Should I Negotiate Salary: How I Almost Made a $6,000 Mistake

should I negotiate salary

“Should I negotiate my salary?” This is a question we will ask ourselves every time we get a job offer, especially for a job we want.    I recently had to go through this decision-making process, and I want to share my thoughts and what I learned with you.    

I think many of us can identify with the reasons why we don’t want to negotiate.  What many of us don’t think about are some of the great reasons we should always negotiate.  I hope this story will help you better answer the question, “Should I negotiate salary?” on your next job offer.   I look forward to your comments. ...  read more

Soft Skills – How Nadia Handled Her Sudden Layoff

candid-conversations

Being laid off is inevitable.  Almost everyone will experience it once in their career.  It is how you handle the layoff that will determine your career progression afterwards.  This is why it is so important to listen to this candid conversation I had with one of our Executive Authors, Nadia Drew...  read more

How to Handle Office Gossip

Question:  I joined this software company before a year and was put on a live project immediately. I had to undergo training from one of the team members before i could start working. I looked at this as an opportunity to know more about project. So as i got to know about technology, the team mate started expressing his views about other team members i.e. developers, in how they would pressurize you to work and some other negative aspects. I was sort of concerned now and formed a negative impression about the people on this project. So i made a decision to keep distance with them. Soon it was shocking to see that the team member who told me all these was himself mingling with rest of the team as if all were in good sync. I could not get out of the negative impression i formed initially and so i always felt a bit wary when relating to others. ...  read more

How to Create a Soft Skills Development Plan

soft skills workout
soft skills workout

Workout Objective:  Create a concrete plan to develop your soft skills and know exactly how developing these soft skills will help your career
Prerequisite: none
Recommended Frequency: once every six month to a year

It can be pretty daunting to think you have to develop 28 soft skills to accelerate your career success.  There is a Chinese Saying, “Don’t try to eat a cow in one bite.  You will get indigestion.”  In the same notion, it is important to prioritize how you will develop soft skills for your career.  Follow these 5 steps  to create your soft skills development plan and motivate yourself to take action on a consistent basis. ...  read more

The Leadership Lesson Don Learned Unexpectedly

candid-conversations

I am honored to introduce another Executive Author, Don Victor, to our candid conversations series.  Don is senior executive and currently head of a division of 300 people.  Don is a senior executive, and is currently the head of a 300-person division. I am so pleased that he agreed to be an Executive Author for my website. He has over 25 years of experience, and he has so many stories to tell. I look forward to learning from him with you through this candid conversation. ...  read more

How to Re-Negotiate Benefits After Signing an Employment Contract

Question:  My current employer had enrolled me for a medical plan that is due to expire in 2 days. I start at my new employment end of this month. According to contract with new employer(the bank) that I have already signed, I will be on probation for first 3 months. Also according to that contract the medical benefits are available only after probation period. I am a family man with two small kids – 3 and 1. As you can imagine there is no way I can consider staying in Hong Kong without medical insurance for  technically 3.5 months. ...  read more

How to Return to My Old Employer

contact old employer

Q: I was wondering what may be the best way to approach acknowledging to a previous employer, that you made a mistake leaving your previous job. A year ago, I left a well paying consulting position with a large technology company to pursue another job. Unfortunately, the new job has not met my expectations and I now regret my decision to leave my previous employer. ...  read more