how many dollars is my hour worth?
there comes a time every so often - in employment negotiations, in a divorce proceeding, or when signing a pre-nup - where a person must assess their own monetary worth in a given context. while this process as a whole is never easy, it is often simple to use as a base the previous assessment of worth placed on you by yourself or a previous employer, spouse, etc., and build upon that with any relevant new skills or assets to arrive at a general figure.
what should you do, though, when the number you arrive at is substantially different from the value placed on you by the third party?
i'm negotiating my hourly wage for the summer with my employer, and i submitted what I thought was a generous discount to them off of what i think my time is worth and what i know they would pay to contract my services with a consultant, although it was still providing a modest raise from what i have been charging during the previous several months. i was willing to accept a lower hourly rate while i was in school full time in exchange for the flexible (and exclusively part-time) arrangement that i had, because it prevented me from fully undertaking a number of projects. now that i'm full time, however, i have been told i will be the only manager of several areas.
to add to this is the fact that our budget is very public, so i know how much all of my coworkers make. the colleague who is closest to my level, who lacks even a BA and has no professional experience at all that is relevant to her project or our organization, makes about 5% more than what i requested. i, on the other hand, have not only a BA but am almost finished with a masters degree in the field, and have several years experience as the executive director of a similar organization to the one i now work with.
our current e.d. met with members of the board this morning, and my salary was one of many things he discussed with them. i had expected a quick, clean approval of my proposal, but he told me this morning that he will not have a response from them until tomorrow morning, and that he doesn't think that they're going to authorize the full amount i requested and that they likely will not want me to be full time, but instead almost full time.
am i wrong to be really, really pissed off about this? especially when i consider that factoring in the outside funding for my position and my status as a contractor and not an employee means that the total amount i would cost the organization hourly is below the state minimum wage? and then, weighing this against the salary of my colleague, who has no experience or education, in comparison to myself, who has both extensive experience and education, am i wrong to get angry that they appear to value her higher than they value me? finally, when i consider that what i proposed is literally half of what i made at my last job, but my responsibilities here are just as intense, i just want to scream at the thought that they would even have to consider my proposal, since it's such an incredible bargain for them.
what is the appropriate response when someone else values you monetarily for so much less than you value yourself?
what should you do, though, when the number you arrive at is substantially different from the value placed on you by the third party?
i'm negotiating my hourly wage for the summer with my employer, and i submitted what I thought was a generous discount to them off of what i think my time is worth and what i know they would pay to contract my services with a consultant, although it was still providing a modest raise from what i have been charging during the previous several months. i was willing to accept a lower hourly rate while i was in school full time in exchange for the flexible (and exclusively part-time) arrangement that i had, because it prevented me from fully undertaking a number of projects. now that i'm full time, however, i have been told i will be the only manager of several areas.
to add to this is the fact that our budget is very public, so i know how much all of my coworkers make. the colleague who is closest to my level, who lacks even a BA and has no professional experience at all that is relevant to her project or our organization, makes about 5% more than what i requested. i, on the other hand, have not only a BA but am almost finished with a masters degree in the field, and have several years experience as the executive director of a similar organization to the one i now work with.
our current e.d. met with members of the board this morning, and my salary was one of many things he discussed with them. i had expected a quick, clean approval of my proposal, but he told me this morning that he will not have a response from them until tomorrow morning, and that he doesn't think that they're going to authorize the full amount i requested and that they likely will not want me to be full time, but instead almost full time.
am i wrong to be really, really pissed off about this? especially when i consider that factoring in the outside funding for my position and my status as a contractor and not an employee means that the total amount i would cost the organization hourly is below the state minimum wage? and then, weighing this against the salary of my colleague, who has no experience or education, in comparison to myself, who has both extensive experience and education, am i wrong to get angry that they appear to value her higher than they value me? finally, when i consider that what i proposed is literally half of what i made at my last job, but my responsibilities here are just as intense, i just want to scream at the thought that they would even have to consider my proposal, since it's such an incredible bargain for them.
what is the appropriate response when someone else values you monetarily for so much less than you value yourself?