The article says it and I fully agree, you need to be able to verbally stand your ground when time comes to discuss your compensation.
As a CTO, I have seen first hand that overconfident amateurs can pass the external HR tests and an interview with my CEO just fine. And then I'm left dumbfounded during the technical interview because our $200k annual engineering candidate cannot explain what threads are, despite claiming 5 years of experience building multithreaded systems.
Also, I did get bitten by the American way of doing business where everything that isn't written in a contract or the companies financial books isn't worth anything. Never do gentlemen's agreements with US companies.
Oh and there's one very easy lever if companies are unwilling to pay your full price: you just work less. Offer them 20 hours a week for their suggested monthly rate and then a month in you can ask if they would like to increase your working hours. At that time, you can then say "I'm sorry I cannot work for less per hour than before"
So basically it's all negotiation. If you are truly skilled, almost nobody will offer you a fair price right away, because all of them have been burned by overconfident amateurs. But imagine how you'd feel if you notice a year in that your incompetent coworker is making twice your salary. Being paid highly will also automatically grant you decision power and respect.
So no matter what else you do, practice negotiating. It's the single most important skill, assuming that you're generally capable at your job.
And good people skills will also spill over to all other aspects of your life, like getting laid.
The article says it and I fully agree, you need to be able to verbally stand your ground when time comes to discuss your compensation.
As a CTO, I have seen first hand that overconfident amateurs can pass the external HR tests and an interview with my CEO just fine. And then I'm left dumbfounded during the technical interview because our $200k annual engineering candidate cannot explain what threads are, despite claiming 5 years of experience building multithreaded systems.
Also, I did get bitten by the American way of doing business where everything that isn't written in a contract or the companies financial books isn't worth anything. Never do gentlemen's agreements with US companies.
Oh and there's one very easy lever if companies are unwilling to pay your full price: you just work less. Offer them 20 hours a week for their suggested monthly rate and then a month in you can ask if they would like to increase your working hours. At that time, you can then say "I'm sorry I cannot work for less per hour than before"
So basically it's all negotiation. If you are truly skilled, almost nobody will offer you a fair price right away, because all of them have been burned by overconfident amateurs. But imagine how you'd feel if you notice a year in that your incompetent coworker is making twice your salary. Being paid highly will also automatically grant you decision power and respect.
So no matter what else you do, practice negotiating. It's the single most important skill, assuming that you're generally capable at your job.
And good people skills will also spill over to all other aspects of your life, like getting laid.