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RE: Pulling it slightly OT: TW Salaries--Is it me, or are people greedier (Mild Vent)
Subject:RE: Pulling it slightly OT: TW Salaries--Is it me, or are people greedier (Mild Vent) From:"Carnall, Jane" <Jane -dot- Carnall -at- compaq -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 18 Dec 2000 19:20:54 -0000
Bruce Byfield wrote:
>Conservative or anarchist, the original point is worth emphasizing:
>there is nothing intrinsic in salary scales. They're a combination
>of precedent and negotiation, but, mostly, they're a kind of
>consensual hallucination, like the emperor's new clothes. Once you
>realize just how arbitrary they are, you can bargain much more
>effectively.
Emphatic agreement. One reason often given why women (twenty years after the
Equal Opportunities Act) still often get paid less than men, is because
apparently in pay negotiations women tend to think of a sum that's "the most
they deserve" whereas men tend to think of "the most they can get".
I'm currently working in a very high-salary area of the UK (SE England), and
getting paid at a rate about 40% higher than I could expect to get if I
moved back to (for example) SE Scotland. One element in interviews for jobs
in SE Scotland would have to be: "No, I don't expect you to match the salary
I'm getting now: I want the equivalent in SE Scotland salary rates, which is
about £X") I see no reason why it shouldn't work the other way, providing
you're clear about *why* you appear to be asking for a 40% pay rise.
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Compaq, UK
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.
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