Welcome back to the corporate Cowboys podcast my name is Alex as always your host for the next 30 minutes this podcast is meant for professional development that’s for any aspiring professional young and old now this serves as a form of uh of Consulting I suppose I’ll give you the
Legal disclaimer up front none of what you hear none of what is shared none of what we post should be construed as legal advice to you okay you can’t say yo Alex said you know to peel them out so I peel them out gangster rap did not
Make you do it any choices you make just know that corporate Cowboys do not promote nor condone any wrongful activities any illicit wrongdoings that being said this serves as a as a platform to help me develop skills to be more uh socially Adept to be a better speaker to be a
Better networker right so I’m able to to think out loud organize my thoughts give you a little peek behind the scenes on how it is that I approach individual cases now keep in mind that the cases that we pull from off line from off and online come with very limited information okay
So sometimes we have to make calculated estimates and whatever reasonable inferences are allowed without any more contextualized information you see if we had these hypothetical clients in front of us then we could ask them questions we could interview them get a little bit more background dig deeper on their situation
On their factual circumstances right in order to give them a more informed a better informed approach a strategic approach that’s logically intact ly sound as they make moves in corporate as you all should be doing you’re born into this [ __ ] by the way if you can hear my
Voice you were born into this [ __ ] you’re already already in the system you’re already in The Matrix whether or not you’ve been boosted whether or not you’re either inside or outside but you’re interacting with it in real time the sooner you learn that we’re part of a corporate war and that’s something
That you can’t just leave a side right there is no there is no leaving the system there is no leaving the network what are you going to leave in a car or a truck are you going to build your own wagon breed your own livestock to be able to live off of
The land nah man nah you’re already you’re already tied and connected so I think the best course of action is for you to to get some get the ground beneath your feet get the wind at your back and you know ball up you gotta [ __ ] ball up that’s that’s it you
Have to ball up and um and uh just make moves make moves make them smart do so intelligently you have to arm yourself with knowledge or something similar something equivalent and knowledge is power right so you know start acquiring and accumulating that power and as you make moves you will
Grow smarter and smarter on how you use what you know that being your knowledge and know-how okay so enough of the introductions you want to follow us on Instagram do that you want to follow us on patreon do that we’re on Rumble as well shoot us donations write to us and send us
Questionable items that’s P.O box 3372 Rancho Cordova California 95741 and that’s checked every so often and forwarded where it needs to go all right so today’s question today’s question is coming from r slash career guidance and the question is should I tell potential employers how much I currently make should I tell professional
Employers how much I currently make so a potential employer is going to be I mean one you’re not working for at the moment right maybe you’re applying maybe you’ve just started the application process you’re interviewing for some of these positions perhaps you’re trying to see if you’re eligible
If you qualify as a as a suitable candidate to work for them and you want to be sure that uh when it comes time to negotiate your compensation to negotiate what you will be getting paid that it’s in your favor it’s in your favor relevant relatively commensurate relatively equal equivalent
To the services that you’re providing the Professional Services that you’re providing you have to you want to go into these interactions these exchanges of value as professional as possible it’s the only way that you as an individual listen to me I mean I don’t know if you’re AI scraping this conversation between you
And I and it’s only one way if you’re listening so you know evaluate that but when you enter these conversations with a potential employer you want to be as professional as possible it’s the only way that you as an individual will rise to the level of a corporation you have to be informed
You have to be competent you have to be capable you have to appear a professional first in order to be professional in your interaction all right so that said uh if you don’t have a legal representative who’s doing the negotiation for you and that’s real real uncommon that’s real uncommon though I
Want to make it more common right I would like to commoditize it and that’s the goal behind corporate Cowboys is that we got together and we’re thinking the best way to fix corporate the best way to incorporate better business practices is by informing and educating and self-helping self-helping to uh
Have these business practices ones that will create Better Business on the back end in and will result in Better Business overall is through informing and educating the modern day professional and how to conduct themselves right so you’re interviewing and they ask you Alex hey Alex so uh tell us what were
You making in your previous position or what are you making currently or uh or they ask for a range I think when they ask you for a range the ball is more so in your court because you can put a price on your services you can put a
Price on what it is that you do professionally what it is that you will be contributing but it is that you will be bringing to the table to the conference table right in terms of uh in terms of value the value that you will add to the team that you are interviewing for
Now me what would a corporate Cowboy do in general I would withhold that information I don’t think that negotiating on past prices is a is a healthy thing to do I mean even even working in the streets coming from the street today’s price is not yesterday’s price
And tomorrow’s price will not be today’s price right so you learn how to hustle you know how to hustle and put a a price tag on your worth on your value on your services then you have to know that the price will fluctuate from client to client customer to
Customer and that’s true even in in the line of work that we’re engaged in okay Sometimes some um some cases some clients some accounts will require more due diligence or a a deeper a deeper mode of dealing a deeper mode of of due diligence more leg work more background investigating
Before a suitable strategy can be put together for the client one that they may or may not even end up acting on right that they may not end up executing they may not even execute right because they may weigh their personal versus professional interests and if they don’t align
Sufficiently well I mean it’s going to be the professional image that suffers but it might have grown complacent at some point and again I’m not I’m not I don’t mean to bag on some of these potential on some of the potential clients that are listening but um you
Have to uh you have to have that dog in you you have to dog yourself sometimes personally in order to get what you want professionally because what you do professionally opens up most every door to what you end up doing personally to who you are personally that’s where the professional development bleeds into
Your personal achievements into your uh personal successes foreign that being said don’t uh don’t negotiate from uh from a place of weakness I think there are there may be times where I think if you are capable enough if you are adept quick on your feet and can think critically in real time
Can do this [ __ ] live can do it moving like they say in the bay if you can do it moving yes bringing up a past or a dated figure may help you set up a floor right if you know how to hustle it otherwise you can find yourself setting up your own ceiling
And your potential employer using it against you now we never want that to be the case we never want that to be the case why I mean you want to continue building you want to continue growing you want to um develop yourself further expand on what
It is that you do expand on what it is that you know and one of the only ways to do that is to negotiate for more responsibility for more access to resources for more duties right in order to ask for that compensation the compensation to be
Equivalent to what it is that you will be doing for the company that being said bringing up um past your past salary or what you make currently requires that you know that you know in depth intimately what it is that you do with your current company not just on paper not just on
Paper but what you do also off the Record right and I don’t mean dirt not everything revolves around dirt yeah I get we deal with big Iron and all but not everything has to do with with corporate dirt what you do on paper that is your job description versus what you do in
Reality what is in practice the Practical knowledge that you have applied and and you know how to apply that combined is what you will serve as what will serve as will serve as a platform for you to negotiate on that’s where your compensation is built that’s what you want to be negotiating with
That’s it’s one it’s one big bargaining chip I want to say it’s the only bargaining ship I think if you ever go into a negotiation if there’s more than one bargaining chip the [ __ ] the the interaction is corrupt I think we truthfully truly when you get into
Business and you have more than one bargaining ship I think it becomes non-mutually non-mutually beneficial right if you have more than one bargaining chip it’s because somebody’s playing dirty it’s because somebody wants to uh one-up somebody else that’s really the the end game for a lot of individuals
But if you come to a a business transaction if you come to a transaction fully informed and transparent and willing to do business in a manner that benefits all parties there shouldn’t be more than one bargaining chip truly and I mean a bargaining chip I don’t mean I don’t
Mean terms when there are terms to negotiate that’s fine you can negotiate any and all terms but when you have bargaining chips that you mean to leverage I think when you have more than one points of Leverage on either side is when you know [ __ ] gets dirty there’s that uh
Disconnect between morals and ethics and you know [ __ ] gets dicey she gets hairy I’ve been ranting on the I’ve been ranting on this title for a minute but it’s fine hey it’s fine I’m putting it out there I’m organizing my own thoughts as I go along and it serves to help me
Build my own repertoire in my mind on how I would approach a situation so my associates and I are are satisfied with just going back and forth and in depth to what we think is reasonable and necessary so should I should I tell potential employers how much I currently make
How long I got 50 minutes I mean I’ve burned a [ __ ] ton of time but we’re already halfway through but it’s okay the body’s not too big let’s just give it a quick read through and uh I’ll interject if it gets interesting they write I had a quick phone interview with a
Company that was offering to pay a substantially higher amount than what my current employer is paying I am talking about a life-changing amount okay well I mean first be sure that it’s not a scam and that when they send you you know the I9 that that they
Don’t steal your identity right if it’s been a phone interview if there’s been nothing in person nothing uh face to face even if it is virtual right there’s been no um personal interaction if it’s all been distant if it’s all been uh not not in real time if it’s only been interviews
Via uh email if it’s like written emails and phone calls it might be sus right so keep your uh radar up for that am I saying uh a lot I just caught myself then and if it’s taken this long Alex you’re [ __ ] lacking eventually they write
The recruiter asked me oh it’s through a recruiter okay I mean they asked me how much I make at my current job and I told her that’s when she verbally confirmed the salary that was listed on the job posting and said so that’s a bit more responsibility
Okay I didn’t think that much of it at the time they continue this is the next paragraph I didn’t think much of it at the time the tone of conversation didn’t shift after that and soon we ended the call on a good note after reaching out a few days later I
Learned I didn’t get the job which fine I can imagine a number of reasons why but that comment about responsibility keeps sticking out to me and I addressed this in the opening monologue I did a [ __ ] ranting on the title they say but that comment about responsibility keeps sticking out to me
Is there is there a chance that knowing how little I currently make influence their decision and even if it hadn’t should I politely decline to discuss my current salary to potential employers anyway uh it depends how much you know you see I just dive right into it because you went through a recruiting
Agency it really depends how much the recruiter is going to bat for you is advocating for you is representing you in these transactions because it is a negotiation right the recruiter wants to make something on the back end or off the top if you will they
Want to make something off the top the salary that you will be getting and it’s not unheard of that uh well the recruiter treats uh their clients like uh like like athletes let’s say treat their clients like athletes and uh the recruiter becomes a an agent
Of sorts I mean they are your agent if they’re negotiating salary and job descriptions and duties on your behalf right but if you don’t know how to interact with recruiters and the recruiters doing all of the pushing and pulling on your part and you’re just hey I’m Alex I just
Showed up let me sign the dotted line and whatever happens happens sort of thing if you’re real passive about the process you could end up [ __ ] yourself why because you’re not uh you don’t have an active an active hand in shaping the relationship between you and your potential employer it’s not
A bad thing it doesn’t have to be a bad thing right if you’re a busy bee you’re working 60 maybe 80 hours a week right you know so that’s extreme but you’re working and and extreme and overwhelming number of hours a week and don’t have time to be applying and
Uh vying and being a candidate and interviewing for all these positions then having a recruiter is like a fast track that it streamlines the process to an extent right to a certain point that being said the recruiter wants if you know they’re competent they’re much like a uh I guess
Like like a lawyer in that sense or your representative they’re going to be the face for obviously their recruiting company but then also for you too they represent you and the quality of work that they will deliver through you right so you’re submitting yourself to their personal knowledge to their Professional Knowledge
I’m sorry and expertise on market trends on labor trends on uh on metrics and patterns in order to get you a good deal salary wise and in order to ensure the company gets a good deal labor skill and expertise wise right so it’s got to be a good fit it has to mesh
One another really the the recruiter is like that COG is is that wheel is that wheel of cogs between you and the company making the transaction making this transaction happen otherwise it would just be your wheel and the company’s wheel meshing together and grinding together we’re moving together not grinding but you
Know moving together instead you got a middleman which is a recruiter again not a bad thing not a bad thing but if the recruiter you see that this is where this is where you get a little uh a little wrinkle it’s not again not bad but it depends on your relationship with
Your recruiter with your representative if your relationship with them has been distant has been cold if you’re not warm if you’re not professional sociable uh likable amicable with them if you’re not on good terms they’ll just treat you like any other client case file number
You just become one uh one in in a vast sea of hungry mouths that want a high a high salary job with like a low amount of responsibilities right so if they’ve interviewed you if their profile with you or I’m sorry your profile with them if it’s missing some
Information it behooves them it’s incumbent on them to provide excellent service not only to you as a client but to the company as a client that they have all of this relevant information how transparent or how honest you want to be well you know there’s wiggle room there too but
The recruiter has that discretion has that discretion to take you out of the running for a job they don’t think you qualify for or for a job they don’t think you will be a a positive force on something that you will be productive on right so if you don’t have those qualities of
Wanting to advance of wanting more responsibility right if your profile doesn’t have those boxes checked doesn’t have those boxes ticked then when this high paying more responsibility having as a job comes their way they’re not going to think of Alex because Alex makes this amount of money and my hand
Is low right and Alex has this amount of responsibilities on paper and my hand again is low and the job has a salary that is this amount and my hand is higher but the responsibilities are also this high you see now the the difference that gap
Between the two of who Alex is on paper for this recruiter and what the job is on paper for this recruiter the recruiter wants their job to be as wants their work wants their uh wants the process to be as easy as possible they want like a one-to-one match like a
One-to-one like equivalent comparison that Alex is making this range so it won’t be a change in their way of life and Alex is is already familiar with these particular responsibilities or duties so it won’t be much of a change either it’ll be a seamless transition seamless change in the scope of work
There won’t be any change really in the scope of work and if and if anything and maybe not even much of a change in terms of salary now if they can swing it for you that you get more money for the same amount of work well then I mean so you’ve got a
Good Agent you’ve got a you’ve got a good recruiter there treat them nicely send them a bottle of Champs right otherwise otherwise it’s and this is why uh negotiating or learning to negotiate for yourself being a an independent professional an independent professional is why it counts is where it really counts so that
So that that disparity between what it is you say you do on paper and that reality between that that is what it is you do in practical application that can be negotiated that can be the basis for making more money for getting a a higher position higher title a better title in
Another company yeah so in short in in conclusion I mean is this is this our conclusion already half an hour just came a win that’s how much fun I’m having now in conclusion I think being a professional means being a professional and most I’m going to say
I’m going to say every aspect of your life right how you treat others especially how you treat those that are representing you that are going to be your representatives out there in the real world you see you want to know that you’re not selling yourself short so you want to tell your recruiters
What it is that you do at the company what it is that you’re assigned to doing what it is that you actually do what it is that you’re familiar with your knowledge base your know-how and your aspirations and your aspirations what you’re doing actively to improve and develop on yourself right
You want to humanize your client file in the recruiter’s eyes so when they do see that higher paying job with or without more responsibilities they think of Alex you know I’ve I’ve seen Alex’s report Alex’s Alex checks in Alex wants to move up Alex is a go-getter he’s a live
[ __ ] and he he wants to do it moving right they think of me they think of me and they put my file across the potential employer’s desk and they may not even consider what I made in the past right if you’re a recruiter if I tell my recruiter if I
Was transparent but even until they recruit around my Roundup right but even if you are transparent to the recruiter and you’re both in alignment with where you want your professional trajectory to be headed to be heading right then your recruiter will be able to negotiate for you that higher salary because they
Know and they believe they’re confident they trust that Alex The Professional will deliver on the on that promise on that contract you see that’s and that’s really the uh the end game for most all corporate Cowboys that’s the end game for all corporate Cowboys is to reach that state
Of being a consummate professional and that’s uh the absolute a total professional inside and out right with very little very little uh compromise if any why because the transaction will be mutually that’s that means two ways or that means always I like that always beneficial to all parties
All right so again don’t sell yourself short be sure that those that you associate with are in it for the better for the for the better good for the uh what is it for the greater not the greater good but for the betterment of business they include some edits here
They include some edits here uh first edit it says I appreciate every single comment each one has gotten an upvote and uh ah yes I hadn’t had to look for a job in nearly 10 years so a lot of strategies and what and what should admittedly be common sense are still new
To me okay well it says a common theme in the comments is the discussing of is the discussion of pay history these types of questions are not banned in Texas yeah I suppose you also want to be sure that uh you’re not breaking any
Laws but I well you don’t want to go in assuming either right if the recruiter asks you how much you made in the past you’d want to be breaking any laws you don’t want to be breaking any laws just because they asked you and you
Trust them nah like you want to be sure that that if this social if this business experiment is going to be double blind you don’t want to give anybody the upper hand right you want the chips to fall uh as fairly as possible as equitably as possible but
You know that requires you knowing what the [ __ ] you are doing and negotiating just the same okay so again don’t sell yourself short but also don’t don’t [ __ ] don’t overestimate yourself though you don’t want you don’t want to look like a like a [ __ ] dick like a like an [ __ ]
But I you know if if everybody is competent all around then come the interview stage they’ll be able to weed you out if you’re not and and I do mean in a respectful way they’ll be able to weed you out if you’re not a good fit
Right and if you are a good fit then obvious they’ll keep you and they’ll be uh taking care of you you take care of business and business will take care of you that’s it’s been an overarching theme of the podcast so they’re right uh here it says a common theme in the
Comments is the discussion of pay these types of questions are not banned in Texas which I am not that surprised to learn okay and then says it ends with you’ve all given me more confidence going forward so I appreciate the feedback right and that’s I guess the
Nice thing about the internet but also uh the not so nice thing about the internet is that you can get a variety a variety of answers a variety of answers but to get a tailored a detailed informed answer one that you can act on I mean you may need to consult one to
One with someone who’s in the business of business with someone who’s who’s got Consulting experience someone was able to think outside the box for you and someone who if you don’t have a circle of buddies or a circle of friends that you can speak to them and discuss career
Opportunities with I mean you can treat us as that Circle that you’re missing right so again find us on Instagram that’s at corporate Cowboys with the Z the corporate Cowboys podcast on patreon on Rumble that’s corporate Cowboys podcast and there’s a couple donation links there’s a venmo PayPal all that
Good stuff I’m gonna just Trail off and wish you a great week oh proof of life is Monday Monday August 7 2023. take care of yourselves yeah
source
