Salary negotiation is scary.

But there’s a major reason why you need to push past the fear.

It’s called the law of compound interest. This refers to the ability of an asset to generate earnings that are then reinvested or remain invested with the goal of generating their own earnings. In other words, compounding refers to generating earnings from previous earnings.

Einstein called this the “8th wonder of the world”.

Now, let’s look at an example of why this is important:

Pam and Sam are starting at a new investment banking company in the same job position.

Pam negotiates her salary and ends up making $ 65,000 / year.

Sam doesn’t negotiate his salary and ends up making $ 59,000 / year.

After 5 years, Pam has made $ 325,000 and Sam $ 295,000.

That’s a $ 30,000 difference in 5 years and a $ 6,000 difference — per YEAR!

And that’s just the simple subtraction.

If we take the total sum of earnings over that 20 year period, by playing...

Persistence is a force you can cultivate and use to win offers. It’s a stand-alone asset that exists apart from your GPA, qualifications, school rank, or past experience. You can add this to your job hunt toolkit at any time.

I can’t stress enough the importance of following up after interviews.

There are many ways for you to stand out from the pool of job seekers out there - and following up is one of them.

Your ability to follow up shows organizational skills, integrity, and interest.

Would you hire you? No one wants to hire a worker that doesn’t believe in themselves!

Yet, you can’t control feelings. And if you’re like me and most people, there’s a non-stop flow of thoughts and feelings that come in uninvited and attack.

It’s feelings first - they come and go, and, if left unattended, or indulged, lead to thinking. And then there’s the thinking that leads to more thinking until you’ve spun the entire story of how you’ll never get a job.

This is why it’s important to nurture mindfulness in the job hunt: there are thoughts and there are feelings. And while we can’t control the feelings from visiting or the content of thought, we can learn to observe both.

Once observed, we can selectively choose which to let go (the unwholesome “I can’t”s) and which to cultivate (the uplifting “I can”s).

You could say, “I’m terrible at networking,” or you could say,...

Here are seven mistakes international students do when they try to secure a job in the US:

1. Planning to graduate, but not beyond that

2. Getting caught in the label, “international student”

3. Confusing certifications and more tests with job hunting

4. Expecting campus competitions to open doors

5. Not choosing a focus (decide who you want to serve and how!)

6. Not following up on job applications (persistence is a positive)

7. Obsessing over resumes (no one hires a resume).

The good news is that you can do something about it!

I was a student in exactly the same situation.

Some parts I loved - Some parts such as my terrible first attempt at the job hunt I'd prefer not to repeat!

What insights about jobs, career, or the market would be the most helpful to you?

Recently, I posted about “shaving” weeks or months off of a job hunt.

Someone messaged me back asking what I meant: “Shaving?” she asked?

I can’t imagine what she was thinking.

No, not like shaving a goat.

“Shaving” means saving time. It also means cutting through illusions, installing a professional mindset.

For example, some people think it takes weeks, months, even academic years to get a job. Some think the summer job hunt is “over” since it’s now June, not realizing that internships in July and August are still possible with a bit of efficient messaging and advocating for your own goals.

Are you advocating for your own goals? If you’re not, let’s get you doing that. It’s a habit that strengthens with practice. One way to start is to reach out and ask for the advice you need.

Usually, a call can be quite helpful for this - and I'm happy to find a time.

Just DM me and we can find a time.

Stuart

Are international students getting screwed at the offer stage? Yes and No.

I help international students master the job hunt. The BIG BANG comes at the end when my clients don't have to be alone during offer negotiation.

Situation: Offered $70k, $72k LESS than the median.

Problem: Identified with client that JOB TITLE does NOT match responsibilities. Here, NOT a case of intentional malice, but definitely a low-ball based on playing games with the job title.

SOLUTION: Stage the discussion. Don't go right to salary. I stay behind the scenes guiding client while they:

1) Get agreement on job description (JD). We'll draft the JD, not wait for the firm to do that. DONE.

2) Share market data on comp for the agreed title. We'll not "say" we need more money. Point out the difference and engage. Big shift in salary will ensue.

Having a coach is not only investing in yourself, not only avoiding isolation. It's often about adding 5-figures to your annual salary.

What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Do you immediately grab your phone and scroll? I definitely have. Whenever I do this, I feel overwhelmed and can’t stop until I have checked all my notifications.

In Napoleon Hill’s Outwitting The Devil, the Devil calls this “drifting”.

Drifting means we are controlled by circumstances outside of our own mind, while thinking that we are still in charge.

Written in 1938, Hill’s book calls out drifting as the main way the Devil keeps people from reaching their potential.

In 2021, that includes scrolling on your phone.

If I do that, I start my day with stress!

Instead, start with a clear head.

Instead of grabbing your phone, take 10 minutes and:

> [Ask yourself] What are you grateful for?

> [Ask yourself] What would make today great?

> [Write] Daily affirmations. I am confident that I can [achieve my #1 goal]

> [Write] 5-10 ideas that come to your mind about how you could achieve...

Sometimes I would have this ONE interview on the calendar, drop everything, and then start acting like this ONE job would work out. When it didn’t, I would have to start over. It felt like my whole body was stuck in molasses and it was hard to get moving again.

Then back to that emotional rollercoaster of applying and getting rejected and trying to network. So unsatisfying! 

In the middle of this same experience, my student Ariel confided, “I will apply to a role, then on purpose I will choose to forget I had applied. That way I could reject the company before they could reject me”.

When things aren’t going well, we have all have these different mental processes going on to help us try to cope. 

Guess what? We’re in luck. We didn’t actually ever get rejected.

We just didn’t yet have our branding figured out yet. Or We just didn’t find the right audience. 

What’s your brand?
Who is your audience? 

My goal for...

On finding a job FAST and the many misconceptions about how soon one can find a job…

Some people think that it requires months.

Some consider that “since KPMG has closed recruiting”, then all bets are off and it’s hopeless.

Most people just have such strong “energy” tied up in doing other things and don’t start. Strong study habits tell you to just “plan to take more classes”.

And we don’t know how CLOSE you are to getting a job. Usually, you are just one meeting away!

Even worse, many spend 100s of thousands $$$$ over another 2-7 years to attend a Master’s or PhD just to push the job hunt forward in time -  not because they want to do original research or go deeper into a topic.

Others get bad information! That includes being told by career counselors that you can't do what they want to do. This actually happens!

I’ve prepared a definitive guide on how to get offers fast and posted it on my blog.

In...

Are you tired of writing content that doesn't get read?

I decided to do a deep data dive to find all the patterns of Linkedin Connection requests.

So I looked at content that generates at least 40% or more acceptances and found they went up to 80%

And I found a handful of characteristics that you need to follow in order to generate at least ONE networking call every time you sit down to message.

One of them was that you simply ask to connect and not more

Here are TWO more that you need to follow: https://www.jstuartbradley.com/blog/linkedin-connection-rates

Follow them. You'll start getting more results from Linkedin.

Cheers,

Stuart