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Career Change
The best and easiest way to ensure that you will earn more is
to move into a male career path and stay there. Try to stop thinking
of is as changing levels or having higher ambitions. It is a change
to a different job, but not necessarily a harder or more stressful
job. Move out of the slow lane and into the passing lane. Even
if you are never promoted again, you will almost certainly make
much more money in your lifetime than if you stay in a female career
path.
Maybe you were hoping I could teach you how to keep your current
job and get paid what you think you are worth. If I had that formula,
I would certainly share it with you. Aside from some tips on asking
for a raise, however, there is little I can offer you. Female career
paths are low-paying. You may want to learn how to convince your
management that your position is just as crucial to the success
of the company as others that pay more. You can try for the rest
of your working life, but you will probably fail.
It may appear that male career paths pay better because they are
occupied by men. That may be true, but management has its own set
of reasons why they believe male career paths pay more money. Whether
these reasons are valid does not matter. Whether the rules make
sense does not matter. If you want to make more money, the most
assured way is to do the jobs that pay more. You are much more
prepared to do this than you think.
I'm sorry to rip you away from a career you may love, but I know
there are other jobs out there that you can love equally well.
There are jobs that can be just as challenging and rewarding, utilize
your unique skills, and pay you twice, three times, or ten times
what you currently earn. After reading this book you can decide
yourself whether you want to make a change. Let's return to the
premise that two classifications exist in the business world:
- Women are divided (by themselves and others) into two groups:
career women or regular women.
- Male and female job tracks exist, and the male job tracks pay
considerably better.
These are both oversimplified, but the premise can help us define
why we are where we are and where we want to go. You can make both
of these silly classifications work in your favor.
From this point forward, forget about classifying yourself as a
regular woman or a career woman. Do not burden yourself with decisions
about which classification you fit. Men have no such classification
method. The jobs they perform are infinitely varied, and so are
the ways they perceive their own commitment to their jobs and to
work itself. The kind of work men want to do usually changes several
times during a lifetime, as do the level of ambition they bring
to the workforce and the sacrifices they are willing to make for
work. To divide the entire male workforce into two categories would
seem completely absurd, not to mention ineffective. It is equally
absurd and ineffective to do so with women.
Even after you discard this classification for yourself, remember
that others have not done so. You must appear and behave like a
career woman to earn more for your efforts. So what? Maintain the
image you need, and you can be free to be who you are. Use the
unenlightened mindset of others to help you get the job you need
to pay your bills.
If you are like most women, you see yourself as a regular woman,
or at least on that side of the continuum. Examining the reasons
why may help you overcome any need to classify yourself. I believe
there are three reasons why women do not categorize themselves
as career women.
- They believe they lack sufficient ambition.
- They see the sacrifices as too great.
- They view themselves as unqualified.
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This site is for working women everywhere, to help improve their
success, pay, and self-confidence.
Each of Us is full of career advice and career development information to help you get the success you deserve. Buy the book now!
"Thanks so much for your advice. Thanks to your book, I landed a permanent "career" position in a local software company...I added 12K to my income--and it was your book that motivated me to stick my foot in the door." Lisa Gill
“Thank you so much for your advice. Thanks to your book, I landed a permanent "career" position in a local software company. In three weeks of interviewing I added $12K to my income - and it was your book that motivated me to stick my foot in the door! Thanks again.” Sara Roberts
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