OK, this is making the rounds on my coworker's facebook pages and staff mailing list : [link] (shout outs, 3 minutes in.) and [link]

I love it. Really, really love it.

I am saved! Our grocery store chain (Wegman's) has an online shopping list that I can do and email to him-- this is awesome!

Okay, Vortex, what about giving your current salary with full markup for all benefits?

I would do this, but just say "My salary is in the (whatever range), not including benefits." Don't itemize it for them in advance; wait till you're face-to-face if possible.

My company pays less than its competitors. But the benefits are pretty good, as they pointedly remind us at salary review time. So if I thought I was getting lowballed I would start listing every plus down to the free parking if it wasn't comparable. Along with stuff like: I have my own office, it's a short commute, they're pretty flexible about vacation scheduling, etc.

I love it. Really, really love it.

Aw!

Oh shit, I just remembered I have a meeting in the morning. Good thing I thought of it now! And not, you know, noon tomorrow...

And I guess I should have some thoughts about selling myself as a consultant. Oy vey.

When I applied for this job, they first asked me about my expectations, which i gave with no problem. Then in the interview, they asked how much I was making at my last job. I said something like, "If I had stayed there, I would be making XX by now" and that seemed to satisfy. I actually didn't get paid at my last job, except on a per [unit of work] basis but it was no where near worth what I was doing. If pressed, I think I would have started talking about the dramatically lower cost of living where I had been previously.

Talky meat people. I love ya.

Woke up this morning and my jaw was NOT HAPPY. At least the dentist had given me a prescription for the good stuff. I only worked 4 hours today, took the day time karate class, and snoozed.

The flexibility I have with my company is priceless. I'd love to make more cash, but I really don't want to trade in flexibility for that.

Vortex, if that is a form for my uni, leave it blank. HR will forward your application regardless. Since the salary range is locked in here there is very little room to negotiate . They're stuck with it, too.

But it's just a shitty thing, especially for women. As discussed here before, our salaries are often 25% lower than a man's doing the same work. And part of that is not negotiating hard enough and also getting caught in the "paid low in entry-level work and raises are based on the low wage" scenario.

This piece in the NY Times speaks exactly to that: [link]

Perhaps this should go in Boxed Set, but I just got off the phone with a friend. Her sons are TOTALLY into Doctor Who, thanks to my big-time pimping and loaning them our DVDs. I called to tell her that Hamlet was on tonight. She then called me back to tell me that she had been speaking to her six-year-old and said "The man from Doctor Who is going to be on TV tonight in a different show." He said "Which one? You mean David Tennant?"