Last week, Penelope Trunk said that women do not benefit from negotiating salary. Did you read it? I did. I’m still mad.
Penelope said (among other things) that women are penalized for negotiating salary, they’re bad at it because they don’t get excited about winning, and they should just avoid the whole thing by finding a man with a daughter to work for, because that’s the only way they might come close to being paid fairly. She goes so far as to say that women will be fired if they negotiate as hard as a man does.
If you read the article, please know: Penelope’s advice on this is Total B.S.
EVERYONE benefits from negotiating (on EVERYTHING, not just salary).
“If you don’t ask, you won’t get” is a universal truth.
As a career coach, I work with men and women around the world, and they ALL get more when they learn how to negotiate. (They definitely do NOT get fired.)
If you don’t negotiate a job offer (whether you are a man, a woman, or a Martian) you will leave something on the table–money, benefits, or perks. You will be hurting yourself financially.
Negotiating is a skill that everyone should learn–you need to know how, when, and what to ask for.
You CAN learn it, and you can negotiate with grace, skill and SUCCESS.
** Learn to Negotiate from a Positive Point of View from a Master Negotiator
I almost vomited when I read Penelope’s post. In the comments, there was one giving positive advice to women and this is what I replied :
Thank you for proving Penelope wrong. By definition, someone who is pulling you down is below you, and she just pulled every woman down. That’s a very bad call.
Sure, men and women have cultural differences, some of which make (some) women more shy and they tend to not be as agressive as men. But telling women to shut up because they are lucky enough to work in the first place… that is wrong. If you do the job, you are as deserving as anybody else. We are not in 1915 anymore.
Ok, salary negotiation does not have to be agressive and let you appear like a mad animal… men won’t do that either. And there is no point in negotiating an offer that is already very generous. Give it a shot anyways, just to test the waters, but don’t stick to it too much.
Rebecca, thank you for showing it’s not all about the salary. The “brain chemistry” argument is the worst. Just negotiate on something you do want. For example, getting a 1000$ bonus on salary may not interest some people, but getting an extra week off is a great perk.
If you want some real advice on salary negotiation, ask Peggy McKee from Career Confidential.
https://careerconfidential.com/salary-negotiations-jack-chapman-tells-1000-minute/