Investing in yourself: Effective strategies for getting a raise originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I encountered a fascinating article at Forbes.com. Writer Tara Weiss brings to light the fact that when accepting a new job, recruits should realize that they have a right and even a responsibility to take some initiative in negotiating their pay package. Think of it this way: After all the long hours of processing applications, reviewing resumes, and conducting interviews, if you are the individual who receives the offer for employment, that indicates you have a lot going for you. Don't be undersold. It's not an issue of pride. It's responsible economics plain and simple.

With the hope that you'll read Ms. Weiss's article, I'll take the proposition one step further. I submit to you that once you have become established in a job, don't let a job classification or title restrict you from asking for more. If you're not bound by the terms of a labor agreement through a union or other labor contract, then the sky's the limit, and I'm saying that you should go for it. Every employment situation offers opportunities for advancement and for income increase also. If you don't believe me, let me prove it to you.

The company I work for is historically tight-fisted when it comes to employee compensation. It's not that we don't generate enough profit to justify pay raises, but as a subsidiary of a larger entity that provides the lion's share of our workload, accounting is "manipulated" to push the profit up to the parent company. This is simple to prove when given the fact that, in a responsible business sense, any company that shows the minimal profit we do would be immediately shut down and those capital assets would be put to work elsewhere. This makes it tough for a guy like me to get ahead. I, however, applied a strategy that has performed for me all of my working years, and which is encompassed in the following ideal:

I don't work for my employer, I work for me. It's all about my own bottom line.

Continue reading The Paycheck Challenge: Get what you're worth

The Paycheck Challenge: Get what you're worth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 May 2007 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JDSU raises guidance: A sign optical is coming back originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wal-Mart employs nearly as many people as the U.S. government, and its 1.3 million "associates" are so often the source of pity to the nation's economists. They make so little, it's said, they often can't afford to shop in their own low-priced employer's stores.

That makes news that starting pay will rise at about a third of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, big. Wal-Mart says the range of starting hourly wages will increase an average of 6% but gave no details such as example starting pay. Additionally, the retail chain is instituting new wage caps on each type of job.

Interestingly, the Wal-Mart spokesperson responsible for this news spun the caps as a positive (paraphrase thanks to the AP): "the wage caps give current associates an incentive to move up to higher positions if they want to make more money." Umm... sure. Now employees must get more responsibility if they want more money, I suppose. In the abstract, it's a good thing, but having managed lots of people I've learned that not everyone is cut out for responsibility; the new caps will limit the lifetime earnings potential of thousands upon thousands of employees.

The Wal-Mart wage has new min and max originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Aug 2006 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.