know — the idea that a coworker who produces less is being paid more cause all kinds of problems for them.

Yet, knowledge is power. Research shows that women who have solid data can more effectively negotiate for themselves. While you may not be comfortable asking your colleagues how much money they make, do your homework. Some sites to check:

• www.payscale.com
• www.salary.com
• www.glassdoor.com

Also, consider other ways to scout for information. Check, for example, to see if there is a salary survey published for your industry. Also take a look at job message boards (Vault is one of my favorites). Join an industry association where you’ll be able to meet other people who do the same sort of work that you do. You don’t have to ask them straight out how much money they make; instead, position your inquiry as a more general question, for example, “What information can you share with me about the salary range for my position at your company?”

One of the readers commented that in Norway there is complete transparency with regard to earnings - evidently there is a database where income (and the amount of tax paid!) is available. Hmmm, maybe we have to move there to close the gender gap in pay?

TAGS: Equal pay, Marci Alboher, negotiating pay, Pay Disparity, Penelope Trunk

I just finished (hopefully) four days of my fifteen-year-old daughter battling a nasty stomach virus. She’s looking much better today. But it was stressful and little sleep was had.

It reminded me of the many years when she and her brothers were ill and my mother was in and out of emergency rooms while I was trying to do a great job at work and later be promoted to levels women had not reached. Keeping a career going strong under those circumstances is an extraordinary challenge. Even with a husband like mine who has been very involved when the children have been ill and there for me and I for him when things have gotten difficult, meeting family and work demands remains a major challenge for most women.

If you’ve been listening to Senator Obama talk about women’s pay being significantly lower than that of men and his references to Michelle Obama carrying the lion’s share of taking care of their children, you can’t help but wonder why so little has changed since books like The Second Shift were published. Betty Friedan used to tell me that we were in the “second stage”, the title of one of her books, that men were becoming more involved and women were making progress along side of their male counterparts. And certainly to some extent that was and is true.

But I frequently hear from women (young ones too) discovering that they are being paid less than men doing the same jobs. There are those who argue that this is not an issue for government. And I understand that it surely isn’t totally that. Women need to learn to be vigilent about where they stand in terms of salary — before they take a job. And when they haven’t done that, they need to find out where they stand in relation to men doing the same job and find ways within their organization to remedy that inequity. So, in other words, part of the challenge falls to individual women — to all of us. It falls to men to consider such inequity wrong and to do what they can do to alter the situation whether they are managers or colleagues of women underpaid, undervalued or underutilized.

That having been said, it behooves all women to pay attention to what is going on around them. A friend of mine told me last week that her daughter was being offered a consulting job. They didn’t want to pay her what she was worth and the going rate. Her father and mother advised her to walk away. And she did. Too many talented women are talked into less than they deserve. Sometimes that’s required — for a short period of time. When it becomes a habit, women as individuals and as a group lose ground. We inadvertently teach younger women and daughters that it’s fine to accept being undervalued.

We need to keep our eyes wide open, vote for candidates who are serious about improving women’s pay and lessening workplace discrimination. We should expect much from senators and congresspeople in this regard and write to them and/or not vote for them when they fail us. And we should make sure women are not penalized for having children, doing the right thing in terms of being with them when they’re ill, and caring for parents who are ill. We should nudge and even push organizations to be flexible in such times as they are rarely long-term.

In our own relationships, we need to be negotiators of shared responsibility. Individual women should look at their lives, look at the loads they carry, and when they have partners negotiate responsibilities with them. It’s easy to believe that you’re the only one who can feed the baby properly, load the dishwasher the “right way,” soothe an ailing child, work with children on homework, etc. We hurt ourselves this way. And the first step in getting organizations and government to do what is right by women is to do what is right for ourselves. It’s a multi-pronged endeavor.

TAGS: Equal pay, family expectations, family leave, government involvement in pay equity, negotiating pay, overworked

With all the talk of economic instability, it may seem untoward to be thinking about how to ask for a raise but if you have demonstrated the value you bring to your company, it very well may be feasible.  In fact, smart companies are more likely to want to keep their top talent satisfied in challenging times.

The May/June issue of Pink Magazine (cited here before) included 2007 survey results which indicated that 51% of women had asked for a raise, perk or promotion (down from 54% in 2006).  And it paid to ask - of those who did, 79% heard “yes”.

When you get ready to broach the subject, start by benchmarking what you should be paid.  Penelope Trunk (The Brazen Careerist) mentioned a few online sources she recommends in a recent post. This step is critical for women who get much better outcomes when they negotiate for themselves armed with good information. 

TAGS: Economy, income, income disparity, negotiating pay, Negotiation, negotiation skills, Penelope Trunk, recession, strategies for success, Women and Money, women's equality

I’ve often thought it odd that people seem to be more reluctant to talk about their income than their sex lives-but that may be changing.  The NY Times reported yesterday that young people are more likely to share information about salary information (see Not-So-Personal Finance).  This trend is good news for women; the more women know about what others are making, the more likely they are to ask for what they are worth.

As you may know, the gender gap in pay affects not only older women but younger women as well.  For example, starting salaries of men with MBAs are 7.6% higher than those for women. Only 7% of women, but 57% of men asked for more money; those who negotiated increased starting salaries by 7.4%.

One of the things that makes the difference for women is good information.  So, keep up the sharing!

TAGS: differences between women and men, Fairness at work, financial planning, gaining confidence, negotiating pay, negotiation skills, Pay Disparity, Women at Work, women's equality

Last week, I gave a talk at the Atlanta Women’s Network Women Up 2008 event. The timing was in conjunction with International Women’s Day (March 8). They asked me to provide 3 key words about
negotiation that would coordinate with their principles:

“I am able.”

For this, I suggested the word, “authenticity”.

When you negotiate with people with whom you have an ongoing relationship, be authentic.  Be real.  Be yourself.

Authenticity makes you able.

“I have the tools.”

Here, the word is “preparation”.  Successful negotiators spend time planning.  They just don’t to wing it. The right  preparation makes all the difference between success and failure.

“I will shape the future.”

For this most important principle, I offered the word “proactive” .  You must proactively negotiate for what you want; you can’t just hope for it.

You will shape the future, not only for yourself but for others as well when you negotiate what you want and deserve.

TAGS: negotiating pay, Self-trust, women and power, women leaders

Penelope Trunk advised last week that you should never answer the question, “What’s your salary range?” 

I disagree; it depends on when the question comes and who asks it. In fact, there is a lot of research that suggests “anchoring” is an effective way to begin a negotiation.

If you have already convinced the questioner that you have the skills and experience for the position, there is no harm at all in being clear about what you expect vis a vis compensation. Remember, you can’t get what you are worth if you aren’t willing to ask for it.

But you won’t know what the right range is if you haven’t done your homework.  What is the fair market value for the job?  Consider the industry, the geography and the company. 

There is a wealth of information on salaries available on the Internet (check out sites like www.thevault.com; you can learn even more through social networking sites (see www.linkedin.com, for example).

In fact, one of the best ways to assess whether the position is a good fit for you is to talk about the salary range early.  If what they are paying is too low, the job is probably not what you think it is.

TAGS: career goals, disconnects, negotiating pay