Why is it, when you interview for a certain job, you will accept what the employer has told you he/she is willing to pay you for doing a job for them? Are you not the one with the potential they are looking for and the skills to get the job done? But yet, the employer is telling you what your abilities are worth. That is really puzzling to me. And your heart drops because you were expecting more.
Every spring we call our gardener to treat our lawn, overturn the soil, pull up the weeds, mow the lawn and lay the mulch. He gives us a price of what it will cost us to pay him for doing the job for us. If the cost of the product he has purchased has gone up, like the gas that he uses in his lawn mower and in his truck to get to our place, he let us know his price has gone up. Because we like the work that he does on our lawn, we pay the price he charges us for the service he provides.
When we needed a spring for our garage door, we were told how much the spring would cost and how much the service call would be to put the spring on.
In both instances, we called to hire someone to work for us, but they both told us how much they would charge for the service they provided for us (the employer). Of course, we had the choice to accept their price, or to negotiate for what we were willing to pay.
The point I am making is this. When we apply for a job and we meet the qualifications of the job, why do we allow and accept what the employer is willing to pay us to provide a service to them? Did we forget we are an asset to their business and within us is the potential to help achieve the mission and goal of the company? Did we forget we have a contribution to make that will create volumes of business for them?
Is it out of desperation for survival, that we are willing to compromise what we have to offer, the years we have spent in building up our skills, the tuition we have paid (and still paying) to earn our degrees to qualify for the position? Or do we believe they are doing us a favor, by just allowing us to work for them?
Of course we know we can never be paid for what we are worth, but at least offer a salary for the service I am providing, that will make me believe that my knowledge and skills are appreciated.
