Always remember: Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.
That’s probably one of the realest statements i’ve ever read. People’s opinions about you don’t matter!
Let’s face it – people love to give you their opinion, their POV on your situation, what they think you should do, what they think you’re worth etc. As annoying as getting unsolicited advice is, we can’t get away from it. People don’t care, they’ll give it to you no matter what you want.
Self-Confidence
Since people will give you their opinion whether you want it or not, what’s really important is to take it with a grain of salt. If someone you really trust gave you their opinion then fine – perhaps they’re seeing something you may be blind to. But if it’s someone that you don’t fully trust, and once opinion you don’t truly value, then don’t let them persuade you into believing in “their truth” about you and YOUR situation. This is where self confidence come into play. Stay true to your feelings and emotions, don’t let other people’s opinion dictate how you should feel about yourself. Trust your abilities, your gut. Have self-confidence. You have to!
Personal story
We all know that dealing with recruiters can be a hit or a (complete) miss. I touched on the topic of recruiters in another blog post – check it out when you have a chance (Blog: what do you value in people). I was approached by a recruiter some time ago. We had an initial conversation about my goals, target comp, what i’m looking to do in my next opportunity etc. You know, the basics in order for him to source out the right opportunity for me (so that he can make his commissions). At this point you’d think that he would be able to introduce the right opportunity to me, especially since we had already discussed what i’m looking for.
The recruiter reached out to me a few days later and shared an opportunity to me that clearly wasn’t a fit. I told him straight out, “this isn’t right for me”. His response was to go through the interview process anyway… I said i’d do that for the sole purpose of practicing my interviewing skills. The recruiter agreed and acknowledged that the opportunity wasn’t right for me.
Fast forward a few weeks. I have now passed the initial phone screen with the company, completed a DISC test, salary questionnaire, phone interview with the manager, phone interview with VP of Sales, and an in person meeting with the Founder/CEO. Next thing i get an email from the VP of Sales, saying that they’ve decided to make me an offer and would like to hop on a brief call to chat things through. I complied, of course. We hopped on a call… The VP explained that they were very impressed by me and has decided to up the role i was initially interviewing for. Instead of an associate role, they’re now offering me a more senior role with more responsibility. GREAT! Even though i had just been going through the interviewing process for the purpose of practicing my skills, i was ecstatic when they decided to offer me a better role! Who wouldn’t be!
The Offer
If i interviewed for an associate role, but was offered a more senior role with additional responsibilities, shouldn’t the overall compensation package reflect that as well? That’s what i thought… But oh boy, i was wrong. They shared the details of the compensation package. I took it in. The VP asked me what my thoughts were and i told him straight out – my historical comp has been XYZ. Dropping the base pay by $40k (!!!!) is a lot. Is there any wiggle room? There was none. I never lost my enthusiasm when speaking to the VP. I was fortunate to receive this offer and very happy that they have such confidence in my abilities to perform (why they upped the associate role to a senior role), but to be clear – i don’t live to work…i work to live. With that said, overall compensation is mucho importante!
Taking the overall offer into consideration (base+commission+benefits)
After i thanked the VP for the offer, i asked to get a few days to think it over. During that time, i decided to contact the company’s HR department. I needed to know what the overall benefits were. This is what i got in addition to the base pay:
- Health Benefits: You will be eligible to participate in the health benefits program from the first of the month after your hire date. You have up to 30 days from your start date to enroll. Total monthly cost to me: $900(!!!)
- Paid Time Off: You will be eligible for time off benefits in accordance with the terms of the Company’s policies as they currently exist, and subject to any future modifications in the Company’s discretion. PTO entitlements are based on your length of service, and for the first year of employment, your entitlement is pro-rated based on your date of hire. In your first calendar year of employment, you will be eligible to accrue up to 10 days.
This is ALL i got. I’m not much for the fancy schmancy stuff other companies include as “benefits” (snacks, gym membership etc). But taking into the consideration all items that’s usually listed in an offer letter, i think some sort of perks should have been included.
“Take it – this is what you’re worth”
I now had all the details i needed in order to make a decision on the offer. I shared the details with the recruiter and told him that i am strongly leaning
towards a “NO”. The recruiter lost his shit. He went off saying that this is what i am worth and i should take it. If i hadn’t had any trust or credibility in this recruiter at this point, he would never get it from me. His words, his opinion didn’t mean anything to me, it was just annoying chatter in the background. I told him that i know that he is looking out for himself, that he is looking for those commission dollars. I also made it very clear to him that throughout this process i have emphasized several times that this isn’t the right opportunity of company for me. The conversation ended after i told him that i would give my response to the company the following day. His response was “call me before you let the company know”. I said “sure thing!”
The following morning came, i called the recruiter and told him that i will decline the offer. This time around he was calm… Seems like he had been thinking about how he lashed out the day before. The conversation was brief. I contacted the company and politely declined the offer.
So what’s the moral of the story you might ask… Stay true to yourself. Believe in your own opinion before you put all your trust in someone else’s. The only opinion that truly matters is your own. You know your own worth!
