#for salaried positions. it costs them money to do interviews and shit by the time they are giving you an offer

[blessphemy]

was seeing some tumblr post about wage stagnation and cost of living increase

you know I was feeling a little bit of “should I be ashamed?” about myself for not sticking with 1 job for more than 2 years (a combination of circumstances, the fields I’ve worked in, mergers, etc) and not having a Career but then I remembered that in the process of my skipping around I have on two occasions doubled my prior salary (not an exaggeration) so like

[ikram1909]

About Frenkie's possible departure, reports are saying that the club expects at least 70-80M for him and people are not totally convinced because they want much more for him (i understand them, he was expensive for us and many PL clubs bought mid-players for 100M, why they can't buy one of their main targets for years for that amount or more?) but I think im okay if we sell him for that amount because first, he really hasn't been performing how we expected since he came here: his most memorable game was against Napoli in Europa League and what rubs me off is that it seems h is immune to these g/a discourses our youngsters are always there, he doesn't score, assist or defend (which cost us many games btw), maybe he helps for build up, but that's the only thing I can recall from him and that tells you enough about this player. He said that he prefers to play deeper, receive the ball from defenders, yet he never creates, and he never shone in that position (also he forces other midfielders to play out of position for him and expect to do a worse job) so he isn't really a worthy #8, his defensive awareness is disastrous and can't defend if there isn't any other player covering his flaws so he isn't fit to be a #6, any other position in the midfield is also not enough for him if there isn't a specific player and dynamic with him. As I said, he forces our other midfielders to play out of position only to accommodate him and that is not beneficial for the developing of our players and even worse is that we play worse because Frenkie's isn't that kind of player. I think he just doesn't work for Barça, maybe another club is better for him. Our most valuable players (the younger ones) have been receiving tons of hates for doing ten times the job of Frenkie and more successfully, I don't understand how we got into the narrative that he is our best midfielder by miles when he really has 0 highlights, and he is always exempt of G/A arguments for some reason. This season people started to realize his biggest flaws not because of some kind of downgrade, but because when we needed him the most he never stepped up. What I think why he should leave is because of his mentality, e gives up easily and when we lose a match it's always "we did our best" it's quite frustrating seeing how our youngsters are always giving full interviews showing how mentally strong they're and their desire to win and give their own self-criticism, but one of our captains can't even give some words of encouragement? Yeah no, we have to move on from the players we signed from 2018-2020 because they are always the same; mid-players with big PR, eternal losers that will never fight for this club.

And that leads to clubs realizing that his performances aren't that great, and they're not willing to throw money for someone like him, much less for a 26 years old who has been rejecting them for years. If we get 70M or 80M for him, I will be more than happy because many people don't realize that his deferred salary is a big problem for other clubs to sign him because his wages are so fucking big that not even oil clubs aren't so convinced to pay for him. Really, if we can get rid of him that would mean we could get much more space for FFP, people don't realize how Frenkie is making us struggle with his wages, Also I want to add that finally his fan base would leave and that means they won't be there to compare him to Gavi and Pedri and throw them shit.

I just hope we can get some good deal for him and sign a DM with the money we get or a LW/fullback

I say take the money and run 🫣 I like Frenkie and he's a good player and all but nothing he does on the pitch justifies his insane wages AND wasting the development of two of the biggest midfield talents in the world right now. It just doesn't. The guy has been here for years and I genuinely can't think of one memorable performance from him whereas I can think of many for both Gavi and Pedri who started playing for us much later than him. So on what basis should THEY be the ones sacrificed for his sake? It just makes no sense to me. He's a player who needs too much to be comfortable and even then his output isn't really impressive. I don't want to be harsh on him but I really don't see why we should keep making so many sacrifices for his sake. I also don't know why he skips the g/a criticism while Pedri and Gavi and constantly harassed over it constantly. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one to judge midfielders by g/a but the double standards of this fanbase never fail to piss me off. It's like you said, I think it's better for all parties if he goes somewhere else where they can play to his strengths the way Ajax did. That reunion with Erik ten hag would fix everybody's problems me thinks 🫣

And yeah another big positive would be seeing his satanic fans leave with him. Words cannot explain how much I hate that lot they're so fucking nasty. They fucking love to being up injuries and celebrate they're fucked in the head istg.

[prorevenge]

You want to mess with my career and my freedom? Watch your entire life go down in flames!

TL;DR at the bottom. Sorry in advance for any formatting or grammatical errors. English is not my first language.

This is a pretty long one, so hope you're up for the challenge :)

This all happened five or so years ago while I was working for a proprietary trading firm. The company is a multinational and it had opened a new office in my city a couple of years before I joined them. For those who don't know, most prop shops (as I understood it) have a very high turnover rate. Just toss everyone in and keep those who stick. The company I worked for recruited every three months. It had space for about 120 traders but the office was never full. Out of the twenty or so who were hired every quarter, only about five managed to make it beyond the three month internship period, and of those, only one - or sometimes none at all - made it past the additional three months probation period. The company was operating in my city for two years before I joined and there were only about four people who I could have called permanent. Everyone else, about another ten, was either on their internship or on probation.

The Setup.

I and about twenty five others were recruited straight out of university. The internship period paid really well for a first job, about twice as much as any other entry level position in other financial institutions plus bonuses once we went live (regardless of whether one is on internship, probation or permanent), and I was really excited.

I first came across my boss, a really decent Indian guy, at a industry day held in our university. That was where they administered the IQ tests and I passed. The office, similar to other mid-sized operations, had a pretty flat management structure. Us traders were at the lowest level, the HR/Ops manager was above us, and the Office Manager was, well, the head of the branch. The boss gave time off pretty much whenever you asked for it as long as the day's objectives were fulfilled (that was his policy).

However, the HR/Ops manager was his opposite, and then some. This lady was a Grade-A bitch, and I mean that sincerely. Let's call her Gabby.

The Instigating Event

I first met Gabby when I went to their offices for my final interview. I was registering at the front desk when she marched from her office demanding some documents from the receptionist. The receptionist wanted to finish up with me first but she was ordered off to file storage. Our exchange went like so:

Gabby: You're one of the new ones?

Me: Yes. I'm really excited.

Gabby: Don't be. you don't look like you'll make it.

Me: Why?

Gabby: You're too soft.

A pause.

Gabby: Buut... I can put in a good word for you, if you give me a little something. ( a bribe).

Me: Haha. Very funny.

Gabby: I'm serious. Give something and I'll make it very easy for you. Otherwise I'll make sure you don't even get into the interview.

Me: No.

Gabby: Stupid idiot.

Right to my face. And she kept her word. She made me sit in a hidden corner of the waiting room where no one would see me easily, but I could hear the conversations at the desk. The only reason why I got an interview is because apparently I had impressed the boss at our previous meeting that he came to see why my CV wasn't there. Gabby said that I hadn't sent it in. The receptionist stated that she had seen it somewhere. Then I walked up to the desk at the same time the receptionist said, "Here it is. It was in the trash..." and everyone stared at Gabby.

From that moment of humiliation onwards, Gabby had a raging hate boner for me. You see, Gabby was a micromanager, more of a nanomanager really. She made us have to request access if we wanted to access sites other than those on her approved list, and for traders who gain info from wherever we could find it, her list was woefully inadequate. She would call meetings at the most inopportune times - but only when the branch manager was not around - and in her lengthy meetings, you could never leave to check on your positions. She had this annoying habit of taking my lunch and when I confronted her about it, she essentially told me to go fuck myself. That I could live with. I just started bringing in two sets of lunch and kept on doing the job that I loved.

Gabby was married with two kids, and she was pretty. I guess she liked the attention because she would have a stream of guys picking her up at the office for two hour 'lunches' and when she left for home some evening. But not on Thursday. Thursdays were the days when her husband would come pick her up towing their kids along. I think they went to have a family dinner or something.

The Mistakes Gabby Made: Round One

Our manager left about two months after I joined. I think he returned to India to get married or something but still stayed with the company. Wished him all the best. None of the other permanent traders had the experience corporate required to take on a management role (5 years at least) so they had to shop around. In the meantime, Gabby became the de-facto head of the branch despite the fact that her knowledge of futures markets was rudimentary at best.

Her first mistake was when she delayed my promotion from internship to probation. I am an excellent trader, and was easily top five in my group. Of the 26, she promoted the twenty she liked, kept me and another guy in internship, and fired four.At around the same time, another recruitment drive happened and another twentyish interns were hired. I knew this was our beef rekindled and remixed, and I was actually surprised she held onto it for so long. It was also pretty unusual since the last thing my former boss did before he left was to promote me from the simulator to a live trading account. But I kept my head down and continued learning, often going back to my former boss and the permanent employees to get advice.

Another three months go by, and in the next evaluation I was shocked that I was still not brought up to probation, despite the fact that all of the new recruits of the second group had been promoted and I was easily the best and the only one trading live. I knew I was good at the job. The permanent guys all said so. The group I initially joined with was frequently asking me for advice. To their credit, a few of them were good, but most of them were still on sim, and as a rule, no one advanced to probation while still on sim. However, you could go live while on internship if you were good which is what had happened to me. So I was a live trader and making good money but I was still on internship and passed over twice. I couldn't let go of that.

I decided to talk to Gabby directly. I approached the senior guys and made my case, though I was careful not to put her in bad light. They agreed to help me and so they did. about a month after the she passed me over the second time, she gave me my promotion and I was now on probation. At this time, she was still unsure of her power and was still afraid of the permanent traders. Those guys were like gods.

Two months after my promotion, another evaluation and recruitment drive. I was not promoted. The group I started out with was now permanent, despite having only two of them trading live. The group I was currently with on probation were all promoted to permanent status. The group behind me on internship was all promoted to probation, and another group was hired. I let it go hoping she had got it out of her system. Sadly, she had not.

Round Two

Three months go by. I'm trading live and loving it, though still on probation. An evaluation comes up again and I'm not promoted, despite the fact that, contract to contract, I was almost on a level with the permanent employees. The group that found me on probation was advanced to permanent status to a man, and none of them were live. the group behind me caught up to me and a new batch of newbies were hired as interns. I couldn't let this one go either. I approached the original four permanent employees who were now my very good buddies and planned to do the same thing as last time. Only this time, it didn't work. Gabby had grown into her sadistic power and flatly refused to even consider my promotion even after she was presented with evidence that I was worth it. Her argument was along the lines of, "I'm the boss so I can do whatever the hell I want."

But I wasn't having that, so I contacted my former boss for help. At the time he had been promoted to head of operations, Africa. He was actually quite surprised, given my performance, that I was still on probation. Needless to say, the order came down from on high and Gabby looked like she was shitting six pineapples simultaneously as she handed my letter. And I thought that was the end of it. How wrong I was.

On the next recruitment she hired this girl, let's call her Sue. Sue was an intelligent person all round, but she didn't have the emotional quotient to handle the market (trading, as I was taught, requires two mental aspects: IQ and EQ. You can't improve IQ, but you can boost your EQ to deal with the numerous stresses that accompany the career). Sue had more than enough of the IQ part, but EQ, not so much. No worries, you can work on that.

Just to recap: The office now had about seventy employees. Of these, over thirty were permanent staff (me included) but only eleven were trading live. Another twenty or so were on probation, but only three were trading live. None of the interns were live. The office needed to stay profitable if it was to stay open which means that the money the fourteen live traders were paying the salaries of everyone in the office, rent, supplies, health insurance, pensions etc etc. Needless to say, corporate was not seeing a lot of returns from our branch, and as I came to learn later from my former boss, were considering shutting down the branch and costing us our jobs. But I digress.

The Last Straw

The Grade-A Bitch Gabby took advantage of an inconsolable and desperate Sue to try and get me for sexual harassment. This is how it went down. Remember all those people still on sim? Well, they all came to the eleven of us for trading advice and we did what we could to help them. We divided up the sim traders into groups and I was mentoring about four people. Sue was one of them. As any trader will tell you, the period before profitability is usually one of losses (unless you're really good) and is filled with stress and fear (hence the need for high EQ). It's normal, and you get through it.

Sue was going through such a rough patch one evening. We were going over her trades (bad trading day all around), when she just burst out crying. I know how it feels. I had shed my own tears as well. So comforted her the best I could. I held her hand and patted her on the back awkwardly (to this day I still don't know how to comfort someone) until she quieted down. What I didnt know was that Gabby had seen us.

As I came to learn later, she approached Sue the following day and made her an offer. Gabby would make sure Sue kept her job and would get her a lot of money if she stated that I had sexually harassed her. Sue took Gabby up on the offer and what followed was a nightmare.It started with a formal reprimand from corporate, a hearing in which I wasn't present to defend myself (because Gabby 'forgot' to send me the summons).

Apparently she lobbied quite viciously to get me fired. The only reason I was able to keep my job was that my former boss came to my defence. Despite his help, I lost my quarterly bonus (about US$100,000) and half of my holdback (about US$400,000). I also had to attend seminars which essentially involved watching the same film on sexual assault in the workplace (three hours long) until I stated, in writing, that I was an abuser and it would go on my record. I knew that if that happened, Gabby would have the ammunition she needed to ruin my life forever. So every day, I got into the office at seven in the morning, watched the three hour film until ten. Refuse to acknowledge it, then get to work, leave the office at 11:20 in the evening, rinse and repeat. For almost seven months. It was tiring, and torture, and Gabby never let me live it down.

All of the people I had been mentoring were transferred the day after my reprimand. A day after that, Gabby informed me via letter that my clip size had been cut from 1000 to 20 contracts. Yeah, I had to admit, I was bloodied. I was down, but the bitch didn't know that she should have ended me.

The Revenge

Step 1: Ruin Gabby's Career.

I started compiling all the shit that was happening to me in the office. It started when I realized that when I went out to lunch, someone would open my desk drawer and mess around with my notebook, where I jotted down my trading ideas for the day. The only person who had a key apart from me was Gabby. Apparently she had mastered my lunchtime routine for the entire 45 minute break and would open my locker when I was out smoking. She would then copy down my trading plans for the day and give them to Sue. I even saw them at it once, but they didn't see me. I documented it. I let it go on for a while so that I could establish a pattern via Sue's trades. I then approached two of the permanent traders who were closest to me and told them my plan.

Remember when I said almost no money was reaching corporate? and that there were only eleven live traders? The situation had only gotten worse. The office was now full but we had less that fifteen live traders. Live trading could only be approved by Head of Operations (my former boss) and he was a strict one. Now imagine that my earning capacity had been cut by over 90%. My two friends agreed to my plan and they slowed down their trading by around 50%. This essentially put the branch in the red and three weeks later, we were told that Head of Ops and other head honchos were coming down. The next phase involved getting Sue into a corner. Pleas, a tear or two, and revealing that I could prove she had been stealing my work were enough to get a written statement from her that Gabby had orchestrated my whole sexual harassment thing.

Step 2: Ruin Gabby's Marriage

It took only a little investigation on my part to realize than all those men who visited the office were actually Gabby's lovers. She would leave for two-hour 'lunches' with her phone turned off. I took advantage of one such period. Gabby left and I snuck into her office to find her Facebook profile open. Everyone knew she was always on there and it was a sore point because she had banned it for the rest of us minions. I got into her Messenger, and voila! Explicit texts, nudes, rants about her husband and his inadequacies, the six guys or so she had cheated with, all of it. I copy pasted the data into her private email which she was logged into as well (always clear cache, you guys) and sent it to my private email, then deleted it from her sent folder. Now I had the ammo on my phone ready to send.

Step 3: Ruin Gabby's Relationship with her Kids.

Now, I'll say right off the bat I'm not proud of this step. but to bust my justice nut, it wasn't enough to just send the info to her husband. So I waited for Thursday when I knew he would be passing by the office with the kids. The Pro Revenge gods saw fit to bless me that day, because it was the same day that Corporate Head Honchos were ridin' into town.

Thursday.

I was at the office at seven as usual with all my documentation from my appointment letter to the numerous rejected requests for promotion, sat through the three hour sexual harassment video (yes, I was still doing that), and waited for the Moment. The guys from corporate, my former boss included, arrived and went straight into a meeting with Gabby. I was quite certain that they would call me in to know why I had been attending a sexual harassment awareness class for almost a year, and I was ready for them.

I was called in after lunch, at about two. The question was asked and before I could answer, Gabby jumped on the bit like I knew she would. She went on a long rant about how I had been insubordinate, and how I liked to touch the female employees. I could tell from her grin that she thought she was winning.

And then I pulled out Sue's letter, and the grin curdled on her face. Sue was hurriedly called in and she backed my story. She said she was sorry. She was fired on the spot and told to go wait at the receptionist for her final check. I felt no sympathy. I was on a roll.

Next I pulled out my analysis of my trades and told them how Gabby had been breaking into my locker and stealing my notes for sue. Gabby denied it. Sue was called back in. She denied it. My former boss logged into the company network, pulled Sue's and my trading data. He compared the positions taken by both of us with my notes. He said it was true. Sue was fired again. They told me they would refund my confiscated bonus and holdback, with an extra 50 grand. That was fine by me. The justice was enough.

And then I spotted Gabby's husband heading into her office as usual, their two kids in tow. I pulled out my phone, grinned at her and said,

"You're husband is here."

She turned around and saw him. She excused herself for a minute to tell him to wait.

My former boss said, "Sure."

I pressed send.

TL;DR. Grade-A Bitch tries to ruin my career because I humiliated her, I burn her life to the fucking ground.

As for the aftermath, Gabby's husband absolutely lost his shit. Her office was glass-walled and the rest was open-plan so we could all hear what they were shouting about. He finally left with their kids in tow (sorry little ones) Gabby followed him still shouting at him. Then she saw us all standing around and the look on her face was priceless as she was wondering which aspect of her life to try and salvage. She let her husband go, but about an hour later she had been fired.

My favorite boss stayed behind since there was no one left. He stayed for a month training the lady who had been with the company the longest to take over as manager. She is easily the most brilliant mind I had ever met. Unfortunately the branch was still struggling with so many employees who were not generating income and they had to shut it down. But they transferred all the performing employees to their other various branches in London (2 branches) and India (9 branches). So I guess no one undeservedly lost their jobs.

I still stalk Gabby on Facebook. There have been a lot of "I'm single because I'm too awesome" posts of late. I almost feel sorry for her, but I remember the three-hour video and I stop being foolish. From what I could see on LinkedIn, Sue bounced around from firm to firm until she found a position as a research analyst. My favorite boss is still at the firm. We talk from time to time.

I took a break from trading for a while. After all the shit that went down, I needed a break so I didn't take them up on their offer to relocate to India. Went to work with a buddy of mine who has a consultancy. When I feel ready I'll go back to the market. For me at least, there is no other job as challenging and satisfying.

Wow. That was long. I think though that's the end of my ProRevenge :)

(source) (story by AbbasKubaba)

[thatawkwardnerdytomboy]

Dear Non-College Educated People...

STOP TELLING COLLEGE EDUCATED PEOPLE AND THOSE STILL IN COLLEGE WHAT TO STUDY! I keep seeing people on Twitter, Facebook and other social media whining about college students who go to school for majors such as philosophy, gender studies, English Lit., fine arts or any other major they deem “useless” in the job market. And I don’t see anyone else combating these ignorant people. So I will...

I’ve noticed that a lot of these people are Trump supporters, the same people who keep lying to everyone about how America is the best country in the world and about how we have the most freedoms and blah, blah, blah. Well the fact is, we’re not. We let tax paying citizens starve and die because they can’t afford to feed themselves or their families on their full-time salaries and/or they’re mired in debt from medical expenses. There are even people like this man who can’t afford to retire or when they do, they’re forced to go back to work and can’t find decent work. I can already hear you Trump supporters and conservatives saying “oh, that’s his fault, he deserves that, he should have thought ahead!”  If that’s what you’re saying, watch this. It doesn’t matter if you have a well-paying job anymore and if you do “everything you’re supposed to do,” shit happens. You can spend your entire life saving money and all of a sudden, get into an accident that drains your savings because your insurance all of a sudden decides that they don’t want to cover your medical expenses for your hospital stay. You become screwed and there goes most of your savings. Suddenly, there’s barely enough money for you to retire with and you have to go back to work once you enter your senior years. The stock market also has an effect on people’s pensions and investments as well. If a company goes bankrupt, they can take their workers’ pensions down with them. There goes your retirement. Other first world countries don’t let this happen. 

Another thing that these people often claim is how free we are as a society. Yet, they are the ones trying to control what people do with their lives such as who to marry, what women can do with their bodies, which people are allowed to live in this country and how much responsibility the government has to it’s tax payers. They love touting the words of the founding fathers and talking about the constitution and other such documents without even knowing what these documents entail. For example... “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

For anyone who doesn’t know where this quote originates, it was written in the Declaration of Independence. 

“...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...”

Our declaration of Independence states that we, as American citizens have the right to pursue happiness. If a young adult wishes to pursue an education in a field that they are passionate about, be that gender studies or fine arts, do they not have that right? It is written in the Declaration of Independence, one of the most important documents in American history. As an American, it is un-American for anyone to question one’s right to pursue happiness if it does not cause harm to another human being and their right to pursue happiness. 

“...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,...”

We live in a nation whose government denies tax payers, the people who pay the government to keep us safe, healthcare. In other first-world countries such as those in Scandinavia, healthcare is a basic human right for their citizens. Why should any American citizen who has worked hard all their life have to suffer the rest of their retirement mired in medical debt? Why should any parent have to watch their child die because their job’s insurance refuses to cover their medical expenses? If our government isn’t taking care of working citizens, as the Declaration of Independence states, we have the right to alter the government to assure that it is working for us and not against us. Health care should be a right, not a privilege. We should have single-payer health care like the rest of the modern world. 

State and City colleges should also be free--just like they are in other developed countries. If a student is going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on their education, they should be able to study a field that they’re passionate about and have an acuity for. Another thing that most non-college educated people don’t know is that schools can only admit a certain amount of students per year, meaning that not everyone even gains admission into college. Going to college, for many people is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is a privilege. Some people can’t even afford to go to college because it simply costs too much money.

For the people who might be saying “well, if it’s that difficult to attend college, wouldn’t you want to study in a field that’s in high demand so that you stand a better chance of getting a job when you graduate?” Well, it becomes a problem when too many people want to enter a certain field just because it’s in high demand. So many people apply for certain programs that wait-lists are created for the people that didn’t get in. I know someone who is currently on a wait-list for a medical program that trains students for a field that is in high demand. Not everyone can enter that field and not everyone is going to enter that field because they’re are just too little spots open for admissions. The job market then becomes saturated because of this and soon there won’t be any jobs left in that particular field because too many people have taken jobs in that field.  Not everyone can be doctor, or an engineer, or a lawyer, or a scientist or any other high-paying college degree requiring position. 

WE NEED ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS

Question: Did you grow up reading picture books, comics or prose? Did those books not have illustrations or other art inside or on the cover? Who do you think created those images? Fine Arts and Illustration Majors. Or sometimes, these artists didn’t even attend college, they were self-taught and they made connections with writers--people who majored in Literature or other liberal arts. Illustration Majors and Graphic Designers also illustrate important and useful things like instruction manuals, signs, warning labels and visual aids for children and the disabled. Designers, people who attend art and design schools design literally everything around you; your house or apartment (architects and interior designers), your laptop (CAD drafters who work with engineers and Tech majors), the posters on your walls (Illustrators and Graphic Designers) your linens (textile designers), your clothes (fashion designers) the packaging for your food and all the items you buy (Illustrators and Graphic Designers as well), your game station, lotion containers, your car, your shoes (product designers). Where in the hell would our country be if we didn’t have artist and designers creating all of these things? Most engineers can’t even draw. They can’t build bridges if there’s no one to design them. Also, those Fine-Arts majors who create paintings and sculptures--these artworks don’t just create vibrant spaces out of boring plain rooms, they create an outlet for people to express themselves in non-violent ways and can be very therapeutic. If you have any art in your home or have ever visited an art museum or if you allow your child to draw at home or take art classes in school, you’re a hypocrite. 

WE NEED LIBERAL ARTISTS

Question: Do you enjoy reading books, watching educational programs or have you ever attended school at all? Your Language Arts teacher--the person who taught you how to read and write and your English teacher, the person who taught you how to analyze and understand texts better--was mostly likely an English major. A lot of Liberal Arts and History majors are also researchers who have discovered a lot of important historical information. These are the scholars who interview people about their experiences so we can learn more from our past so that we don’t repeat certain mistakes in the future. A lot of these people work with Film Majors so make documentaries and educational programming. If you think that there are too many young people studying Liberal Arts right now, just remember, older historians aren’t going to be around forever. We still need a new generation of educators, researchers and scholars in this field to create more of that content. Every day, people who study Liberal Arts are discovering new things. I know how much you people love people who go into Gender Studies. These are the people are breaking down gender norms and trying to create a society where both men and woman treat each other as equals by analyzing and breaking down harmful gender norms. (I know, the idea of this triggers you and you’re probably screaming that this is a load of BS and about how you hate feminists and more uniformed nonsense.)

WE NEED PHILOSOPHERS AND SOCIOLOGISTS

Philosophers and sociologists are the people who change the world and help inform politics. They change the way that we think about ourselves, each other and the world at large. They are the scholars who start revolutions. People such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Noam Chomsky studied such fields. I know how much you conservatives love to champion MLK Jr. as a bastion of conservative values. How do you feel knowing that while he was attending Morehouse College, he studied sociology, a field that you deem “useless”? He also studied theology, a field where you can only hope to become a pastor. He used his studies to inform his stance on human rights and equality and how we as Americans could achieve it. MLK Jr. is the first person that comes to everyone’s mind when we think about civil rights in America. And that’s right...he was a sociology major. Philosophy and Sociology teach us to open our minds, think freely and challenge many of the norms in our society and many people in this country who study these fields go on the help change laws, protest against injustice and make us ask ourselves if we are truly able to pursue happiness in our society--again, as long as it doesn’t bring harm to other people. Ask yourself: Would you have gone back and time and told Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that studying Sociology was a waste of time and that he would never find a job with his degree? I don’t think so. You know who else studied philosophy in college? Bruce fucking Lee. Yeah, go back in time and tell him that was pointless as well. 

In conclusion...

If you’re going around on the internet telling people that they wasted their time studying any of these things in college--you have the right to do so but just think about how different the world would be if we didn’t have anyone studying these fields that you deem “useless.” No 20-year old who’s studying Gender Studies is going into your house every night taking food out of your child’s mouth or taking money out of your wallet. If they’re (we) are complaining that we can’t find jobs after we graduate, so are a bunch of Baby Boomers who can’t afford to retire because they ran into a financial snag or got screwed over by the company they worked for all their life. The job market sucks for a lot of people and guess what? It costs money to go to trade school. If you are truly tired of millennials complaining about not being able to find work, why don’t you tell us how you found work or if there’s any free or low-cost training programs that we could take for fields like plumbing, carpentry or any other trade? Stop bitching about our complaining and do something. Not everyone can do what you did to become successful or get as lucky as you did.  Sincerely, 

An Illustration major who, if lucky, will be getting the chance to illustrate books and create cartoons alongside a Business Major that will teach children on how to start their own businesses. I currently am experiencing difficulties finding a decent job that actually requires a degree (preferably, an administrative assistant job) but I am stuck working part-time and doing deliveries for a restaurant. I live with my girlfriend in our own apartment (for those who want to call me a loser who’s stuck living at home). In the past, I have also worked as a media assistant for a non-profit (got laid off from that job), a teacher’s assistant (the job didn’t always pay on time and caused me to go into debt), an after-school teacher (also got laid off) and a group leader for an after-school program (I, along with 5 other people in the same year quit because the management and a lot of the kids in that program were terrible). 

P.S IT’S NOT WHAT YOU STUDY IN COLLEGE THAT MATTERS, IT’S WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR STUDIES WHEN YOUR GRADUATE. 

[kmp78]

This is what made me stop being a fan

“i feel like J will never do anything right in your eyes. like what would he have to do for you to say something positive about him? genuinely asking, not hating”

His life, he can do whatever he wants. But actions have consequences. So whatever he does, he has to be ready to deal with people not necessarily liking it. That’s life. 

Just like K, I too started as a fan. As a quite big fan actually. As someone who did everything they could to support the band. Buy merch, buy Vy tickets, go to shows, do M&Gs, spread the word on sm…And in the beginning I was happy to do that. I admired J because he seemed like a “go-getter” who worked hard, he seemed like he cares and is involved in what goes on around him in our society and around the world (His Oscar speech, anyone? And him speaking about Ukraine, supporting the LGBT community, concern for the environment, etc). He seemed passionate about his art, he obviously is very talented. He was great on stage. And he seemed like the “underdog” and like someone who fights for the underdog. You know, all his speeches about “be who you wanna be, love who you wanna love, be different, fight for your dreams” blah blah blah. And then of course his whole “struggling artist” act, the whole “no ones making any money here”. Yeah I fell for that. “Oh poor thing. He’s so great and so talented. But he’s not making any money. Yeah, we have to support him and his art and give from our very little salaries so that he can keep doing his art.” Yes, in that sense I was one of the “sheep”. I have to laugh at it now. 

Just like K said too, I also didn’t have any specific moment that made me stop being a fan. Shit just kept piling up until it hit the fan. It was just a sum of a lot of different things having happened. 

It started with the London Vy really. When they set the tickets at 10,000. It was insane. Now, nothing wrong in being ambitious and dreaming big and trying to do big things and trying to reach your goals…when YOU work for it. Not someone else. Had they promoted the shit out of it themselves and had done everything they can to get the tickets sold, fine. But it was like “Oh let’s put out 10,000 tickets to make a lot of money but let the fans do all the work any pay for it all.” It’s like DT saying “Let’s build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.” It’s ridicilous. Oh and “let’s sell tickets to an event that has no date so the people who buy live tickets won’t even know if they can watch it.” I mean, seriously? Real “geniuses” at work. Smh! And even though it was clear it will never work and people kept complaining and sending in suggestions, they just ignored it all. And then they did the VIP VV (that was supposed to be a treat for those who got their tickets early) unannounced, so that most of the people missed it. So from that point on I was like “Okay, let’s see them doing some work THEMSELVES to sell their events. I’m done. Unless there is some effort coming from YOUR way, I ain’t doing shit!”. I also stopped buying multiple tickets and I stopped buying VIP. If they don’t put in any effort, why should I? They’re the ones with a company trying to sell a product, not me. I don’t go to my workplace either expecting my clients to do MY work for me while paying ME. It’s ridicilous. And if you wanna improve your product, listen to your costumers. If they tell you something IS NOT WORKING, do something about it. Don’t ignore them, block them, black list them just because they told you their opinion about your product in the hopes of helping you improve it. And for god’s sake don’t be RUDE to them and tell them they should be grateful they got anything at all even though they PAID for the product and dont tell them to fuck off if they dont like it. Well, unless you wanna lose all your costumers. In that case, go ahead. 

And then there was the whole Joker thing with the used condoms and dildos and all his Joker antics. his whole “method actor” bullshit while frolicking around with models, while going rock climbing, while sending pics of himself in Joker makeup to models only to have it leaked and almost ruining things for WB. His antics were disgusting and not funny and if you claim to be a method actor and those stupid antics were needed as a part of your “method acting” then BE a method actor and don’t fuck around with young models or go rock climbing. At least stick to your story then and act like it. 

Which leads to the next problem. His words and actions not matching. Being fake. Lying during interviews. “Be who you wanna be, be different”. Well, why don’t you start with yourself and take your own advice, J? If barely legal underweight girls are your thing and you can’t even be friends with anyone who doesn’t look like a model or isn’t much younger than you are, then be that. If that’s who you are, fine. So be it. If vapid models with half a brain cell are the company you prefer and want around you, it’s okay. But in that case don’t try to speak about women’s rights and about having respect for strong women or any of women’s issues. Keep your mouth shut. And don’t try to hide it and act like that’s not who you are. People are not dumb. So don’t assume they are and treat them like they are. Just because everyone around you are stupid, doesn’t mean the rest of us are, thank you very much. 

Then Gucci came into the picture. Gucci this, Gucci that. Gucci, Gucci, Gucci. I AM SICK OF GUCCI! We get that you are the face of Gucci and friends with AM. But can you not shove Gucci down our throats 24/7, thank you very much. And shut up about “no one’s making any money here” and quit the “struggling artist” act. Please. When youre wearing an outfit that costs more than my whole month’s salary. Go fuck yourself. And if you raise your prices, I expect a stellar product. I expect to get my money’s worth. If I pay thousands to go to Camp MARS, I expect MARS to put some effort into it. Have activities with fans, interact with them. You have the whole weekend. You’re literally booked for the whole weekend. It’s YOUR “festival”. So do the work. And if you sell your camp packages by promising to play new music, then do that and don’t do false advertising, if you’re not intending to play new songs. And can you please tear yourself away from your freeloaders for ONE weekend  and concentrate on your work, thanks. Also, if you’re going to do a show and people paid thousands to see it, can you please rehearse so you actually know the lyrics to your own songs. I don’t come to shows to listen to the fans sing. I come to hear YOU sing. And play. That’s if the band even bothers to show up. 

I could go on and on but what finally made me go “I have had it!” was him disappearing from sm and only coming on when he needs something from us. When he only remembered he has fans when he wanted our votes or our money or  needed us to do PR for him. And him lying the whole time. Can you take things seriously for once and quit being immature and actually say what you mean for once. And do what you say. Don’t expect us to believe you and feel sorry for you if you say your back hurts soooo much, but instead of taking care of it,  you’re flying around long distance to go to fashion shows and to unnecessarily go to some art gallery for a day and when you can go rock climbing with your kittens. Same thing goes for your knee.Don’t go on sm to whine about it to get attention and do ice baths in trash cans and  come on stage wth a cane when you then after two songs take off your knee brace and jump around. 

The last drop for me was the lies about the new album. the ten millionth “#soon. The "we’re 80% done” for 2 years straight. The “We’re finishing the album today” only to tell us two weeks later that he’s working on the lyrics on the first single. Only to tell us the album isn’t even done. At some point it stops being funny and becomes pathetic. Come tease us about a new album WHEN YOU ACTUALLY HAVE AN ALBUM: And dont go around talking about how “exhausted” you are now that you finished ONE SONG. In FOUR years. Seriously, dude! Have you lost touch with reality completely?! Do you actually even know what HARD WORK and REALLY being exhausted from working is like? You need to get out in the real world more, dude. Stop hanging out with your freeloaders whose only job is to go from one vacation to another and lay around by the pool all day or who get dressed by other people and their only job is to look pretty in pictures. That’s not hard work. Neither is doing one song in four years. That’s just insulting.  And if your staff can’t get even one lyric video right, it’s time to finally take a look at your staff and start hiring professionals. How hard is it to get a LYRIC video with two verses right? You write the lyrics down, the person doing the lyric video writes them on the video and reads it through. Another person looks at the LYRICS video when it’s done and compares the lyrics to proofread. Boom. Done. Don’t need to be a genius to do that. 

I don’t know what happened to J. If the Oscar and the millions he got from the Joker role went to his head and his ego got too inflated and he got lazy, because why work when you can make money by doing nothing? Or if he completely lost touch with reality after hanging out too much  with the type of people he does and since he’s dressed head to toe in Gucci and no doubt gets it all for free, he thinks everyone can afford to throw around thousands. Or he just was a shallow douchebag who is full of himself before too and he just played another Oscar worthy role…the “Oscar J” role…and people fell for that PR campaign. And now the real J is coming out again? I don’t know. 

For me to be able to like J again, he needs a huge piece of humble pie. Tone done the attitude. You’re not above everyone else J. You’re not the center of everyone’s universe. You’re not THAT important and you definitely are NOT “different” than most in HW. In fact, you’re pretty much a cliche. So stop acting like you’re “all that”. You’re not. Tone down the Gucci. Seriously. We’re sick of it. Start hanging out with smart people. You’ll be surprised how inspiring smart people actually are. And yeah, most of them don’t look like models, but the good news is you don’t have to sleep with them. You can actually just be friends with people. That’s if you can bear to breathe the same air as someone who is normal weight or, god forbid, overweight. Get involved in your community. If you actually care for the environment or for animals so much, prove it. Letting your interns RT a tweet or two does not count as being “active”. And if you write a “protest song”, please do show with your ACTIONS that you care about things BEFORE writing said song and conveniently using a current unrest to sell it. Stop lying. Seriously. We’re not dumb. Be who you are, whatever it is. But ffs STOP LYING about who you are!!!!!! Put some effort into your work again. Focus. You once did. We want that J back.

***

Extremely well said, anon.

I found myself nodding and agreeing all the way through.

(Disclaimer and rules)

[arazialotis]

Pinch of Nutmeg - Part 4

Pairing: Jensen × Reader

Word Count: 2900

Summary: The reader is a young and upcoming chef who takes up an opportunity in Vancouver where she by chance befriends Jensen.  After several years apart and seeing each other at a convention. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Obviously I intend no hate or ill wishes to him or his family. This is purely just for writing and wasting my time.

Again, this is purely for a hobby and my enjoyment. Maybe some of you will enjoy it too. I am by no means a writer so I apologize in advance for any mistakes or grammatical/spelling errors.

Special thanks and shout out to @misguidedconqueress for reviewing, editing, suggestions, and as always putting up with me.

-----

Scott was anxious to get back to Vancouver. He had been on a tour of the restaurants in the States and had been busy with a few TV promotions. He arrived early to check on the kitchen and dining room. It was rumored that this site may soon be privileged with a visit by a Michelin star inspector. Although, he didn't want to overthink it, everything had to be in exactly the right place. He was expecting to start this morning by working on a seasonal menu in order to give the restaurant that extra notch it needed.

He was walking through the dining room when something across the street caught his attention. An old competitor's restaurant was being gutted out. “What is that?!” He yelled at his staff. “Why was I not informed?!” He demanded.

He became more furious when no one answered him. He ran his fingers through his wavy red hair. There was so much work he had to catch up on if he would even be considered for a star but a new competitor could jeopardize the entire process. He threw down his apron and headed out across the street to get a better look.

Although he had seen workers going in and out with materials, the windows themselves were lined with butcher's paper so the public could not view inside. On one of the parchments was scrawled ‘The Spotted Zebra - Microbrewery and Eatery - Coming Soon.’ He scoffed at the name. On top of a new menu and a barely functional staff this was the last thing he needed.

He pulled at the door which was unlocked and walked in. Wood floor was being laid down, and a bar spanning the east wall with cabinets made from French doors. The workers seemed occupied and he walked through unnoticed. He continued to make his way to the back discovering part of an open kitchen and another portion hidden in the back. Although most was up and running, some appliances were being replaced and updated.

“No shit,” He said when he saw you working with another chef, writing down a recipe. You turned around and smiled. “Was it always your plan to stab me in the back?”  He joked, relieved it was you.

“Scott!” You yelled ecstatic. “Took you long enough to find out, are you losing your edge?” You teased back.

“I should have had you sign a contract about becoming competition.” He said joyfully with a little bit of seriousness.

“Oh no, no, no. We are going to help each other.” He raised an eyebrow waiting to hear your scheme. “You see once customers realize your entrees that could fit on a spoon won't fill them up, they'll waltz on over here for some real food and wash away the guilt of spending too much money at your place with a beer.”

“That seems more parasitic than mutual.” Scott commented.

“But it's not! Because those who start out here will have lowered their inhibitions and I'll send ‘em your way to empty their wallets.” You played.

“When I said you'd come back to work for me, this is not what I had in mind.” He confessed.

“You gotta let me take flight, Chef… speaking of flights, come here.” you said leading him into the building where you had also purchased the first floor for the brewery.

You led him through the maze of fermentors and kettles. “I think I want to turn this wall to glass so customers can see the process.” You described.

You led him to a testing station. “We have a sour and a saison ready to go.” You said pouring them out into a couple small glasses.

“No bias in that decision, presumably?” He asked knowing they had always been your favorites.

“Of course not.” You smirked before sipping on the sour.

Scott's brow furrowed as he caught a glimpse of Jensen walking down the sidewalk and into the other part of the building. “What's he doing here?” He asked with a sense of urgency and protectiveness in his voice.

You had avoided telling Scott that you and Jay were together, afraid of how he would react. “We flew the yeast in from Belgium, it gives a unique flavor throughout all the brews. Can you pick out what we used to flavor the sour?” You tried to divert the conversation.

“He has done nothing but break your heart time and time again.” Scott lectured.

“Just be nice okay?” You pleaded quietly seeing Jensen walk into the brewery. You poured a tasting glass for Jay too.

“Coste.” “Ackles.” They both greeted each other coldly as they shook hands in what you could only assume was a contest for dominance.

Jensen came to you and planted a kiss on your lips without saying a word. Out of respect for Scott, you tried to sneak out of it by handed Jay a beer. “Here.” You took another big sip of yours.

Scott set his untouched beer down. “I have a busy week coming up, I'll try to catch up with you later.”  

“Scott, “ You called after him, but he didn't turn around. You sighed in frustration.

“What was he doing here?” Jensen asked you.

You rolled your eyes at the antics of both these men, so similar. “We discussed this when we picked the location, he is nothing but a mentor and a friend.” You reminded Jensen, leaving out the ‘best’ that should have gone in front of friend.

“I don't know if he thinks the same of you.” Jensen argued, full of jealousy.

“He only has my best interest in mind. If you stopped acting like a jerk around him, maybe he would loosen up.” You suggested.

“You think I'm being a jerk?” He asked slightly offended.

“To him… yeah.” You confessed, to which Jay tensed further. “Listen, this is not some love triangle. You and only you have my heart. But Scott is family, I don't want to have to give that up.”

You glanced back out the window as the first few snowflakes of a new winter storm started to fall. “Can I show you the progress or are you still going to have a sour attitude?’

“Hey, sour beer, sour me.” Jensen finally started to lighten up.

“Then try the saison.” You directed switching his cups.

“Huh.. nutty…” He commented after taking a sip. “So we are on schedule?” He asked following you back into the kitchen.

“Yes, construction should be finished by the end of the week. I’m just putting the final touches down on the menu along with rotating weekly specials. As for the beer the rest of the batches should be finished in another two weeks.” You explained to him.

Not only were you and Jensen dating now, you were also business partners. Jensen technically owned the restaurant as you could never afford such a location. He hired you on as the head chef, and for now you filled the managerial role until a fitting applicant came along. Yes, in the back of your mind you knew this could extremely complicate already complicated things such as your boyfriend paying your salary, your future if the relationship went south, and disagreements about business strategies. You were probably just overthinking it at this point.

“And the beers are the ones we sampled earlier this month?” Jensen questioned for clarification snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Yes, just in much bigger batches. Here try this.” You handed him a slice of cheesecake with orange blossoms and coriander. “It should pair well with the nuttiness of the saison.”

“God.” He said, mouth practically still full and already shoveling in another bite. “My trainer is going notice if I keep coming around here. I’ll never hear the end of it.” He said, taking another bite.

You couldn’t help but feel some pride. “Guess that means I’m doing my job.”

“Okay, what else do you got?” Jay asked.

“Hmm… tonight… I think I finalized the recipe for what I am going to call a curry.” You handed him a spoon. “It’s vegan to make our restaurant more VC friendly. Black eyed peas, potatoes, coconut milk, various spices.” You watched his reaction.

“It’s got a kick to it.” He said, immediately picking up on the berbere.

“Too much?” You asked.

“Perfect for the winter menu, warms you to the bones.” He responded.

“Okay, let’s see.. Oh of course, veggie samosas with a cucumber sauce.” You gave him a small bite. “Which will go perfectly with the lamb. And I don’t have any right now, but we will have risotto and poutine which will be daily selections based on what needs to be used up in the kitchen.”

Jensen kissed you on the cheek. “Everything is perfect.”

“Other than food, I do have a few interviews lined up for a managerial position tonight if you want to sit in on them?” You offered.

“I trust you, you know this better than me.” He assured.

“I also need to finalize my recipes with my sous, I’ll see you at home?” You asked, unsure if he would be at the apartment or if he had an early morning on set - making the trailer a much more convenient option.

“Always back to business with you. I’ll be at home, please make it home before 3:00 am tonight.” He urged.

“I’ll try.” You smiled and kissed him. “But no promises.”

“If it becomes consistent, I may just end up sleeping here.” He threatened lightheartedly.

“I’ll get a cot for my office.” You playfully challenged back.

When Jensen finally left, you couldn’t help but sigh in relief, feeling at peace again. Yes, you loved both of them to death, in different ways, and enjoyed your time with them individually. But balancing both relationships was exhausting - especially when they collided. You gulped down the rest of Jensen’s beer that he had left on the counter hoping it would help distract your mind from them.

The next two weeks flew by in a blur. You did secure a manager with extensive experience, which had thankfully relieved a load of off you. Opening day you were the first to arrive to the restaurant. The 12-plus hour days had been taking a toll, but you knew opening weeks could make or break the entire business. You and the staff had prepared most everything last night, but you wanted to inspect every last detail.

As you were folding more napkins, a task that always need to be done, your phone buzzed.

“Hello?” You answered.

“Hey gorgeous,” Jensen greeted you. “Did you sleep in like I suggested?”

“Mmhmm.” You lied.

“You are already at the restaurant, aren’t you?” Jensen called you out.

“Yup.” You answered briefly, still focused on folding napkins.

He sighed a little before suggesting, “Would you want me to tweet something about opening day?”

You put down the napkins, thinking about it for a moment. “Only if less than 5 people show up.”

“I’ll wait for your word then. I am positive it will go great.” He encouraged. “I’ll bring Jare and Misha down tonight too, after we finished for the day. “

“Don’t expect any special treatment though.” You laughed.

“I know better than to expect that from you.” He joked. “But seriously, good luck tonight. I love you.”

“Love you too.” You ended before hanging up and immediately diving back into work.

Staff started trickling in throughout the day to help clean, polish, review the menu and pairings, dice, simmer, and anything else that was needed. A few minutes before the time was here, you and the staff had a celebratory moment tearing off the butcher’s paper from the windows. There were a few people waiting outside in line - not a remarkable number by any means - but still a small victory.

“Okay, I just want to be a sap before we open those doors.” You started with the staff gathered around. “We’ve all worked really hard to get where we are right now. Over the weeks, I’ve selected each one of you by hand and have gotten to know you as family. I am fully confident in the success of this restaurant because I am fully confident in the abilities of everyone of you. Tonight will be business as usual, we’ve had our practice runs and worked out the kinks. Mistakes may happen but that is how we learn. Nothing will be different in tonight's service than from the training we’ve had together. However, if we make it through alive, let’s break open the bottles with a little celebration after we close shop for the first time.” You toasted your staff before signaling to the manager to open the door.

The first few hours were busy but you had open tables. It wasn’t until after five that the lobby started filling up at which point you encouraged your wait staff to pursue a faster turnover rate. By 7 o’clock, there was a line out the door. You made the decision to offer those waiting in the cold, coffee or a sample of soup. Throughout the night you jumped between the open front and hidden back of the kitchen, making sure recipes were being properly executed, helping out if someone was behind, and plating. You were in the middle of carving a rack of lamb when Jensen caught your attention from across the dining area. He had been intently watching you the entire time. Jared and Misha were with him chatting over drinks and entrees.

‘Is it good?’ You silently mouthed to him with a thumbs up.  

He signed okay with his hand mouthing back. ‘Perfect’.

Part of you knew he was just saying that to ease your mind but it really did help make you feel better. You quickly went back to work as orders kept piling in. And there was no rest until you closed the kitchen even though the bar would be open for a few more hours as groups finished up their drinks and appetizers. It gave you and your staff time to clean up and get prepped again for tomorrow.

Finally, when the last guest left and the restaurant was scrubbed clean, you celebrated with your staff, having ordered in a few boxes of champagne. You had invited Scott to join you for the after party but lost hope when he didn’t show up an hour after the lights at his restaurant went out.

Eventually your staff trickled out and only you remained. You went through the pantry, the fridge, and the freezer counting up inventory to put a list together of what supplies you’d have to pick up from the market tomorrow. You also wanted to get a head start tracking orders to gauge the popularity of dishes. You were working on a spreadsheet when Jensen came into your office around 3 am. You were hardly shocked, so many people had been in and out the last couple of weeks it felt normal.

“Hey, am I ever going to see you again?” He softly joked.

You shut your laptop and looked up at him with tired eyes. “When we are old and retired, I suppose.” You joked back with a weary smile.

“You know, we could find someone else to take your role, freeing up time, giving you more managerial responsibilities.” Jensen suggested.

You thought about it for a minute but didn’t agree. “Jay, this is my one shot to see if I have what it takes to be up there with the big players.”  You could tell he was still unconvinced. “Just give it a few more weeks. The crowds will settle down, staff will learn the flow and take up more tasks.”

“But where does it end? You make it here, so you have to try out New York, and then host a show on Food Network.” He hypothetically made up.

“I would never ask you to give up your ambitions for me.” You defended with a furrowed brow.

“You’re right. I know.” Jensen admitted. “It’s just I’m tired, and it’s late and I miss you.”

He walked around the desk and started rubbing your shoulders. He eyed the nape of your neck and bent down to softly kiss it sending shivers down your spine.

“Jensen?” You asked, embarrassed. He responded by rubbing his hands up your neck and down over your collarbone. He kissed you again, behind your ear. “Seriously, I’m sweaty and sticky, and probably covered in food.” You giggled.

“Then it’s a good thing I like your cooking.” He flirted slowly starting to unbutton your chef's jacket.

His continued advances and deep voice made him impossible to resist. You calmly set the laptop into the drawer. “Only if I can clear the desk in one swipe.” You stated giving him an ultimatum.

“It’s your office…” He reminded you waiting for your answer.

 A sly smile crossed your face as you used both arms to clear the desk of folders and paperwork hardly caring of the mess you would be required to clean up. You laughed as you jumped around to face him. He closed the gap between you causing you to slide onto the empty desk. His waist locked you against the hardwood as he continued to kiss your neck and finished unbuttoning the jacket. You laid down on the desk exhausted but equally excited for what was to come. Jensen followed you down, deeply kissing your lips. 

------

Forever Tags: @nanie5 @sea040561 @crushing83 @mogaruke @deanwinchesterforpromqueen @ginamsmith

Pinch of Nutmeg Tags: @doctorholmes221bbakerstreet @procratsinator

Jensen X Redaer Tags: @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish​ @jensen-gal​ @be-amaziing @mizzzpink @akshi8278 @beatlesobsessionlove @tiffanycaruso​

[violetsystems]

#personal

I don’t think I’ve fully recovered from this past week.  My mood has been far more positive.  The last two weeks particularly have been the proverbial wind beneath my wings.  Though I don’t really say much about the origins of that feeling.  Nobody ever really asks.  They just expect me to maintain for some mysterious reason.  Most of my maintaining has been opening up options for myself that weren’t there before.  I went to a Google conference this week by myself.  I only stayed for the keynote then headed back to work like nothing happened.  I didn’t feel too out of place in the atmosphere but it was very corporate.  People keep telling me I’d never want to work in corporate.  Mostly in a group.  Never directly.  I’ve often said in my place of employment that it is not about the money.  My dad has an interesting theory that you should be comfortable with a job and a base salary.  From there it’s mostly about how effectively you live your life and what you want to do.  I got a pair of the Undercover Daybreaks for way less than I would have paid for a Yeezy.  They’re made very well in China.  Family on my Dad’s side lives in Hong Kong. The software I administer has a huge corporate headquarters there.  I was once interviewed on camera by them about technology in the arts at another conference.  It’s obviously nuanced about how I feel about the whole situation.  I’m overloaded with politics in America as it is.  And then there’s the whole subject of Imperialism and Capitalism and all the other isms out there in this world that give me a stomach ache.  In the midst of all these isms my job set up a bunch of patio seating in front of the building.  I thought it was brilliant.  Talked a bit with some of the people on the project about zoning.  Saw some people enjoying the view.  It was a good look to me regardless of how many negative opinions there were about it on Instagram.  The google conference had stickers for pronouns for your badge.  That was a good look too.  It’s still Google right?  Some people don’t even have a job to ditch for a day to drink the kool-aid.  I had been talking to one of my employees the next day about it.  We got on the subject of houses.  A lot of our coworkers were in the process of closing on homes.  I had said it’s hard to invest in something when you don’t know where you’ll be six months out of the year.  Let alone on one not for profit salary.  She told me not to drink the kool-aid.  Buying a home wasn’t exactly a great investment.  It was a lifestyle.  Location, location, location as they say.  Buying a home seems really stressful.  Kool-aid is pretty sugary.  The dentist told me I had no cavities and was on the right track.  That was after Toto’s Africa finished on the radio.  It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you.

I’ve had the luxury of writing these for over a year to remember how my teeth felt last summer.  I can remember the stress quite well and subsequently how my shit was not quite together.  A year later I can see the successes too.  My trip to New York is bought and paid for.  I paid for it.  People always ask if I’m going for work.  I never really say much.  I told the dentists I was visiting friends.  I just go.  It’s budgeted in such a way where every two months it’s the easiest answer to my frustrations.  I think about making more money.  I think about my cost of living often.  Imagine flying to New York for two days with no schedule, responsibilities or plans other than a place to stay.  You explore.  You find your own relationships to things and how you feel.  You take that back to your own city and think differently as a result.  New things open up to you but it’s still the same old you.  I know what you are thinking.  This must have been some dental visit.  But then again it was free because I have insurance.  Which is another luxury in America in regards to the for profit healthcare industry.  The progressive values people push for in the corporate sector are a way of life where I work.  I’ve grown from how I manage and interact with power.  It hasn’t been easy at all.  I wear Undercover to work and I’m not a cop.  I’m starting to think the police have figured that out finally too.  Though the streets are always on some fuck shit.  You don’t want to even know half the weird shit I’ve been dragged into in New York.  It doesn’t really phase me as long as people respect what I go through.  And in some ways branching out into a new industry just for a fractional sum of money seems counter intuitive to me right now.  More money, more problems as they say.  Money management is the move.  If I were to live in New York one day, it’s conceivably worth it to consider a different job.  If I were to live in Hong Kong I could crash on my cousin’s couch.  I’ve flown to Shanghai by myself.  Stepped out of the airport to eat McDonald’s.  I can pretty much eat anything I want.  I’ve run enough miles to prove it.  I might run some more.  Is anything ever going to change with me?  I finally have a week off from mowing my mom’s lawn.  That’s a good look too.  I take the bus either way.  Public transportation is about as real as it gets.  I drink that Kool-aid with a monthly pass from a transit benefit.  I don’t own a car.  I own a skateboard.  And nobody tells me what to do.  Sounds dangerous but my teeth are fine.

Some people at work left recently.  One on Friday.  Monday will be another crank in the vice.  I don’t really hate my job at all.  I get to do a lot of cool stuff with technology.  Our fashion program is amazing these days.  Years ago I was on the cusp of moving to Oakland.  I applied for another University out there and got a second interview.  The salaries were equal.  The cost of living and the art coming out of the school was not.  I decided to stay.  I talk matter of fact that I visited South Korea fourteen times by myself.  I did this twice a year for three weeks at a time on paid leave.  Dropped off the face of the earth by myself and got lost.  I did that with the help and support of my job.  Sometimes that can be a bit of a curse.  I don’t even leave the country these days.  New York is fine for me.  I stay near the World Trade center.  I stare out at the memorials and drink Blue Bottle coffee.  It’s not as dramatic as it is.  But then again it’s me we are talking about.  People can’t ever figure out what I’m about because nobody ever talks to me or asks.  At least where I work there’s a legacy and a context.  My exposure to Korea was through art, film and students.  These days there’s just as many mainland Chinese students attending classes.  It’s like a little hub.  A home base where I feel there’s a certain understanding and appreciation for progressive values.  People presumably talk about me behind my back elsewhere.  About how I fell off or was some kind of one hit wonder.  I’d rather they talk about how DJ’ing isn’t really a job.  I’ve had a job and a career for almost two decades.  My resume is like a morning star.  Maybe even a battle axe.  But I’m stronger than any weapon.  And these days I feel like I need to stand my ground more than usual.  It’s a rough and reactionary time.  A time where people only respond to negative news and scandals.  Good people get ignored.  Picked over and isolated.  And then good people grow into better people.  Connect with better people.  Share things like power, art, emotions and love.  And then some people just make more money.  Spend more money unhappily so.  I’ve been telling myself I’m worth way more than that.  For about a year I’ve had something mysterious in my life that’s worth more than that to me.  What made it possible is the mystery I have to solve for myself.  I’m not going to change up the formula or go for the plot twist.  But I am going to keep planning ahead and paying it forward.  Just like I’ll be back at work next week.  And thinking of you a large portion of it. <3 Tim

[anonymuseing]

In April: Parent: Lazy child--go out and get a job! Me: *has been applying to and handing out resumes since January--when I was still in University in another city*

In October: Parent: Where's my dinner? Fetch my socks! You don't have a job so the least you can do is pitch in around the house! *sayeth the one that's been sitting on the sofa tanking an Asian Drama for 7 hours straight* Me: *has to leave for a 3 hour training shift at a fast-food restaurant--literally the only place out of hundreds to give me both an interview, and a chance to train and work* There's not enough time. Make your own dinner--if I don't leave now, I'll be late.   Parent: That's not even a *real* job! Don't be so up-tight about it--be late!

It's sad that I'm not the only one of my friends going through this right now. We graduated from University and went back home to different cities so we can only support and encourage each other through IM and whatnot. None of us got a celebratory party or anything for graduating. Heck, most of us skipped Convocation 'cuz we couldn't afford to travel back to our universities or rent the regalia etc. My "celebration" was me busing out to the mall and buying myself DVDs of the movies I had missed in favor of crushing my final semester. My degree still sits in the envnelope it was mailed to me in, sitting in a corner in the document pile. My friend got a celebratory dinner--a dinner where her dad commented countless times on her not having secured a job yet, of her not having any income at the moment, of her having nothing to be happy about or something to celebrate 'cuz she didn't have a job.

Most of my friends and I have jobs now--fast-food, daycare, etc. Our parents and their circles of friends aren't shy about telling us that we're 'not aiming high enough' and that we 'have a degree--you shouldn't be applying for something like fast-food'. They tell me to go for reception or secretarial jobs. They tell me those are the only offers I should be accepting. Newsflash, bigotted assholes: there are no such offers!

I landed a few interviews for receptionist-style jobs. The want-ads said 'entry-level position' and all that was listed under their qualifications was that the applicant had to be older than 18 years of age.

That interview was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. They liked the fact that I had a high GPA and a degree to my name, but they didn't take me seriously. "Where's your experience?" "Why should I hire you when you haven't done reception for another company?" "How do I know you're not just going to take off to do school after we train you?" I have a degree--I'm done school. I don't have reception-experience because this is the first receptionist job I've ever applied for (and your ad, which you proudly claim was typed out by you, personally, clearly stated that this was an entry-level position with no prior experience necessary). I have experience--5 years of it working for my University and the year I took off to earn money for university. If you count volunteer experience, I have 2 more years of that under my belt too. Honestly, if they weren't planning on taking me seriously or seriously considering me for the position, they shouldn't have bothered scheduling an interview with me. Every complaint they had about my lack of experience or whether or not I was honest about being done school was on my resume. I had all of my experience listed, as well as the time I spent in each position. I had a cover letter that was optimistic and clearly stated that I was done school, looking to gain work experience, and that further education was an idea for the future, but not something I'd be jumping into immediately. If they had bothered to look at my application for three minutes, they would have saved me the time, effort, and cost of transport to get to their place and be humiliated.

Going out anywhere or being around anyone was humiliating. Going to church, every conversation is the same every single week: Person: Hey! Haven't seen you in forever! Where've you been? Me: I've been away at University. Person: Cool, cool. So, you're back now? Me: Yup. Person: Found a job yet? Me: Still looking. Person: Good. Next week: Person: Hey! Found a job yet? Me: Still looking. Person: Good. *repeat every week until September. Conversations after the start of September: Person: Hey! You're still here? When does school start? Me: I graduated. I'm looking for a job. Person: Congrats. So...found a job yet? Me: Still looking. Been looking since January. Person: What are you looking for? Me: Anything. Person: A friend of mine is looking for people to paint their fence for them before the snow hits. Me: Sure, I'll contact them. Thanks! Next week: Person: Hey! You're still here? When does school start? Me: I graduated. I'm looking for a job. Person: Congrats. So...found a job yet? Me: Not yet. Still looking. I looked in on the paint job your friend mentioned. Person: You have a degree! You shouldn't be painting fences! Aim higher! Eventually: Person: Hey! You're still here? School started already, didn't it? Me: I graduated. Person: Congrats. So...found a job yet? Me: Yeah, I'm training at [Fast Food Chain]. Person: Why are you applying to fast-food? You have a degree! Reception, think-tanks, Non-profit organizations--look downtown! [Fast Food Chain] isn't a *real* job. You can do better. Don't waste your time. The good opportunities will pass you over if you're going to cheapen yourself to fast-food.

It's often the same person/people that I have these conversations with every week. People that don't bother remembering that I'm looking for a job or that I graduated. They're the ones that start a conversation with me. On top of that, the only thing they can think to ask or talk about is whetehr or not I have a job yet or what I'm doing now. At some point, it gets to be a really anxiety-inducing topic. I graduated in April--ideally, I would have had a job interview or two set up in February. Ideally, I'd be training to work somewhere in May. Come June, the job-topic should be taboo. If someone has a job, then yeah they are going to talk about it. If they don't, don't ask. Considering you didn't bother remembering that they've graduated, you're not going to bother remembering if they've landed a job or not--so stop asking! It's a really triggering topic for some people. It got to the point where I actually don't want to go to church anymore. I want to listen to the sermons, but I don't want to deal with the stupid conversations with people that honestly don't give a damn about me or what I do. They didn't bother to remember I graduated despite being reminded of it for more than four months. Asking a young person whether or not they have a job should be taboo because it's a really upsetting topic for a lot of people right now. Our newsfeeds blow up whenever a 'young person' commits suicide over being unemployed and all of us are terrified that one day that headline is going to be us.

Nobody applies to work in entry-level fast-food if they have options. Most of my friends and I only started applying to them after all of the reception and non-profits declined us for our lack of any work experience. Most of us didn't have means to go downtown to get to those jobs even if we had it. They expect you to show up to work at 5:30A and transit doesn't start running until then. Most of us don't have cars or licenses 'cuz we can't afford them. With no other options, we have a degree, but we're in the same boat as High Schoolers except for the fact that we have debts and we're no longer covered by our parents benefit plans.

Home and home-communities aren't safe spaces for a lot of us anymore. We're berated multiple times a day for not having a *real* job, whatever the hell that means. The worst part is that the people berating us for it have never had to work fast-food a day in their lives. My friend's dad graduated from a polytechnic school and claims that his first job ever was a job in his field--he walked into some construction firm, demanded to see the 'man in charge' and said 'here's my certification. Hire me.' and he was hired. So he claims, anyway. Another friend's older brother who lives away from home still comes back every other weekend to "spend time with the family" and he's always up in her business and calling her a failure. He's never worked an "entry level position" in his life. His first ever actual job was after he got out of University. He had a high enough GPA that companies doing head-hunting were sending him offers to pay for his tuition and whatnot if he'd work for them for a few years. He landed a 9-5, salaried office job as an IT guy the moment he graduated. Minimum-wage was never a thing for him and here he is sneering at his own sister for struggling to land a minimum-wage job.

You don't understand what other people are going through. Just because you lucked out and got a job in your field, it doesn't mean everyone gets that. My friend hates it when her brother comes home because he and her father gang up on her--telling her off for working minimum wage, screaming at her that this is not the way to becoming independent. Brother pays a mortgage and father owns the house she's staying in and both of them tell her that she's an 'adult' and should have a salary, a car, and an apartment of her own to her name. She graduated just a couple of months ago and only three places of the hundreds she applied to bothered to schedule an interview.

I'm worried about this friend of mine with the shit-for-male-relatives. I've known her for a long time and I know she has had brushes with suicide in the past. She's my best friend. If it were financially feasible right now, I'd want to get an apartment and enter roommateship with her. I don't want her having to listen to this demeaning bullshit at home all the time and at church (we both go to the same church and deal with the same conversations. She helped me write them for this post). It's not feasible right now. The last thing either of us wants is more debt. We're super anxious each time our phones ring right now, wondering if it's a scammer or if it's our minimum-wage jobs calling to tell us our next shift ('cuz literally, we could be told our asses have to be at work in 6 hours and neither of us knew before then).

To all our family and acquaintances--we know our lives are shitty, stop rubbing it in. I don't say "friends" in the above, because right now the only people we consider friends are the people that can relate, or at least the people that are decent enough not to comment on our shitty lives. Honestly, the only reason I haven't become the next suicide headline is because of these friends. I haven't done it yet because I'm holding onto the idea that if I keep working at this craptacular fast-food chain it'll become financially feasible for me and my friend to get an apartment together. Two-bedroom would be preferrable, but if one-bedroom is all that's feasible, we'll convert the living room into a bedroom or something with curtain partitions.  

To anyone reading this this that is in a similar, toxic, undesirable situation: I will not lie and say it gets better because I don't know if it will get better. There's an idea, a dream, and a hope that things will get better for my friends and I if we can make a roommateship happen. We're holding on for that dream but things could very well end in tragedy for one or both of us. If anyone is out there, traumatized by toxic relatives or acquaintances that just don't know how to keep their damned mouths shut, look to your friends. They are people you choose to interact with. They are your family-by-choice. They are the people you want to be with and want to converse with, not the crappy relatives you were born to and had no choice in, and not the nosy, pesky acquaintances that decide to stir the pot and not be helpful. Find your friends. Support and encourage each other. Times are tough and you're all probably going through nasty things. Take care of each other, check up on each other. Listen to each other because the thing none of us wants is to hear that a friend committed suicide and it may have been preventable if we had just bothered to send them a "hey, how are you?" message or decided, "screw it--lets go into debt together and get the hell out of these toxic families".

[andrewdburton]

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000

There’s a lot at stake when you walk through your boss’s door to start the “talk.” You know the one: negotiating more money.

That single conversation is too important for you to just blindly walk in and hope that it all works out. That’s like blindfolding yourself and then trying to shoot a free throw … with Shaquille O’Neal standing in front of you — likely not gonna happen!

But do it right, and a successful negotiation of, say, $5,000 on top of your salary can add up to an extra $68,000 over 10 years. Talk about a Big Win.

There are a ton of resources here at IWT (like here, here, and oh, here) to give you the best chance of success at getting paid what you deserve in your current or new job, including an Ultimate Guide on Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. And usually we emphasize that the number-one mistake you can make when negotiating more money is that…

…YOU NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Maybe you just accept the first offer that gets thrown at you because you’re afraid the opportunity will slip away…

Or you simply sit there and pray that your boss will notice your good work and give you what you think you deserve (hint: they won’t, or at least typically not what you could get).

In fact, not bothering to ask is only one of four cardinal sins of negotiating your salary, according to our head honcho Ramit Sethi. He was interviewed on national publication CNBC about four mistakes that can really cripple the average person’s annual earnings and morale, and they are:

You don’t negotiate at all (we covered this just now)

You don’t plan ahead

You take advice from the wrong people

You give up after the first attempt 

Ramit sharing his hot take on negotiation via CNBC.

But look: It’s one thing to learn how to negotiate in theory, but it’s another to actually put rubber to the road and test-drive these or anyone’s tips in the real world.

“You think you’re going to walk in and suddenly become a master negotiator?” Ramit says in the CNBC article. Maybe if you’re actually a Jedi who has powers of mind control … Otherwise, you’re up against someone who’s navigated negotiations with dozens or hundreds of people, perhaps for years.

If that’s the case, just what does it take to get a raise? More important, what does it look like in the real world?

We asked our IWT readers to share how they applied negotiation principles to get a raise of $5,000 or more in their new or existing position. Out of the dozen or so readers who were willing to share their stories, we noticed five commonalities that boosted their chance of success.

“When you start to hear other people telling you their negotiation stories, I think you’re going to be confident in negotiating for what you deserve and what you are worth.” — Ramit

1. They hit a point where they weren’t afraid to ask for more

It’s no surprise that when you don’t ask, you never get what you want. This, of course, includes getting more money. Interestingly, some of our readers wrote in and confided in us that they knew they were being underpaid and yet they still didn’t speak up. It’s easy to point fingers and scream, “The answer is so simple: Just say something or leave!”

But there are a lot of forces at play here. In particular: Invisible scripts, our term for the mental frameworks that are so embedded in our everyday thinking that we often don’t notice we have these thoughts. They could hold us back from being willing to grow, including asking for more money.

“I needed to leave, but had a lot of invisible scripts like, ‘I have no real skills, so I can’t work in any other field’ and ‘If I get paid more, I’ll become a greedy corporate schmuck like the rest of soulless business-types out there,’” wrote one reader.

We’ve all felt or thought something like this, and that’s OK. The first step is to be aware of these thought patterns that might keep you from walking into your boss’s door or even pushing back on the first offer.

What do you notice yourself saying in your head when faced with asking for a raise? Is it things like, “I don’t have the experience or skills to prove my value to the company” or “There’s no way I can ask for more than $8,000”?

Be aware of them and ask, “Is that really true?” Challenge it and find the solution to change it.

2. They did their homework and knew what they were worth

If there was a way to tattoo “DO YOUR HOMEWORK” on your arms, we would. Doing all of the prep work before you walk into these conversations is incredibly important.

You should start by pulling salary data on what you should be earning, according to the number of years of experience and your skill set. Places like Glassdoor, PayScale, and LinkedIn are all great places to research average responsibilities and salary range. Compare your current level of experience to this data and think about what your current skill set and experience can bring to the company.

“If you can communicate this effectively, with practice, then you can walk in and have a good shot at negotiating your salary,” Ramit tells CNBC.

Doing your homework and practicing works, as these reader stories can attest to:

“I successfully negotiated a $33,500 raise with an additional $5,500 in continued education benefits (yearly flight training reimbursement) last May. My strategy was not complicated. I reviewed IWT’s negotiation guide, created a document detailing my achievements at the company in the past three years, waited for opportune timing, and then held my CEO’s feet to the fire.

I’ve worked at my company for just over three years now and since day one have positioned myself to be indispensable. I started out as a mechanical engineer and now run the entire engineering department. In the last three years I’ve negotiated a total of $58,500 in raises for myself.”

Amazing. Here’s another:

“I was able to negotiate a salary raise of $6,000 last year. I was very firm from the beginning of the interview process what my ideal salary range was, and when they tried to come in under that with their initial offer, I came back armed with numbers of what it would ‘cost’ for me to walk away from my previous company (monetary value of the accrued sick leave I wouldn’t get paid out for, the disparity in health coverage between the two companies, etc).

And I had also researched other individuals in my current role (thanks LinkedIn!) to see the years of experience they had before coming to the company and pointed out I was more seasoned than a large percentage of them. After that they came up $6,000 on the offer!”

3. They came prepared to negotiate

We have a secret weapon here that we like to teach people. It’s called The Briefcase Technique, and it’s a powerful way to signal to your potential employer or boss that “you know your shit, and you’re invaluable.”

Ramit breaking down the almighty Briefcase Technique.

Check out this story from a reader who 2X’d her salary in a mere one and a half years (which is  incredible!) when she incorporated The Briefcase Technique:

“I negotiated $8,000 upon taking my current job and $5,000 more just three months after. Soon after applying, I had my first interview with the team. Prepped multiple hours for it. Prepared documents on salary. Prepared my Briefcase Technique. But the Content Manager wasn’t present. To me, that meant I would have another interview with her. So I decided not to present my briefcase to people who wouldn’t care and there was no need to talk salary yet.

Expecting a call back for another interview, I instead got an email with an offer: $37,000. It felt good to have an offer, but my research showed that I deserved $50-60k. I also never got the chance to send my briefcase materials, so I replied, saying:

‘I’ve taken a look at the offer letter and wanted to first say thank you! I am thrilled to be considered!!

I want to be transparent though, it looks like we’re pretty far apart on salary, which is understandable as the range wasn’t posted, and we never really had that discussion.

I’m still very excited about the position, working with you, and COMPANY, but from my research it looks like the range for similar positions are in the $48K-60K ballpark — and actually towards the higher end for someone with my qualifications.

I’d like to discuss that range.

Also, I put together a few ideas I’ve been thinking about for COMPANY. They’ve been on my mind since our last few conversations and I realized we never had the chance to discuss them.

Specifically, these are about expanding and engaging the user base, and I wanted to share these with you no matter what happens as I hope they may provide some value to the marketing teams.’”

Pause. This is a great move to show confidence and value. We’d like to point out this reader’s next savvy move, which was negotiate other terms, like working from home one day per week and scheduling another review for more money after 90 days. The story continues:

“The 90 days were up in December and I spent all that time preparing: coming up with and testing solutions to our process bottlenecks and recording results, as well as what my boss and coworkers were saying about me. I prepared all my best info into a sexy report and practiced the negotiation with my fiancé. He was super harsh in our practices, so I was prepared for the worst.

My meeting with my boss was so much easier than the practices. She was so impressed with my materials that she showed it to at least three other people on the executive team. Though I’d asked for $60k, she offered me $50,000 after our conversation: an 11% raise.”

Don’t focus on the numbers or the timeline here. Instead, focus on how prepared she was — so much that she went in expecting to play hard ball. Her potential employer felt this too, and as Ramit has said before, you’ve done something wrong much earlier in the interview process or in your performance if the other party is not willing to negotiate.

Show that you are a Top Performer, and Top Performers know exactly what they can bring to the table.

4. They stood their ground

In negotiations, it’s easy to shrink away and give in, but being firm and unwavering in what you want is key.

“I successfully negotiated a $15,000 raise last year from $45 to $60k.

Part of this big raise was that I was being very underpaid. For the meeting, I brought in my notes that showed the amount of funding I had secured for the company, the amount of overtime I had taken on, and the amount of travel I had to do (much of it unpaid). I was initially offered a $10k raise, but told them that amount would not work for me as the hours required did not make sense at that rate. I wasn’t bluffing, I would not have continued to work there at that rate.

I was calm and firm and direct in what I brought to the role.

One of my bosses responded well, the other did not. I wrote up all the research for him and gave him a copy. I knew I was underpaid and wouldn’t settle for less. They came around and it worked out!”

The reality is, bosses are not there to be your friend. They’re there to make sure they have the best employees, and it’s on you to make sure they know you know exactly how you drive results for them.

5. They understood increases took time and were persistent

This is perhaps a crucial point that is sorely misrepresented in all of the negotiation resources out there: That it often takes time.

Time to develop your skill set and experience.

Time to prove that your contributions are valuable.

Time to practice your negotiation skills.

You can’t expect to get a $15,000 raise in a jiffy. It might work out for some people — just like some people could win the lottery — but it’s not the norm. Here’s a reader who spent four years making active moves in increasing his salary:

“I took my income from $52k in 2014 to $110k+$15k bonus by early 2018.

I took a new position in 2014 and bumped myself from $52k to $64k in that job change. I did research on the role and company to get the highest starting salary for my role that they have paid. I did a lot of prep for the interviews. Within the year I moved up to $72k based on being a Top Performer in the company.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to open a new office for the firm. I negotiated a raise to $85K on that move, with some pushback from the CEO. I ramped more slowly after that: $92k in 2016, $100k in 2017, and then $110k in 2018.

I have since moved on to a contract role that I got in a week and have a good rate that puts me over $150k. Through the process I have focused on growing my own skills, and understanding customer needs, and communicating clearly on technical topics.”

Taken altogether, keep in mind that when you’re trying to negotiate your salary it’ll take practice, and likely it’ll take time. Even a bump of $5,000 or even being able to push back after the first “no” can be a huge victory and a small step toward more successful future negotiations. Revel in any win — big or small.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-raise/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[kennethherrerablog]

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000

There’s a lot at stake when you walk through your boss’s door to start the “talk.” You know the one: negotiating more money.

That single conversation is too important for you to just blindly walk in and hope that it all works out. That’s like blindfolding yourself and then trying to shoot a free throw … with Shaquille O’Neal standing in front of you — likely not gonna happen!

But do it right, and a successful negotiation of, say, $5,000 on top of your salary can add up to an extra $68,000 over 10 years. Talk about a Big Win.

There are a ton of resources here at IWT (like here, here, and oh, here) to give you the best chance of success at getting paid what you deserve in your current or new job, including an Ultimate Guide on Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. And usually we emphasize that the number-one mistake you can make when negotiating more money is that…

…YOU NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Maybe you just accept the first offer that gets thrown at you because you’re afraid the opportunity will slip away…

Or you simply sit there and pray that your boss will notice your good work and give you what you think you deserve (hint: they won’t, or at least typically not what you could get).

In fact, not bothering to ask is only one of four cardinal sins of negotiating your salary, according to our head honcho Ramit Sethi. He was interviewed on national publication CNBC about four mistakes that can really cripple the average person’s annual earnings and morale, and they are:

You don’t negotiate at all (we covered this just now)

You don’t plan ahead

You take advice from the wrong people

You give up after the first attempt 

Ramit sharing his hot take on negotiation via CNBC.

But look: It’s one thing to learn how to negotiate in theory, but it’s another to actually put rubber to the road and test-drive these or anyone’s tips in the real world.

“You think you’re going to walk in and suddenly become a master negotiator?” Ramit says in the CNBC article. Maybe if you’re actually a Jedi who has powers of mind control … Otherwise, you’re up against someone who’s navigated negotiations with dozens or hundreds of people, perhaps for years.

If that’s the case, just what does it take to get a raise? More important, what does it look like in the real world?

We asked our IWT readers to share how they applied negotiation principles to get a raise of $5,000 or more in their new or existing position. Out of the dozen or so readers who were willing to share their stories, we noticed five commonalities that boosted their chance of success.

“When you start to hear other people telling you their negotiation stories, I think you’re going to be confident in negotiating for what you deserve and what you are worth.” — Ramit

1. They hit a point where they weren’t afraid to ask for more

It’s no surprise that when you don’t ask, you never get what you want. This, of course, includes getting more money. Interestingly, some of our readers wrote in and confided in us that they knew they were being underpaid and yet they still didn’t speak up. It’s easy to point fingers and scream, “The answer is so simple: Just say something or leave!”

But there are a lot of forces at play here. In particular: Invisible scripts, our term for the mental frameworks that are so embedded in our everyday thinking that we often don’t notice we have these thoughts. They could hold us back from being willing to grow, including asking for more money.

“I needed to leave, but had a lot of invisible scripts like, ‘I have no real skills, so I can’t work in any other field’ and ‘If I get paid more, I’ll become a greedy corporate schmuck like the rest of soulless business-types out there,’” wrote one reader.

We’ve all felt or thought something like this, and that’s OK. The first step is to be aware of these thought patterns that might keep you from walking into your boss’s door or even pushing back on the first offer.

What do you notice yourself saying in your head when faced with asking for a raise? Is it things like, “I don’t have the experience or skills to prove my value to the company” or “There’s no way I can ask for more than $8,000”?

Be aware of them and ask, “Is that really true?” Challenge it and find the solution to change it.

2. They did their homework and knew what they were worth

If there was a way to tattoo “DO YOUR HOMEWORK” on your arms, we would. Doing all of the prep work before you walk into these conversations is incredibly important.

You should start by pulling salary data on what you should be earning, according to the number of years of experience and your skill set. Places like Glassdoor, PayScale, and LinkedIn are all great places to research average responsibilities and salary range. Compare your current level of experience to this data and think about what your current skill set and experience can bring to the company.

“If you can communicate this effectively, with practice, then you can walk in and have a good shot at negotiating your salary,” Ramit tells CNBC.

Doing your homework and practicing works, as these reader stories can attest to:

“I successfully negotiated a $33,500 raise with an additional $5,500 in continued education benefits (yearly flight training reimbursement) last May. My strategy was not complicated. I reviewed IWT’s negotiation guide, created a document detailing my achievements at the company in the past three years, waited for opportune timing, and then held my CEO’s feet to the fire.

I’ve worked at my company for just over three years now and since day one have positioned myself to be indispensable. I started out as a mechanical engineer and now run the entire engineering department. In the last three years I’ve negotiated a total of $58,500 in raises for myself.”

Amazing. Here’s another:

“I was able to negotiate a salary raise of $6,000 last year. I was very firm from the beginning of the interview process what my ideal salary range was, and when they tried to come in under that with their initial offer, I came back armed with numbers of what it would ‘cost’ for me to walk away from my previous company (monetary value of the accrued sick leave I wouldn’t get paid out for, the disparity in health coverage between the two companies, etc).

And I had also researched other individuals in my current role (thanks LinkedIn!) to see the years of experience they had before coming to the company and pointed out I was more seasoned than a large percentage of them. After that they came up $6,000 on the offer!”

3. They came prepared to negotiate

We have a secret weapon here that we like to teach people. It’s called The Briefcase Technique, and it’s a powerful way to signal to your potential employer or boss that “you know your shit, and you’re invaluable.”

Ramit breaking down the almighty Briefcase Technique.

Check out this story from a reader who 2X’d her salary in a mere one and a half years (which is  incredible!) when she incorporated The Briefcase Technique:

“I negotiated $8,000 upon taking my current job and $5,000 more just three months after. Soon after applying, I had my first interview with the team. Prepped multiple hours for it. Prepared documents on salary. Prepared my Briefcase Technique. But the Content Manager wasn’t present. To me, that meant I would have another interview with her. So I decided not to present my briefcase to people who wouldn’t care and there was no need to talk salary yet.

Expecting a call back for another interview, I instead got an email with an offer: $37,000. It felt good to have an offer, but my research showed that I deserved $50-60k. I also never got the chance to send my briefcase materials, so I replied, saying:

‘I’ve taken a look at the offer letter and wanted to first say thank you! I am thrilled to be considered!!

I want to be transparent though, it looks like we’re pretty far apart on salary, which is understandable as the range wasn’t posted, and we never really had that discussion.

I’m still very excited about the position, working with you, and COMPANY, but from my research it looks like the range for similar positions are in the $48K-60K ballpark — and actually towards the higher end for someone with my qualifications.

I’d like to discuss that range.

Also, I put together a few ideas I’ve been thinking about for COMPANY. They’ve been on my mind since our last few conversations and I realized we never had the chance to discuss them.

Specifically, these are about expanding and engaging the user base, and I wanted to share these with you no matter what happens as I hope they may provide some value to the marketing teams.’”

Pause. This is a great move to show confidence and value. We’d like to point out this reader’s next savvy move, which was negotiate other terms, like working from home one day per week and scheduling another review for more money after 90 days. The story continues:

“The 90 days were up in December and I spent all that time preparing: coming up with and testing solutions to our process bottlenecks and recording results, as well as what my boss and coworkers were saying about me. I prepared all my best info into a sexy report and practiced the negotiation with my fiancé. He was super harsh in our practices, so I was prepared for the worst.

My meeting with my boss was so much easier than the practices. She was so impressed with my materials that she showed it to at least three other people on the executive team. Though I’d asked for $60k, she offered me $50,000 after our conversation: an 11% raise.”

Don’t focus on the numbers or the timeline here. Instead, focus on how prepared she was — so much that she went in expecting to play hard ball. Her potential employer felt this too, and as Ramit has said before, you’ve done something wrong much earlier in the interview process or in your performance if the other party is not willing to negotiate.

Show that you are a Top Performer, and Top Performers know exactly what they can bring to the table.

4. They stood their ground

In negotiations, it’s easy to shrink away and give in, but being firm and unwavering in what you want is key.

“I successfully negotiated a $15,000 raise last year from $45 to $60k.

Part of this big raise was that I was being very underpaid. For the meeting, I brought in my notes that showed the amount of funding I had secured for the company, the amount of overtime I had taken on, and the amount of travel I had to do (much of it unpaid). I was initially offered a $10k raise, but told them that amount would not work for me as the hours required did not make sense at that rate. I wasn’t bluffing, I would not have continued to work there at that rate.

I was calm and firm and direct in what I brought to the role.

One of my bosses responded well, the other did not. I wrote up all the research for him and gave him a copy. I knew I was underpaid and wouldn’t settle for less. They came around and it worked out!”

The reality is, bosses are not there to be your friend. They’re there to make sure they have the best employees, and it’s on you to make sure they know you know exactly how you drive results for them.

5. They understood increases took time and were persistent

This is perhaps a crucial point that is sorely misrepresented in all of the negotiation resources out there: That it often takes time.

Time to develop your skill set and experience.

Time to prove that your contributions are valuable.

Time to practice your negotiation skills.

You can’t expect to get a $15,000 raise in a jiffy. It might work out for some people — just like some people could win the lottery — but it’s not the norm. Here’s a reader who spent four years making active moves in increasing his salary:

“I took my income from $52k in 2014 to $110k+$15k bonus by early 2018.

I took a new position in 2014 and bumped myself from $52k to $64k in that job change. I did research on the role and company to get the highest starting salary for my role that they have paid. I did a lot of prep for the interviews. Within the year I moved up to $72k based on being a Top Performer in the company.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to open a new office for the firm. I negotiated a raise to $85K on that move, with some pushback from the CEO. I ramped more slowly after that: $92k in 2016, $100k in 2017, and then $110k in 2018.

I have since moved on to a contract role that I got in a week and have a good rate that puts me over $150k. Through the process I have focused on growing my own skills, and understanding customer needs, and communicating clearly on technical topics.”

Taken altogether, keep in mind that when you’re trying to negotiate your salary it’ll take practice, and likely it’ll take time. Even a bump of $5,000 or even being able to push back after the first “no” can be a huge victory and a small step toward more successful future negotiations. Revel in any win — big or small.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[samuelfields]

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000

There’s a lot at stake when you walk through your boss’s door to start the “talk.” You know the one: negotiating more money.

That single conversation is too important for you to just blindly walk in and hope that it all works out. That’s like blindfolding yourself and then trying to shoot a free throw … with Shaquille O’Neal standing in front of you — likely not gonna happen!

But do it right, and a successful negotiation of, say, $5,000 on top of your salary can add up to an extra $68,000 over 10 years. Talk about a Big Win.

There are a ton of resources here at IWT (like here, here, and oh, here) to give you the best chance of success at getting paid what you deserve in your current or new job, including an Ultimate Guide on Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. And usually we emphasize that the number-one mistake you can make when negotiating more money is that…

…YOU NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Maybe you just accept the first offer that gets thrown at you because you’re afraid the opportunity will slip away…

Or you simply sit there and pray that your boss will notice your good work and give you what you think you deserve (hint: they won’t, or at least typically not what you could get).

In fact, not bothering to ask is only one of four cardinal sins of negotiating your salary, according to our head honcho Ramit Sethi. He was interviewed on national publication CNBC about four mistakes that can really cripple the average person’s annual earnings and morale, and they are:

You don’t negotiate at all (we covered this just now)

You don’t plan ahead

You take advice from the wrong people

You give up after the first attempt 

Ramit sharing his hot take on negotiation via CNBC.

But look: It’s one thing to learn how to negotiate in theory, but it’s another to actually put rubber to the road and test-drive these or anyone’s tips in the real world.

“You think you’re going to walk in and suddenly become a master negotiator?” Ramit says in the CNBC article. Maybe if you’re actually a Jedi who has powers of mind control … Otherwise, you’re up against someone who’s navigated negotiations with dozens or hundreds of people, perhaps for years.

If that’s the case, just what does it take to get a raise? More important, what does it look like in the real world?

We asked our IWT readers to share how they applied negotiation principles to get a raise of $5,000 or more in their new or existing position. Out of the dozen or so readers who were willing to share their stories, we noticed five commonalities that boosted their chance of success.

“When you start to hear other people telling you their negotiation stories, I think you’re going to be confident in negotiating for what you deserve and what you are worth.” — Ramit

1. They hit a point where they weren’t afraid to ask for more

It’s no surprise that when you don’t ask, you never get what you want. This, of course, includes getting more money. Interestingly, some of our readers wrote in and confided in us that they knew they were being underpaid and yet they still didn’t speak up. It’s easy to point fingers and scream, “The answer is so simple: Just say something or leave!”

But there are a lot of forces at play here. In particular: Invisible scripts, our term for the mental frameworks that are so embedded in our everyday thinking that we often don’t notice we have these thoughts. They could hold us back from being willing to grow, including asking for more money.

“I needed to leave, but had a lot of invisible scripts like, ‘I have no real skills, so I can’t work in any other field’ and ‘If I get paid more, I’ll become a greedy corporate schmuck like the rest of soulless business-types out there,’” wrote one reader.

We’ve all felt or thought something like this, and that’s OK. The first step is to be aware of these thought patterns that might keep you from walking into your boss’s door or even pushing back on the first offer.

What do you notice yourself saying in your head when faced with asking for a raise? Is it things like, “I don’t have the experience or skills to prove my value to the company” or “There’s no way I can ask for more than $8,000”?

Be aware of them and ask, “Is that really true?” Challenge it and find the solution to change it.

2. They did their homework and knew what they were worth

If there was a way to tattoo “DO YOUR HOMEWORK” on your arms, we would. Doing all of the prep work before you walk into these conversations is incredibly important.

You should start by pulling salary data on what you should be earning, according to the number of years of experience and your skill set. Places like Glassdoor, PayScale, and LinkedIn are all great places to research average responsibilities and salary range. Compare your current level of experience to this data and think about what your current skill set and experience can bring to the company.

“If you can communicate this effectively, with practice, then you can walk in and have a good shot at negotiating your salary,” Ramit tells CNBC.

Doing your homework and practicing works, as these reader stories can attest to:

“I successfully negotiated a $33,500 raise with an additional $5,500 in continued education benefits (yearly flight training reimbursement) last May. My strategy was not complicated. I reviewed IWT’s negotiation guide, created a document detailing my achievements at the company in the past three years, waited for opportune timing, and then held my CEO’s feet to the fire.

I’ve worked at my company for just over three years now and since day one have positioned myself to be indispensable. I started out as a mechanical engineer and now run the entire engineering department. In the last three years I’ve negotiated a total of $58,500 in raises for myself.”

Amazing. Here’s another:

“I was able to negotiate a salary raise of $6,000 last year. I was very firm from the beginning of the interview process what my ideal salary range was, and when they tried to come in under that with their initial offer, I came back armed with numbers of what it would ‘cost’ for me to walk away from my previous company (monetary value of the accrued sick leave I wouldn’t get paid out for, the disparity in health coverage between the two companies, etc).

And I had also researched other individuals in my current role (thanks LinkedIn!) to see the years of experience they had before coming to the company and pointed out I was more seasoned than a large percentage of them. After that they came up $6,000 on the offer!”

3. They came prepared to negotiate

We have a secret weapon here that we like to teach people. It’s called The Briefcase Technique, and it’s a powerful way to signal to your potential employer or boss that “you know your shit, and you’re invaluable.”

Ramit breaking down the almighty Briefcase Technique.

Check out this story from a reader who 2X’d her salary in a mere one and a half years (which is  incredible!) when she incorporated The Briefcase Technique:

“I negotiated $8,000 upon taking my current job and $5,000 more just three months after. Soon after applying, I had my first interview with the team. Prepped multiple hours for it. Prepared documents on salary. Prepared my Briefcase Technique. But the Content Manager wasn’t present. To me, that meant I would have another interview with her. So I decided not to present my briefcase to people who wouldn’t care and there was no need to talk salary yet.

Expecting a call back for another interview, I instead got an email with an offer: $37,000. It felt good to have an offer, but my research showed that I deserved $50-60k. I also never got the chance to send my briefcase materials, so I replied, saying:

‘I’ve taken a look at the offer letter and wanted to first say thank you! I am thrilled to be considered!!

I want to be transparent though, it looks like we’re pretty far apart on salary, which is understandable as the range wasn’t posted, and we never really had that discussion.

I’m still very excited about the position, working with you, and COMPANY, but from my research it looks like the range for similar positions are in the $48K-60K ballpark — and actually towards the higher end for someone with my qualifications.

I’d like to discuss that range.

Also, I put together a few ideas I’ve been thinking about for COMPANY. They’ve been on my mind since our last few conversations and I realized we never had the chance to discuss them.

Specifically, these are about expanding and engaging the user base, and I wanted to share these with you no matter what happens as I hope they may provide some value to the marketing teams.’”

Pause. This is a great move to show confidence and value. We’d like to point out this reader’s next savvy move, which was negotiate other terms, like working from home one day per week and scheduling another review for more money after 90 days. The story continues:

“The 90 days were up in December and I spent all that time preparing: coming up with and testing solutions to our process bottlenecks and recording results, as well as what my boss and coworkers were saying about me. I prepared all my best info into a sexy report and practiced the negotiation with my fiancé. He was super harsh in our practices, so I was prepared for the worst.

My meeting with my boss was so much easier than the practices. She was so impressed with my materials that she showed it to at least three other people on the executive team. Though I’d asked for $60k, she offered me $50,000 after our conversation: an 11% raise.”

Don’t focus on the numbers or the timeline here. Instead, focus on how prepared she was — so much that she went in expecting to play hard ball. Her potential employer felt this too, and as Ramit has said before, you’ve done something wrong much earlier in the interview process or in your performance if the other party is not willing to negotiate.

Show that you are a Top Performer, and Top Performers know exactly what they can bring to the table.

4. They stood their ground

In negotiations, it’s easy to shrink away and give in, but being firm and unwavering in what you want is key.

“I successfully negotiated a $15,000 raise last year from $45 to $60k.

Part of this big raise was that I was being very underpaid. For the meeting, I brought in my notes that showed the amount of funding I had secured for the company, the amount of overtime I had taken on, and the amount of travel I had to do (much of it unpaid). I was initially offered a $10k raise, but told them that amount would not work for me as the hours required did not make sense at that rate. I wasn’t bluffing, I would not have continued to work there at that rate.

I was calm and firm and direct in what I brought to the role.

One of my bosses responded well, the other did not. I wrote up all the research for him and gave him a copy. I knew I was underpaid and wouldn’t settle for less. They came around and it worked out!”

The reality is, bosses are not there to be your friend. They’re there to make sure they have the best employees, and it’s on you to make sure they know you know exactly how you drive results for them.

5. They understood increases took time and were persistent

This is perhaps a crucial point that is sorely misrepresented in all of the negotiation resources out there: That it often takes time.

Time to develop your skill set and experience.

Time to prove that your contributions are valuable.

Time to practice your negotiation skills.

You can’t expect to get a $15,000 raise in a jiffy. It might work out for some people — just like some people could win the lottery — but it’s not the norm. Here’s a reader who spent four years making active moves in increasing his salary:

“I took my income from $52k in 2014 to $110k+$15k bonus by early 2018.

I took a new position in 2014 and bumped myself from $52k to $64k in that job change. I did research on the role and company to get the highest starting salary for my role that they have paid. I did a lot of prep for the interviews. Within the year I moved up to $72k based on being a Top Performer in the company.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to open a new office for the firm. I negotiated a raise to $85K on that move, with some pushback from the CEO. I ramped more slowly after that: $92k in 2016, $100k in 2017, and then $110k in 2018.

I have since moved on to a contract role that I got in a week and have a good rate that puts me over $150k. Through the process I have focused on growing my own skills, and understanding customer needs, and communicating clearly on technical topics.”

Taken altogether, keep in mind that when you’re trying to negotiate your salary it’ll take practice, and likely it’ll take time. Even a bump of $5,000 or even being able to push back after the first “no” can be a huge victory and a small step toward more successful future negotiations. Revel in any win — big or small.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-raise/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[mcjoelcain]

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000

There’s a lot at stake when you walk through your boss’s door to start the “talk.” You know the one: negotiating more money.

That single conversation is too important for you to just blindly walk in and hope that it all works out. That’s like blindfolding yourself and then trying to shoot a free throw … with Shaquille O’Neal standing in front of you — likely not gonna happen!

But do it right, and a successful negotiation of, say, $5,000 on top of your salary can add up to an extra $68,000 over 10 years. Talk about a Big Win.

There are a ton of resources here at IWT (like here, here, and oh, here) to give you the best chance of success at getting paid what you deserve in your current or new job, including an Ultimate Guide on Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. And usually we emphasize that the number-one mistake you can make when negotiating more money is that…

…YOU NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Maybe you just accept the first offer that gets thrown at you because you’re afraid the opportunity will slip away…

Or you simply sit there and pray that your boss will notice your good work and give you what you think you deserve (hint: they won’t, or at least typically not what you could get).

In fact, not bothering to ask is only one of four cardinal sins of negotiating your salary, according to our head honcho Ramit Sethi. He was interviewed on national publication CNBC about four mistakes that can really cripple the average person’s annual earnings and morale, and they are:

You don’t negotiate at all (we covered this just now)

You don’t plan ahead

You take advice from the wrong people

You give up after the first attempt 

Ramit sharing his hot take on negotiation via CNBC.

But look: It’s one thing to learn how to negotiate in theory, but it’s another to actually put rubber to the road and test-drive these or anyone’s tips in the real world.

“You think you’re going to walk in and suddenly become a master negotiator?” Ramit says in the CNBC article. Maybe if you’re actually a Jedi who has powers of mind control … Otherwise, you’re up against someone who’s navigated negotiations with dozens or hundreds of people, perhaps for years.

If that’s the case, just what does it take to get a raise? More important, what does it look like in the real world?

We asked our IWT readers to share how they applied negotiation principles to get a raise of $5,000 or more in their new or existing position. Out of the dozen or so readers who were willing to share their stories, we noticed five commonalities that boosted their chance of success.

“When you start to hear other people telling you their negotiation stories, I think you’re going to be confident in negotiating for what you deserve and what you are worth.” — Ramit

1. They hit a point where they weren’t afraid to ask for more

It’s no surprise that when you don’t ask, you never get what you want. This, of course, includes getting more money. Interestingly, some of our readers wrote in and confided in us that they knew they were being underpaid and yet they still didn’t speak up. It’s easy to point fingers and scream, “The answer is so simple: Just say something or leave!”

But there are a lot of forces at play here. In particular: Invisible scripts, our term for the mental frameworks that are so embedded in our everyday thinking that we often don’t notice we have these thoughts. They could hold us back from being willing to grow, including asking for more money.

“I needed to leave, but had a lot of invisible scripts like, ‘I have no real skills, so I can’t work in any other field’ and ‘If I get paid more, I’ll become a greedy corporate schmuck like the rest of soulless business-types out there,’” wrote one reader.

We’ve all felt or thought something like this, and that’s OK. The first step is to be aware of these thought patterns that might keep you from walking into your boss’s door or even pushing back on the first offer.

What do you notice yourself saying in your head when faced with asking for a raise? Is it things like, “I don’t have the experience or skills to prove my value to the company” or “There’s no way I can ask for more than $8,000”?

Be aware of them and ask, “Is that really true?” Challenge it and find the solution to change it.

2. They did their homework and knew what they were worth

If there was a way to tattoo “DO YOUR HOMEWORK” on your arms, we would. Doing all of the prep work before you walk into these conversations is incredibly important.

You should start by pulling salary data on what you should be earning, according to the number of years of experience and your skill set. Places like Glassdoor, PayScale, and LinkedIn are all great places to research average responsibilities and salary range. Compare your current level of experience to this data and think about what your current skill set and experience can bring to the company.

“If you can communicate this effectively, with practice, then you can walk in and have a good shot at negotiating your salary,” Ramit tells CNBC.

Doing your homework and practicing works, as these reader stories can attest to:

“I successfully negotiated a $33,500 raise with an additional $5,500 in continued education benefits (yearly flight training reimbursement) last May. My strategy was not complicated. I reviewed IWT’s negotiation guide, created a document detailing my achievements at the company in the past three years, waited for opportune timing, and then held my CEO’s feet to the fire.

I’ve worked at my company for just over three years now and since day one have positioned myself to be indispensable. I started out as a mechanical engineer and now run the entire engineering department. In the last three years I’ve negotiated a total of $58,500 in raises for myself.”

Amazing. Here’s another:

“I was able to negotiate a salary raise of $6,000 last year. I was very firm from the beginning of the interview process what my ideal salary range was, and when they tried to come in under that with their initial offer, I came back armed with numbers of what it would ‘cost’ for me to walk away from my previous company (monetary value of the accrued sick leave I wouldn’t get paid out for, the disparity in health coverage between the two companies, etc).

And I had also researched other individuals in my current role (thanks LinkedIn!) to see the years of experience they had before coming to the company and pointed out I was more seasoned than a large percentage of them. After that they came up $6,000 on the offer!”

3. They came prepared to negotiate

We have a secret weapon here that we like to teach people. It’s called The Briefcase Technique, and it’s a powerful way to signal to your potential employer or boss that “you know your shit, and you’re invaluable.”

Ramit breaking down the almighty Briefcase Technique.

Check out this story from a reader who 2X’d her salary in a mere one and a half years (which is  incredible!) when she incorporated The Briefcase Technique:

“I negotiated $8,000 upon taking my current job and $5,000 more just three months after. Soon after applying, I had my first interview with the team. Prepped multiple hours for it. Prepared documents on salary. Prepared my Briefcase Technique. But the Content Manager wasn’t present. To me, that meant I would have another interview with her. So I decided not to present my briefcase to people who wouldn’t care and there was no need to talk salary yet.

Expecting a call back for another interview, I instead got an email with an offer: $37,000. It felt good to have an offer, but my research showed that I deserved $50-60k. I also never got the chance to send my briefcase materials, so I replied, saying:

‘I’ve taken a look at the offer letter and wanted to first say thank you! I am thrilled to be considered!!

I want to be transparent though, it looks like we’re pretty far apart on salary, which is understandable as the range wasn’t posted, and we never really had that discussion.

I’m still very excited about the position, working with you, and COMPANY, but from my research it looks like the range for similar positions are in the $48K-60K ballpark — and actually towards the higher end for someone with my qualifications.

I’d like to discuss that range.

Also, I put together a few ideas I’ve been thinking about for COMPANY. They’ve been on my mind since our last few conversations and I realized we never had the chance to discuss them.

Specifically, these are about expanding and engaging the user base, and I wanted to share these with you no matter what happens as I hope they may provide some value to the marketing teams.’”

Pause. This is a great move to show confidence and value. We’d like to point out this reader’s next savvy move, which was negotiate other terms, like working from home one day per week and scheduling another review for more money after 90 days. The story continues:

“The 90 days were up in December and I spent all that time preparing: coming up with and testing solutions to our process bottlenecks and recording results, as well as what my boss and coworkers were saying about me. I prepared all my best info into a sexy report and practiced the negotiation with my fiancé. He was super harsh in our practices, so I was prepared for the worst.

My meeting with my boss was so much easier than the practices. She was so impressed with my materials that she showed it to at least three other people on the executive team. Though I’d asked for $60k, she offered me $50,000 after our conversation: an 11% raise.”

Don’t focus on the numbers or the timeline here. Instead, focus on how prepared she was — so much that she went in expecting to play hard ball. Her potential employer felt this too, and as Ramit has said before, you’ve done something wrong much earlier in the interview process or in your performance if the other party is not willing to negotiate.

Show that you are a Top Performer, and Top Performers know exactly what they can bring to the table.

4. They stood their ground

In negotiations, it’s easy to shrink away and give in, but being firm and unwavering in what you want is key.

“I successfully negotiated a $15,000 raise last year from $45 to $60k.

Part of this big raise was that I was being very underpaid. For the meeting, I brought in my notes that showed the amount of funding I had secured for the company, the amount of overtime I had taken on, and the amount of travel I had to do (much of it unpaid). I was initially offered a $10k raise, but told them that amount would not work for me as the hours required did not make sense at that rate. I wasn’t bluffing, I would not have continued to work there at that rate.

I was calm and firm and direct in what I brought to the role.

One of my bosses responded well, the other did not. I wrote up all the research for him and gave him a copy. I knew I was underpaid and wouldn’t settle for less. They came around and it worked out!”

The reality is, bosses are not there to be your friend. They’re there to make sure they have the best employees, and it’s on you to make sure they know you know exactly how you drive results for them.

5. They understood increases took time and were persistent

This is perhaps a crucial point that is sorely misrepresented in all of the negotiation resources out there: That it often takes time.

Time to develop your skill set and experience.

Time to prove that your contributions are valuable.

Time to practice your negotiation skills.

You can’t expect to get a $15,000 raise in a jiffy. It might work out for some people — just like some people could win the lottery — but it’s not the norm. Here’s a reader who spent four years making active moves in increasing his salary:

“I took my income from $52k in 2014 to $110k+$15k bonus by early 2018.

I took a new position in 2014 and bumped myself from $52k to $64k in that job change. I did research on the role and company to get the highest starting salary for my role that they have paid. I did a lot of prep for the interviews. Within the year I moved up to $72k based on being a Top Performer in the company.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to open a new office for the firm. I negotiated a raise to $85K on that move, with some pushback from the CEO. I ramped more slowly after that: $92k in 2016, $100k in 2017, and then $110k in 2018.

I have since moved on to a contract role that I got in a week and have a good rate that puts me over $150k. Through the process I have focused on growing my own skills, and understanding customer needs, and communicating clearly on technical topics.”

Taken altogether, keep in mind that when you’re trying to negotiate your salary it’ll take practice, and likely it’ll take time. Even a bump of $5,000 or even being able to push back after the first “no” can be a huge victory and a small step toward more successful future negotiations. Revel in any win — big or small.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Money https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-raise/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[paulckrueger]

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000

There’s a lot at stake when you walk through your boss’s door to start the “talk.” You know the one: negotiating more money.

That single conversation is too important for you to just blindly walk in and hope that it all works out. That’s like blindfolding yourself and then trying to shoot a free throw … with Shaquille O’Neal standing in front of you — likely not gonna happen!

But do it right, and a successful negotiation of, say, $5,000 on top of your salary can add up to an extra $68,000 over 10 years. Talk about a Big Win.

There are a ton of resources here at IWT (like here, here, and oh, here) to give you the best chance of success at getting paid what you deserve in your current or new job, including an Ultimate Guide on Getting a Raise and Boosting Your Salary. And usually we emphasize that the number-one mistake you can make when negotiating more money is that…

…YOU NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Maybe you just accept the first offer that gets thrown at you because you’re afraid the opportunity will slip away…

Or you simply sit there and pray that your boss will notice your good work and give you what you think you deserve (hint: they won’t, or at least typically not what you could get).

In fact, not bothering to ask is only one of four cardinal sins of negotiating your salary, according to our head honcho Ramit Sethi. He was interviewed on national publication CNBC about four mistakes that can really cripple the average person’s annual earnings and morale, and they are:

You don’t negotiate at all (we covered this just now)

You don’t plan ahead

You take advice from the wrong people

You give up after the first attempt 

Ramit sharing his hot take on negotiation via CNBC.

But look: It’s one thing to learn how to negotiate in theory, but it’s another to actually put rubber to the road and test-drive these or anyone’s tips in the real world.

“You think you’re going to walk in and suddenly become a master negotiator?” Ramit says in the CNBC article. Maybe if you’re actually a Jedi who has powers of mind control … Otherwise, you’re up against someone who’s navigated negotiations with dozens or hundreds of people, perhaps for years.

If that’s the case, just what does it take to get a raise? More important, what does it look like in the real world?

We asked our IWT readers to share how they applied negotiation principles to get a raise of $5,000 or more in their new or existing position. Out of the dozen or so readers who were willing to share their stories, we noticed five commonalities that boosted their chance of success.

“When you start to hear other people telling you their negotiation stories, I think you’re going to be confident in negotiating for what you deserve and what you are worth.” — Ramit

1. They hit a point where they weren’t afraid to ask for more

It’s no surprise that when you don’t ask, you never get what you want. This, of course, includes getting more money. Interestingly, some of our readers wrote in and confided in us that they knew they were being underpaid and yet they still didn’t speak up. It’s easy to point fingers and scream, “The answer is so simple: Just say something or leave!”

But there are a lot of forces at play here. In particular: Invisible scripts, our term for the mental frameworks that are so embedded in our everyday thinking that we often don’t notice we have these thoughts. They could hold us back from being willing to grow, including asking for more money.

“I needed to leave, but had a lot of invisible scripts like, ‘I have no real skills, so I can’t work in any other field’ and ‘If I get paid more, I’ll become a greedy corporate schmuck like the rest of soulless business-types out there,’” wrote one reader.

We’ve all felt or thought something like this, and that’s OK. The first step is to be aware of these thought patterns that might keep you from walking into your boss’s door or even pushing back on the first offer.

What do you notice yourself saying in your head when faced with asking for a raise? Is it things like, “I don’t have the experience or skills to prove my value to the company” or “There’s no way I can ask for more than $8,000”?

Be aware of them and ask, “Is that really true?” Challenge it and find the solution to change it.

2. They did their homework and knew what they were worth

If there was a way to tattoo “DO YOUR HOMEWORK” on your arms, we would. Doing all of the prep work before you walk into these conversations is incredibly important.

You should start by pulling salary data on what you should be earning, according to the number of years of experience and your skill set. Places like Glassdoor, PayScale, and LinkedIn are all great places to research average responsibilities and salary range. Compare your current level of experience to this data and think about what your current skill set and experience can bring to the company.

“If you can communicate this effectively, with practice, then you can walk in and have a good shot at negotiating your salary,” Ramit tells CNBC.

Doing your homework and practicing works, as these reader stories can attest to:

“I successfully negotiated a $33,500 raise with an additional $5,500 in continued education benefits (yearly flight training reimbursement) last May. My strategy was not complicated. I reviewed IWT’s negotiation guide, created a document detailing my achievements at the company in the past three years, waited for opportune timing, and then held my CEO’s feet to the fire.

I’ve worked at my company for just over three years now and since day one have positioned myself to be indispensable. I started out as a mechanical engineer and now run the entire engineering department. In the last three years I’ve negotiated a total of $58,500 in raises for myself.”

Amazing. Here’s another:

“I was able to negotiate a salary raise of $6,000 last year. I was very firm from the beginning of the interview process what my ideal salary range was, and when they tried to come in under that with their initial offer, I came back armed with numbers of what it would ‘cost’ for me to walk away from my previous company (monetary value of the accrued sick leave I wouldn’t get paid out for, the disparity in health coverage between the two companies, etc).

And I had also researched other individuals in my current role (thanks LinkedIn!) to see the years of experience they had before coming to the company and pointed out I was more seasoned than a large percentage of them. After that they came up $6,000 on the offer!”

3. They came prepared to negotiate

We have a secret weapon here that we like to teach people. It’s called The Briefcase Technique, and it’s a powerful way to signal to your potential employer or boss that “you know your shit, and you’re invaluable.”

Ramit breaking down the almighty Briefcase Technique.

Check out this story from a reader who 2X’d her salary in a mere one and a half years (which is  incredible!) when she incorporated The Briefcase Technique:

“I negotiated $8,000 upon taking my current job and $5,000 more just three months after. Soon after applying, I had my first interview with the team. Prepped multiple hours for it. Prepared documents on salary. Prepared my Briefcase Technique. But the Content Manager wasn’t present. To me, that meant I would have another interview with her. So I decided not to present my briefcase to people who wouldn’t care and there was no need to talk salary yet.

Expecting a call back for another interview, I instead got an email with an offer: $37,000. It felt good to have an offer, but my research showed that I deserved $50-60k. I also never got the chance to send my briefcase materials, so I replied, saying:

‘I’ve taken a look at the offer letter and wanted to first say thank you! I am thrilled to be considered!!

I want to be transparent though, it looks like we’re pretty far apart on salary, which is understandable as the range wasn’t posted, and we never really had that discussion.

I’m still very excited about the position, working with you, and COMPANY, but from my research it looks like the range for similar positions are in the $48K-60K ballpark — and actually towards the higher end for someone with my qualifications.

I’d like to discuss that range.

Also, I put together a few ideas I’ve been thinking about for COMPANY. They’ve been on my mind since our last few conversations and I realized we never had the chance to discuss them.

Specifically, these are about expanding and engaging the user base, and I wanted to share these with you no matter what happens as I hope they may provide some value to the marketing teams.’”

Pause. This is a great move to show confidence and value. We’d like to point out this reader’s next savvy move, which was negotiate other terms, like working from home one day per week and scheduling another review for more money after 90 days. The story continues:

“The 90 days were up in December and I spent all that time preparing: coming up with and testing solutions to our process bottlenecks and recording results, as well as what my boss and coworkers were saying about me. I prepared all my best info into a sexy report and practiced the negotiation with my fiancé. He was super harsh in our practices, so I was prepared for the worst.

My meeting with my boss was so much easier than the practices. She was so impressed with my materials that she showed it to at least three other people on the executive team. Though I’d asked for $60k, she offered me $50,000 after our conversation: an 11% raise.”

Don’t focus on the numbers or the timeline here. Instead, focus on how prepared she was — so much that she went in expecting to play hard ball. Her potential employer felt this too, and as Ramit has said before, you’ve done something wrong much earlier in the interview process or in your performance if the other party is not willing to negotiate.

Show that you are a Top Performer, and Top Performers know exactly what they can bring to the table.

4. They stood their ground

In negotiations, it’s easy to shrink away and give in, but being firm and unwavering in what you want is key.

“I successfully negotiated a $15,000 raise last year from $45 to $60k.

Part of this big raise was that I was being very underpaid. For the meeting, I brought in my notes that showed the amount of funding I had secured for the company, the amount of overtime I had taken on, and the amount of travel I had to do (much of it unpaid). I was initially offered a $10k raise, but told them that amount would not work for me as the hours required did not make sense at that rate. I wasn’t bluffing, I would not have continued to work there at that rate.

I was calm and firm and direct in what I brought to the role.

One of my bosses responded well, the other did not. I wrote up all the research for him and gave him a copy. I knew I was underpaid and wouldn’t settle for less. They came around and it worked out!”

The reality is, bosses are not there to be your friend. They’re there to make sure they have the best employees, and it’s on you to make sure they know you know exactly how you drive results for them.

5. They understood increases took time and were persistent

This is perhaps a crucial point that is sorely misrepresented in all of the negotiation resources out there: That it often takes time.

Time to develop your skill set and experience.

Time to prove that your contributions are valuable.

Time to practice your negotiation skills.

You can’t expect to get a $15,000 raise in a jiffy. It might work out for some people — just like some people could win the lottery — but it’s not the norm. Here’s a reader who spent four years making active moves in increasing his salary:

“I took my income from $52k in 2014 to $110k+$15k bonus by early 2018.

I took a new position in 2014 and bumped myself from $52k to $64k in that job change. I did research on the role and company to get the highest starting salary for my role that they have paid. I did a lot of prep for the interviews. Within the year I moved up to $72k based on being a Top Performer in the company.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to open a new office for the firm. I negotiated a raise to $85K on that move, with some pushback from the CEO. I ramped more slowly after that: $92k in 2016, $100k in 2017, and then $110k in 2018.

I have since moved on to a contract role that I got in a week and have a good rate that puts me over $150k. Through the process I have focused on growing my own skills, and understanding customer needs, and communicating clearly on technical topics.”

Taken altogether, keep in mind that when you’re trying to negotiate your salary it’ll take practice, and likely it’ll take time. Even a bump of $5,000 or even being able to push back after the first “no” can be a huge victory and a small step toward more successful future negotiations. Revel in any win — big or small.

5 factors that helped these readers successfully boost their salary over $5,000 is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-raise/

[prorevenge]

You want to mess with my career and my freedom? Watch your entire life go down in flames!

TL;DR at the bottom. Sorry in advance for any formatting or grammatical errors. English is not my first language.

This is a pretty long one, so hope you're up for the challenge :)

This all happened five or so years ago while I was working for a proprietary trading firm. The company is a multinational and it had opened a new office in my city a couple of years before I joined them. For those who don't know, most prop shops (as I understood it) have a very high turnover rate. Just toss everyone in and keep those who stick. The company I worked for recruited every three months. It had space for about 120 traders but the office was never full. Out of the twenty or so who were hired every quarter, only about five managed to make it beyond the three month internship period, and of those, only one - or sometimes none at all - made it past the additional three months probation period. The company was operating in my city for two years before I joined and there were only about four people who I could have called permanent. Everyone else, about another ten, was either on their internship or on probation.

The Setup.

I and about twenty five others were recruited straight out of university. The internship period paid really well for a first job, about twice as much as any other entry level position in other financial institutions plus bonuses once we went live (regardless of whether one is on internship, probation or permanent), and I was really excited.

I first came across my boss, a really decent Indian guy, at a industry day held in our university. That was where they administered the IQ tests and I passed. The office, similar to other mid-sized operations, had a pretty flat management structure. Us traders were at the lowest level, the HR/Ops manager was above us, and the Office Manager was, well, the head of the branch. The boss gave time off pretty much whenever you asked for it as long as the day's objectives were fulfilled (that was his policy).

However, the HR/Ops manager was his opposite, and then some. This lady was a Grade-A bitch, and I mean that sincerely. Let's call her Gabby.

The Instigating Event

I first met Gabby when I went to their offices for my final interview. I was registering at the front desk when she marched from her office demanding some documents from the receptionist. The receptionist wanted to finish up with me first but she was ordered off to file storage. Our exchange went like so:

Gabby: You're one of the new ones?

Me: Yes. I'm really excited.

Gabby: Don't be. you don't look like you'll make it.

Me: Why?

Gabby: You're too soft.

A pause.

Gabby: Buut... I can put in a good word for you, if you give me a little something. ( a bribe).

Me: Haha. Very funny.

Gabby: I'm serious. Give something and I'll make it very easy for you. Otherwise I'll make sure you don't even get into the interview.

Me: No.

Gabby: Stupid idiot.

Right to my face. And she kept her word. She made me sit in a hidden corner of the waiting room where no one would see me easily, but I could hear the conversations at the desk. The only reason why I got an interview is because apparently I had impressed the boss at our previous meeting that he came to see why my CV wasn't there. Gabby said that I hadn't sent it in. The receptionist stated that she had seen it somewhere. Then I walked up to the desk at the same time the receptionist said, "Here it is. It was in the trash..." and everyone stared at Gabby.

From that moment of humiliation onwards, Gabby had a raging hate boner for me. You see, Gabby was a micromanager, more of a nanomanager really. She made us have to request access if we wanted to access sites other than those on her approved list, and for traders who gain info from wherever we could find it, her list was woefully inadequate. She would call meetings at the most inopportune times - but only when the branch manager was not around - and in her lengthy meetings, you could never leave to check on your positions. She had this annoying habit of taking my lunch and when I confronted her about it, she essentially told me to go fuck myself. That I could live with. I just started bringing in two sets of lunch and kept on doing the job that I loved.

Gabby was married with two kids, and she was pretty. I guess she liked the attention because she would have a stream of guys picking her up at the office for two hour 'lunches' and when she left for home some evening. But not on Thursday. Thursdays were the days when her husband would come pick her up towing their kids along. I think they went to have a family dinner or something.

The Mistakes Gabby Made: Round One

Our manager left about two months after I joined. I think he returned to India to get married or something but still stayed with the company. Wished him all the best. None of the other permanent traders had the experience corporate required to take on a management role (5 years at least) so they had to shop around. In the meantime, Gabby became the de-facto head of the branch despite the fact that her knowledge of futures markets was rudimentary at best.

Her first mistake was when she delayed my promotion from internship to probation. I am an excellent trader, and was easily top five in my group. Of the 26, she promoted the twenty she liked, kept me and another guy in internship, and fired four.At around the same time, another recruitment drive happened and another twentyish interns were hired. I knew this was our beef rekindled and remixed, and I was actually surprised she held onto it for so long. It was also pretty unusual since the last thing my former boss did before he left was to promote me from the simulator to a live trading account. But I kept my head down and continued learning, often going back to my former boss and the permanent employees to get advice.

Another three months go by, and in the next evaluation I was shocked that I was still not brought up to probation, despite the fact that all of the new recruits of the second group had been promoted and I was easily the best and the only one trading live. I knew I was good at the job. The permanent guys all said so. The group I initially joined with was frequently asking me for advice. To their credit, a few of them were good, but most of them were still on sim, and as a rule, no one advanced to probation while still on sim. However, you could go live while on internship if you were good which is what had happened to me. So I was a live trader and making good money but I was still on internship and passed over twice. I couldn't let go of that.

I decided to talk to Gabby directly. I approached the senior guys and made my case, though I was careful not to put her in bad light. They agreed to help me and so they did. about a month after the she passed me over the second time, she gave me my promotion and I was now on probation. At this time, she was still unsure of her power and was still afraid of the permanent traders. Those guys were like gods.

Two months after my promotion, another evaluation and recruitment drive. I was not promoted. The group I started out with was now permanent, despite having only two of them trading live. The group I was currently with on probation were all promoted to permanent status. The group behind me on internship was all promoted to probation, and another group was hired. I let it go hoping she had got it out of her system. Sadly, she had not.

Round Two

Three months go by. I'm trading live and loving it, though still on probation. An evaluation comes up again and I'm not promoted, despite the fact that, contract to contract, I was almost on a level with the permanent employees. The group that found me on probation was advanced to permanent status to a man, and none of them were live. the group behind me caught up to me and a new batch of newbies were hired as interns. I couldn't let this one go either. I approached the original four permanent employees who were now my very good buddies and planned to do the same thing as last time. Only this time, it didn't work. Gabby had grown into her sadistic power and flatly refused to even consider my promotion even after she was presented with evidence that I was worth it. Her argument was along the lines of, "I'm the boss so I can do whatever the hell I want."

But I wasn't having that, so I contacted my former boss for help. At the time he had been promoted to head of operations, Africa. He was actually quite surprised, given my performance, that I was still on probation. Needless to say, the order came down from on high and Gabby looked like she was shitting six pineapples simultaneously as she handed my letter. And I thought that was the end of it. How wrong I was.

On the next recruitment she hired this girl, let's call her Sue. Sue was an intelligent person all round, but she didn't have the emotional quotient to handle the market (trading, as I was taught, requires two mental aspects: IQ and EQ. You can't improve IQ, but you can boost your EQ to deal with the numerous stresses that accompany the career). Sue had more than enough of the IQ part, but EQ, not so much. No worries, you can work on that.

Just to recap: The office now had about seventy employees. Of these, over thirty were permanent staff (me included) but only eleven were trading live. Another twenty or so were on probation, but only three were trading live. None of the interns were live. The office needed to stay profitable if it was to stay open which means that the money the fourteen live traders were paying the salaries of everyone in the office, rent, supplies, health insurance, pensions etc etc. Needless to say, corporate was not seeing a lot of returns from our branch, and as I came to learn later from my former boss, were considering shutting down the branch and costing us our jobs. But I digress.

The Last Straw

The Grade-A Bitch Gabby took advantage of an inconsolable and desperate Sue to try and get me for sexual harassment. This is how it went down. Remember all those people still on sim? Well, they all came to the eleven of us for trading advice and we did what we could to help them. We divided up the sim traders into groups and I was mentoring about four people. Sue was one of them. As any trader will tell you, the period before profitability is usually one of losses (unless you're really good) and is filled with stress and fear (hence the need for high EQ). It's normal, and you get through it.

Sue was going through such a rough patch one evening. We were going over her trades (bad trading day all around), when she just burst out crying. I know how it feels. I had shed my own tears as well. So comforted her the best I could. I held her hand and patted her on the back awkwardly (to this day I still don't know how to comfort someone) until she quieted down. What I didnt know was that Gabby had seen us.

As I came to learn later, she approached Sue the following day and made her an offer. Gabby would make sure Sue kept her job and would get her a lot of money if she stated that I had sexually harassed her. Sue took Gabby up on the offer and what followed was a nightmare.It started with a formal reprimand from corporate, a hearing in which I wasn't present to defend myself (because Gabby 'forgot' to send me the summons).

Apparently she lobbied quite viciously to get me fired. The only reason I was able to keep my job was that my former boss came to my defence. Despite his help, I lost my quarterly bonus (about US$100,000) and half of my holdback (about US$400,000). I also had to attend seminars which essentially involved watching the same film on sexual assault in the workplace (three hours long) until I stated, in writing, that I was an abuser and it would go on my record. I knew that if that happened, Gabby would have the ammunition she needed to ruin my life forever. So every day, I got into the office at seven in the morning, watched the three hour film until ten. Refuse to acknowledge it, then get to work, leave the office at 11:20 in the evening, rinse and repeat. For almost seven months. It was tiring, and torture, and Gabby never let me live it down.

All of the people I had been mentoring were transferred the day after my reprimand. A day after that, Gabby informed me via letter that my clip size had been cut from 1000 to 20 contracts. Yeah, I had to admit, I was bloodied. I was down, but the bitch didn't know that she should have ended me.

The Revenge

Step 1: Ruin Gabby's Career.

I started compiling all the shit that was happening to me in the office. It started when I realized that when I went out to lunch, someone would open my desk drawer and mess around with my notebook, where I jotted down my trading ideas for the day. The only person who had a key apart from me was Gabby. Apparently she had mastered my lunchtime routine for the entire 45 minute break and would open my locker when I was out smoking. She would then copy down my trading plans for the day and give them to Sue. I even saw them at it once, but they didn't see me. I documented it. I let it go on for a while so that I could establish a pattern via Sue's trades. I then approached two of the permanent traders who were closest to me and told them my plan.

Remember when I said almost no money was reaching corporate? and that there were only eleven live traders? The situation had only gotten worse. The office was now full but we had less that fifteen live traders. Live trading could only be approved by Head of Operations (my former boss) and he was a strict one. Now imagine that my earning capacity had been cut by over 90%. My two friends agreed to my plan and they slowed down their trading by around 50%. This essentially put the branch in the red and three weeks later, we were told that Head of Ops and other head honchos were coming down. The next phase involved getting Sue into a corner. Pleas, a tear or two, and revealing that I could prove she had been stealing my work were enough to get a written statement from her that Gabby had orchestrated my whole sexual harassment thing.

Step 2: Ruin Gabby's Marriage

It took only a little investigation on my part to realize than all those men who visited the office were actually Gabby's lovers. She would leave for two-hour 'lunches' with her phone turned off. I took advantage of one such period. Gabby left and I snuck into her office to find her Facebook profile open. Everyone knew she was always on there and it was a sore point because she had banned it for the rest of us minions. I got into her Messenger, and voila! Explicit texts, nudes, rants about her husband and his inadequacies, the six guys or so she had cheated with, all of it. I copy pasted the data into her private email which she was logged into as well (always clear cache, you guys) and sent it to my private email, then deleted it from her sent folder. Now I had the ammo on my phone ready to send.

Step 3: Ruin Gabby's Relationship with her Kids.

Now, I'll say right off the bat I'm not proud of this step. but to bust my justice nut, it wasn't enough to just send the info to her husband. So I waited for Thursday when I knew he would be passing by the office with the kids. The Pro Revenge gods saw fit to bless me that day, because it was the same day that Corporate Head Honchos were ridin' into town.

Thursday.

I was at the office at seven as usual with all my documentation from my appointment letter to the numerous rejected requests for promotion, sat through the three hour sexual harassment video (yes, I was still doing that), and waited for the Moment. The guys from corporate, my former boss included, arrived and went straight into a meeting with Gabby. I was quite certain that they would call me in to know why I had been attending a sexual harassment awareness class for almost a year, and I was ready for them.

I was called in after lunch, at about two. The question was asked and before I could answer, Gabby jumped on the bit like I knew she would. She went on a long rant about how I had been insubordinate, and how I liked to touch the female employees. I could tell from her grin that she thought she was winning.

And then I pulled out Sue's letter, and the grin curdled on her face. Sue was hurriedly called in and she backed my story. She said she was sorry. She was fired on the spot and told to go wait at the receptionist for her final check. I felt no sympathy. I was on a roll.

Next I pulled out my analysis of my trades and told them how Gabby had been breaking into my locker and stealing my notes for sue. Gabby denied it. Sue was called back in. She denied it. My former boss logged into the company network, pulled Sue's and my trading data. He compared the positions taken by both of us with my notes. He said it was true. Sue was fired again. They told me they would refund my confiscated bonus and holdback, with an extra 50 grand. That was fine by me. The justice was enough.

And then I spotted Gabby's husband heading into her office as usual, their two kids in tow. I pulled out my phone, grinned at her and said,

"You're husband is here."

She turned around and saw him. She excused herself for a minute to tell him to wait.

My former boss said, "Sure."

I pressed send.

TL;DR. Grade-A Bitch tries to ruin my career because I humiliated her, I burn her life to the fucking ground.

update: As for the aftermath, Gabby's husband absolutely lost his shit. Her office was glass-walled and the rest was open-plan so we could all hear what they were shouting about. He finally left with their kids in tow (sorry little ones) Gabby followed him still shouting at him. Then she saw us all standing around and the look on her face was priceless as she was wondering which aspect of her life to try and salvage. She let her husband go, but about an hour later she had been fired.

My favorite boss stayed behind since there was no one left. He stayed for a month training the lady who had been with the company the longest to take over as manager. She is easily the most brilliant mind I had ever met. Unfortunately the branch was still struggling with so many employees who were not generating income and they had to shut it down. But they transferred all the performing employees to their other various branches in London (2 branches) and India (9 branches). So I guess no one undeservedly lost their jobs.

I still stalk Gabby on Facebook. There have been a lot of "I'm single because I'm too awesome" posts of late. I almost feel sorry for her, but I remember the three-hour video and I stop being foolish. From what I could see on LinkedIn, Sue bounced around from firm to firm until she found a position as a research analyst. My favorite boss is still at the firm. We talk from time to time.

I took a break from trading for a while. After all the shit that went down, I needed a break so I didn't take them up on their offer to relocate to India. Went to work with a buddy of mine who has a consultancy. When I feel ready I'll go back to the market. For me at least, there is no other job as challenging and satisfying.

Wow. That was long. I think though that's the end of my @prorevenge :)

(source)

[junker-town]

How a *normal* college football coaching hire goes down, explained by an agent

Some hires are wild. Most aren’t, but there are still hoops to navigate when trying to place a coach in a job.

You’d be surprised by how normal most coach hirings are. It grabs the headlines when we hear about a deal going down in a smoky back room with boosters conspiring, and we love to play amateur sleuth online to triangulate an athletic director’s location.

But usually, head men get hired similar to the way you or I would, in a relatively normal business transaction.

One difference is that agents are always involved, so there’s another actor who has to work with an AD and a coach.

As an agent, there are plenty of things to take into account, both your responsibility to your client and upholding your relationship with athletic department administrators you might have to work with in the future. It’s a balancing act, one vital to the whole machine of college athletics.

SB Nation spoke with an agent who represents multiple college coaches. He asked not to be named, in order to comment candidly. These are his words, edited only for clarity.

First, you have to make your guy their guy.

It’s about really personalizing that interview and personalizing that kind of documentation you put in front of the school. Different programs need different things at different times.

But he’s gotta be the right guy for that particular school. Teams often want a coach totally different from the guy they just fired.

So, once your school hires a head coach and that doesn’t work out, sometimes they’ll go for the opposite the next time.

For example, if they hired a black guy that was a defensive coach, this time they’re gonna hire a white offensive coach. Even if you’ve got the best defensive coordinator in the country, as an agent, you can’t really present that guy. You can, because you have an obligation to your client, but you know he’s not gonna get as much consideration had that experience at that school not happened before.

I’ve got a minority coach, and part of the criteria is wining and dining alumni. This guy’s already got this preconceived notion that my guy, because he’s black or whatever the case may be, does or doesn’t know how to deal with these kinda people.

Once you have the guy, it’s time to navigate the school’s power structure.

Some places, it’s worthless to talk to the AD. They don’t have any juice. They facilitate; they can be a rubber stamp. I know at some places, talking to the athletic director is just like a mere formality.

Some places, you know if the athletic director can’t do anything without consent of the president.

At other places, the athletic director has autonomy.

One of the most important things is to know the landscape of the decision makers.

Wade Payne-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee will be hiring its fourth head football coach since 2008. AD John Currie is in charge of the search and won’t hire a search firm “at this time.”

Part of it is instincts. Part of it is, I really pay attention to what they say. It just kinda depends from place to place. But the athletic director will always play their hand, because they either put blame on them or they’ll say, “Hey man, this ain’t my decision. I can’t do this.”

At some point, when there’s complications, it’ll just kinda reveal itself. Sometimes you can tell immediately from their conversations whether it’s even their decision or not.

There are some things, even with like contract renewals, where I’m just like, I don’t even wanna talk to the AD. I’ll just call your president up, ‘cause that’s who calls the shots. Like hey man, we’re wasting our time here. A couple times I’ve said something similar just to kind of let the AD know: you’re trying to strong arm me, but you know and I know that you don’t got the juice.

Some ADs don’t like talking to agents, but that’s so stupid. You don’t want to have the best possible candidates because that guy works with someone who represents their interests? That’s fucking stupid.

Schools have turned to hiring search firms more often in recent years. That’s yet another variable.

I’m working with a search firm now. One of my clients is caught up in the middle of a season. So, whether that client goes and interviews and how quickly it all takes place, I’m able to communicate with the coach the things they need to do, based on what the search firm’s telling me about how quickly the search is going to go.

Well, my client’s preparing for whatever team, right? Can we try and work this thing out? And I’ll tell my coach, hey, this is what the search firm wants; these are the kind of people they’ve hired before. So, we act as a conduit.

In some roles with some search firms, I’m much more aggressive. Other ones, I’m just like hey, we just gotta chill out and let them kinda come to their own conclusions.

There’s some search firms that I know that aren’t gonna be good with minority candidates because they don’t fucking understand them, because as athletic directors [search firms are sometimes led by former administrators], they didn’t hire minority coaches themselves.

Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CAA

Jimmy Sexton of CAA is one of the preeminent agents in college football, repping coaches like Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher.

They’re such repeat players in this thing that as an agency, you want to have an element of credibility and legitimacy.

And that means you have to be careful about aggressively overselling your clients.

Every client thinks he’s [head coach material]. But sometimes, dude, you’re not ready yet.

That’s me saying that, because you’re a position coach at X. You’re not ready for that job yet. You don’t have those kinda chops yet. You still need to learn a lot. I’m not gonna present them a guy that isn’t ready, because if I do, that hurts me down the line. They’re not gonna take my people seriously.

When athletic directors are directly involved, for me, it’s very much more helpful because I think they become very honest. You don’t have to pull any punches.

This past year, I had a head coach, and it was an athletic director[-led] hire. I sent him an email at 4:30. By 4:37, I knew my guy was a candidate because the guy got back to me. And that’s in the morning.

I was like alright, shit, this guy’s not playing around.

There are sticking points to be careful of during negotiations.

Buyouts. Those are basically a restriction on trade. It’s a restriction on economic behaviors. You can’t really go out and get another job without having to pay these other people back. Which I get, but some of them tend to be a bit more onerous than the next.

Do it in a way that encourages both sides to continue on with the relationship. If you fire a coach, you want that guy to keep coaching.

Photo by Mark Von Holden/Getty Images for ESPN

Former NFL player Trace Armstrong reps Texas coach Tom Herman, among others.

I think another thing with breakdowns would be assistant coaches’ salaries. I think head coaches — especially better ones — will turn down jobs if they know that they can’t bring the staff they want.

Another thing is, if you don’t have [incentives such as performance bonuses] for the possibility of you winning a conference or a national championship, if those aren’t in place, I think that’s what causes things to break down. I don’t think universities are as forthcoming with those kinds of things.

Also, obviously the guaranteed money. I think a lot of schools try to hide what’s actually guaranteed and what isn’t. I can tell you, you can sign a contract with SB Nation for five years, but if you’re only guaranteed month-to-month checks, what good is that guarantee? You’re essentially at-will.

A completed negotiation might feel like a one-time thing for a coach, but for an agent, it’s just Round 1.

I guess the one thing that people forget in a lot of negotiations is that — especially if it’s a long-term relationship — that everybody has their opportunity to take an at-bat.

Achieving total victory often comes at a political cost. Just because you get everything you want in a contract, that doesn’t necessarily bode well. What happens if you lose? What happens if you win too?

The school that took their at-bat and gave you onerous contract terms? The coaches remember that. You didn’t take care of me. So, now that it’s my turn at bat, I want to kind of dominate this round of talks.

It happens pretty quickly, especially with younger coaches. Schools will try to say we gave you an opportunity discount. And what happens is younger coaches become older coaches, and those older coaches remember that. When it comes time for their turn, then the university kinda gets a little desperate.

Coaches and agents and ADs would all like to maintain control of the situation. That means plausible deniability is important.

I think you’re always worried because you don’t know who’s involved in the process on the other end. And you don’t know who wants to leak it to Richard Johnson of SB Nation. I don’t get mad at it; it’s part of the process.

I think it takes having good relationships with people in media, and I think it takes having good relationships with the athletic director.

Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

UCF’s Scott Frost is the 2017 coaching carousel’s hottest name so far.

One of my coaches got hired this year. My head coach told me not to put it out there, I said, “Fine with me.”

He wasn’t worried about the job. We just wanted to keep quiet so he could tell his wife. He gets on a plane. An hour later, that shit’s out there already. Someone leaked it. I’m sitting in a supermarket, my coach tells me he’s getting the job, and I’m screaming to the heavens I’m so happy. We’re not gonna say anything. We’re gonna let you tell your wife.

Wife knew about it by the time the plane landed.

But when reporters are following up with leads ...

If you ask me as a man, I gotta tell you, yeah. I’m not gonna try to throw you off the scent. I know other agents that will lie to people. I’m not gonna lie.

I would get out in front of stuff, because if you were to call me and you say, “Hey man, is coach [X] a candidate at [School Y]?”

I’ll be like: “Between us, yeah, you’ll be the first to know when it happens, but as of right now I can’t tell you this, because I’m sworn to secrecy.

“So don’t fuck this deal up for me.”

[homelessinnoco-blog]

Homelessness: How we can do better

Despite the snow and subfreezing temperatures we experienced last week it’s actually springtime in Colorado. The earth’s axis is rotating and the sun is slowly heating up our half of the earth. The snow melts and then comes back, melts again and then surprises us five or six more times before we actually put the skis away and get the bikes and kayaks out to enjoy for the summer.

With the occasional windows of  magnificent weather I’m sure the citizens of Fort Collins have noticed an increase in the number of homeless people, standing on street corners or outside of business’  panhandling. Sometimes for food, sometimes for “anything” that helps… you know and they know exactly what that means, Greenbacks. Some of this is due to the fact that Boulder shut down there cold weather shelters and warming shelters earlier this year. With the recent weather, Fort Collins was the next best option since it provided some folks a temporary place to seek shelter from the cold.

For some folks this is a non-issue. In fact some of the Fort Collins community is very generous when it comes to giving money to those in need. Fort other citizens however, the homeless population is viewed as an eyesore and a nuisance, and something must be done to fix the problem.

In an interview with Sgt. Heather Moore, a veteran of the Fort Collins police department for over 13 years shared that someone standing downtown begging can make $400-$500 on a given night. A dedicated individual averaging numbers like that can make roughly 100k-130k annually. TAX FREE, hell you can even take the weekends off.

At first glance it seems like giving these people handouts is clearly condoning the problem. If we just cut them off they’ll either shit or get off the pot, right? It turns out, that may not be the case.

We also sat down with Kim Larsen, Director of the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope. A local day shelter that provides resources for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. She revealed homelessness isn’t always a choice. Most people she sees on day to day basis have experienced extreme amounts of trauma; while reminding us that every situation is different. In a lot of cases mental health and substance abuse issues are involved and the person either doesn’t have or refused family support in order to hide their addiction or real issue. Plus living in Colorado isn’t cheap. In Fort Collins some homeless people actually worked before they were in their current situation, they weren’t salaried positions with benefits, but they were working. The catalyst to homelessness came when the car broke down or medical bills stacked up from an emergency. You can find yourself in a pretty big hole fast and if you’re missing the support and or have other mental health or substance abuse issues the walls all of a sudden become very slippery.

Going back to the handouts or donations homeless people receive from community members. If this money actually did help someone to get out of a homeless situation would this be such a bad thing? After all that’s the issue right? Of course the money isn’t always used the way it should but that leads us back to the mental health and substance abuse aspects of homelessness that if treated could put people back on the right track. In all reality giving someone money directly affects only the people involved in the transaction.

I want to touch on the issues of substance abuse and mental health very quickly. Substance abuse whether it be drugs or alcohol is an addiction and addiction is classified as a chronic disease. The repeated abuse can affect the brain and make resisting urges to use extremely difficult without outside help. It can also change the perception you have of your usage. You may be spiraling out of control and not realize the situation you have put yourself and those around you in. The thing with alcoholics and other addicts is they will always be addicts. They may get a grip on their situation and lead an unbelievably successful and productive life, in that case they’re probably a recovering addict/alcoholic. And yes there are alcoholics that are high functioning that make tons of money but usually they don’t identify as homeless. My point is addiction, like a lot of diseases can be manageable if the right resources are available.

Much like the money that homeless receive as a result of begging and how in order for that act of giving to be beneficial to the person and hopefully the community in the form of a happy, helpful and productive human being. The person must want the change and be willing to work for it. They must use that money to get themselves into a better situation. The same goes with these resources. If available the person would need to want and be willing to work for their own personal growth, utilizing these resources to put themselves in a better long term situation.(Housing, Economic Security, Healthcare)

The underlying problem is the resources are expensive. Recently Fort Collins voted down Larimer County Amendment 1A. It would have funded a mental health and detox facility. The money would have come from a quarter percent tax increase meaning you pay an extra quarter in taxes every time you spend $100.00 in Larimer County for the next 25 years. The facility would have costed $20.4 million to build and more than half that in annual operating costs at $11.7 million. The tax would have collected an estimated $16.5 million annually for 25 years. That’s a total accrual of funds of $412.5 million. Subtract the $20.4 million in building costs and the center would have enough funds to operate for 33.5 years without outside help or donations. The facility would have housed and provided services for 35 individuals. This was obviously not the right direction for Fort Collins voters as it lost 52% - 48%, roughly 81k – 75k.

This down vote is actually the third attempt at funding some sort of mental health resource initiative or facility. Amendment 1A was proposed in 2008 as well. A separate jail tax in 2011 that would have funded mental health and detox staff and resources inside the jail for habitual offenders, in most cases homeless, that demonstrate signs of mental illness or substance abuse was also voted down.

On the upside Sgt. Moore shared with us that Fort Collins has incorporated a community outreach program that will employ a team of three, specifically dealing with the homeless population who battle some form of habitual substance abuse or mental health issue. Providing them the necessary tools to battle the issues that keep them from breaking the homeless cycle. Additionally the Fort Collins police department will assemble a trio of case managers lead by in-house police psychologist Dr. Dan Dworkin. Dr. Dworkin has been on call with the force 24/7 for the past 15 years. The teams objective is to also provide resources and services to habitual offenders who are displaced and suffer some form of mental illness.

These are both great additions to dealing with an already complex and dynamic issue. But its nowhere near enough.

Every spring since 2013 Homeward 2020, Fort Collins ten-year initiative to end the ongoing problem of homelessness in the city has conducted an annual survey. The data helps Fort Collins track the homeless population, an unofficial census if you will. They use the data to serve as a convener, advocate and catalyst in solving the homeless issue within our city.

Their data shows a steady increase in the homeless population since 2013 with the majority of growth in the last two years. Since year one of the survey homeless population is up 52.5%. To me that says two things. First, this is a place people want to live. Between the vast amounts of public lands, epic recreational opportunities and growing economy Colorado is viewed extremely desirable by a large number of people. Second and more importantly, the homeless issue hasn’t been handled properly by our community. Granted we haven’t seen legislation that justified public funding, the issue has grown regardless of your opinion and our behavior towards or treatment hasn’t changed.

To summarize the last sentence, the issue has grown over 50% in the last four years and we’ve chosen not to try and handle it in a different way.

For some people that’s ok. Maybe you don’t feel empathy for that group of people, or maybe, like a lot of others you have your own problems to deal with, that’s ok. This is mostly a free country and it’s your right to feel that way.

The call for action is to the voters who don’t want to approach this issue from a different angle. Those who aren’t willing to try spending money on the education and treatment of mental health and substance abuse The methods in which we are currently handling homelessness is the way we would have handled things if the population was that of 10 years ago.

Sgt. Moore added in the interview that during most shifts she never leaves Old Towne. Fifty percent of her night is spent dealing with the homeless or issues involving the homeless. She estimates that 90% of the time the call is non-criminal or something she has no enforcement over. These calls are due mostly to lack of education. The majority come from families or business owners that don’t like the presence of homeless people. What some don’t understand is it’s not illegal to be homeless or poor or lose your job. But if your true concern is public spending this should make your stomach turn. It’s important to note this isn’t anyone’s fault. These are just the problems a city growing at the rate in which we are growing experience.

Fort Collins annual police budget is roughly $180 million dollars and our general tax revenue is roughly $600 million dollars. That means:

The $600 million is tax money we’ve already allocated, by vote, to public resources. A majority of the $180 million we spend on police resources comes from that tax fund. I understand no one wants to increase the amount of taxes we pay. But if the police are spending half their time dealing with homeless issues and the majority of that time is wasted. One could argue were wasting a quarter of the budget anyway. As citizens of Fort Collins, you help fund the police budget and should be concerned about where that money goes. Don’t you want to see that money be spent as efficiently as possible? Does paying a little more in taxes up front to help elevate some wasted time our officer’s experience on a day to day basis sound like a solution? If we can fund an initiative that aims to solve the mental health and substance abuse aspect of homelessness maybe we can save money in the long run and lead the nation in solving an enigmatic problem that has plagued the country for decades.

Our solution is this. We build a public mental health center. The mental illnesses of the homeless will be dealt with so that they can move forward with their lives. The decrease in homelessness will free up some police resources as well as allow these people to be contributing members of society, which everybody would like. Helping these people initially will pay you back in the end. so we are proposing a solution with the public mental health center. It will be funded by taxes, but a little over half of what had been asked before with a new tax of only .15%. We will cover the rest of the cost through fundraising with 5k’s for instance. This proposal does not seem to affect you directly besides it taking your money, but as you may see now, it ultimately acts in your best interest to go through with this plan.