IT Consultant Talks About 'Negotiating for Nerds' (Video)

Matt Heusser did a Slashdot video interview back in 2013 titled How to Become an IT Expert Companies Seek Out and Pay Well. Despite noise from a few yammerheads about Matt getting 'free advertising' on Slashdot, which is unlikely since the vast majority of Slashdot users are more likely to compete with him than to hire him, most of the people who saw that video (or read the transcript) knew he was giving helpful advice to peers who might want to get out of the cubicle and work for themselves.

Today, Matt is with us again. This video is about 'Negotiating for Nerds.' Matt talks about negotiating a pay raise or consulting fee increase, starting with learning who has the actual power to negotiate with you. This is essential knowledge if you are employed (or self-employed) in IT and want to make sure you're getting all you are worth.

Comments

Re:No no, Ellen fixed that for us.

[50000BTU_barbecue]

As long as that mindset applies to CEOs as well, I'm all for it. I've never seen outsourcing go that way however. Odd, that.

Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

I make 80% more as a tech contractor working numerous short-term assignments (one day to one year) for different companies than a tech worker collecting 2% raises at the same company for 5+ years.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[50000BTU_barbecue]

That's because you are in North America where employers see employees like spoiled food at the back of the fridge. Yes, you need to be a team player with a pedigree a mile long, but it's never enough, and "team" only goes so far as "boss", then suddenly it's all about THEM.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[tnk1]

This is true. As a contractor, I paid absurd heath insurance rates. Now that I am older and married, forget it.

Granted, now we have Obamacare, but that shit is pretty damn expensive too, unless you are getting a grant to offset it. It may be just as much, if not more, than the rates I paid to obtain health insurance on my own.

Of course, I also know that I have to switch jobs every few years to make a decent raise, so in that respect, I'm living the contractor experience with less pay, but more overall safety. It's a trade I am happy to make as someone with a family, but as a young, single person, I'd might drool over the raw cash more because I'd have fewer things putting their claim on my paycheck, so I could invest the extra money more freely and make it work for me while still driving around an econo-box and living with roommates.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[roc97007]

Right. I was a contractor for several years, but got a FTE position when I decided to buy a home and raise a family, for precisely this reason. Took a hit in salary when I made the switch, but that's the price one pays.

The positive side, savings during the contracting days paid a hefty down payment on the house.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

I was out of work for two years (2009-2010), underemployed for six months (working 20 hours PER MONTH), and filed for Chapter Seven bankruptcy in 2011. After the first six months of unemployment, I was told that I was "unemployable" by recruiters and "overqualified" for minimum wage jobs by hiring managers. With 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and draining my savings to zero, I managed to weather that one out. Unless a company offered to pay for moving, I couldn't afford to move and didn't. Six years later, I'm still recovering from the Great Recession.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

Health insurance, 401K with employer match, etc, what the hell is that? Life has been hard since the Great Recession. However, with everyone wanting to work in San Francisco, the perks are getting better for workers who are willing to give up hipster society and work in boring Silicon Valley.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

In Silicon Valley, all of them.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

I would have to pay $650 per month at my old employer for healthcare. Similar coverage cost $350 per month under Obamacare. That's without any subsidies.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[antdude]

What about fringe benefits?

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[sribe]

IRAs can have a MUCH larger ROI than any 401k. It's not my fault you were stupid with your investments.

If you have a decent 401(k), you should have a similar range of investment options, with similar costs.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[__aaclcg7560]

As a contractor, you shouldn't expect fringe benefits because you're never around long enough to collect. Although that's changing somewhat in Silicon Valley. All the young hipsters want to work in San Francisco, so the perks are getting better for those willing to work in plain old Silicon Valley.

Re:Want a pay raise? Changes jobs, frequently.

[antdude]

Ah, thanks. I am not in SV. LA & OC though!

Re:So, more free advertising

[stephanruby]

Despite noise from a few yammerheads about Matt getting 'free advertising' on Slashdot, which is unlikely since the vast majority of Slashdot users are more likely to compete with him than to hire him

As a Yammerhead myself (whatever that means, by the way thanks a lot Dice for calling me names)

I'm more upset at you guys for turning Slashdot into a Slashvertisement for Dice.

Before the purchase from Dice Holdings, Slashdot wasn't really a place for recruitment advice or recruitment news. I know that as owners of Slashdot, you can do whatever you want with the editorial content, but just know that you've been steadily losing most of your readers here.

Disrespectful

[Venerable Vegetable]

"Despite noise from a few yammerheads about Matt getting 'free advertising' on Slashdot, which is unlikely since the vast majority of Slashdot users are more likely to compete with him than to hire him, most of the people who saw that video (or read the transcript) knew he was giving helpful advice"

We've all read the comments of "what Slashdot has become". Although I do think it is on a slippery slope, I still enjoy most articles and comments and consider it a respectable site. But this article is a disgrace. Not because of the content. While I really don't care what mr Heusser has to say, I didn't really care about the 4K smartphone display either. So I just skip these articles.

But the trollish and rude editing is not what I expect from this site. Be respectful to all your readers. Don't call your readers yammerheads, even though you don't agree with their points. While some are trolling (don't feed them), others are honestly concerned. The rest of the phrasing is just as rude. Are you putting "free advertising" between quotes because it wasn't free? The other people who saw the video, who apparently didn't "know" mr Heusser was giving free advise, not your target demographic anymore?

Really....

Re:Disrespectful

[Glarimore]

I would think that there would be a higher bar set for an editor of a website than for some random dipshits who post on said website.

Re:Disrespectful

[OzPeter]

All they're doing is speaking the language of their user base. Slashbots are pedantic, rude and trollish. There's nothing wrong with an editor that tailors the content accordingly.

You can't control what other people say or do. But you can control how you react to it.

And labeling people who disagree with you as "hammerheads" is not a good reaction.

Re:Disrespectful

[pete6677]

Nope. This is the New Slashdot.

Re:So, more free advertising

[Anonymous Coward]

You're no yammerhead. It's a Robert Heinlein word for people who do nothing but whine and get in the way and contribute nothing useful. From 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.' As that into (above) says, "a few yammerheads."

Really?

[nospam007]

"most of the people who saw that video (or read the transcript) knew he was giving helpful advice to peers who might want to get out of the cubicle and work for themselves. "

The elusive ones, who actually read TFA or watch TFV?

Both of them?

Re:Really?

[tehlinux]

I watched a solid 7 minutes to see if it was actually going anywhere. Those are 7 minutes I wish I had back...

Those "Yammerheads"

[OzPeter]

Those "Yammerheads" are your revenue source.

Re:Those "Yammerheads"

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on over to soylent news and join other slashdot ex-pats at a site that respects its community.

Nope

[roc97007]

Nope, can't negotiate salary anymore. For gender equality, you know. Not for the benefit of the hiring company. Really.

Re: Nope

[roc97007]

> That company is of relevance HOW ?

Good point. I guess the only relevance is that they are having their moment in the news for some politically correct drivel.

Mind you, I'm on your side on this. Just pointing out that some companies are trying to sell us on the idea that salary negotiation is *mean* and unfair to genders who are less able to negotiate. (And why this isn't in and of itself considered sexist is beyond me.)

You don't have to negotiate for nerds

[Applehu Akbar]

You can get a huge, willing supply of them for almost nothing, and they're so easy to dispose of at the end of the project.

Re:No no, Ellen fixed that for us.

[ruir]

It is good you prefer to pay more and not have resident people tendering and taking care of your own business. Have you considered also outsourcing the local idiots and finding another line of work? Be careful about the poisons you choose, I have worked with indian expats, and to date I am not impressed. They say yes to everything and are geniuses on paper, in practice their concepts are weak and the work shoddy. The things my actually go well for a while, normally either it takes very incompetent people to fuck it all in the first few months, but without experienced people give it 1 or 2 years time, and you will notice the cheapest route is more expensive. Actually people understand this concept about maintaining a car, but not IT or their businesses. Sweet. Good luck, you will sure need it, douchebag.

Except for Ellen Pao

[Smerta]

Reddit employees - no need to watch this video, salary negotiating skills are no longer relevant to you: http://www.reddit.com/r/news/c...

Re:So, more free advertising

[gsslay]

Yeah. What do IT professionals need recruitment advice for? It's not like they work in a job market, or even need a job or a wage or anything.

Re:So, more free advertising

[drakaan]

Great. Now, since I didn't immediately recognize where it was from, I'm going to have to spend the next month or two re-reading all of my Heinlein books.