WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:06.679 Ask me why I'm scrolling on TikTok today and I see this girl talk about 2 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:11.080 how she just graduated from a master's degree program and she's been applying for jobs 3 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:15.919 she's been interviewing. Why are all of those jobs offering twenty dollars an hour? 4 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.000 That's not even really a livable wage, Like, don't get me started 5 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.079 on the myth that is minimum wage. But it sparked a sense of rage 6 00:00:23.079 --> 00:00:26.079 in me. And if you follow me on TikTok, you already saw what 7 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.320 I had to say about it, that companies love to take advantage of people 8 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.560 and they love to pay you less than what you're worth. And that's what's 9 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.640 inspired a bit of a sassy start to twenty twenty four. Also, Happy 10 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.320 new Year, Welcome back to the show. My name is Emily Durham. 11 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:42.799 I'm the host and producer of the show. And friendly reminder, if you 12 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:46.920 want to support and continue to see this four year old podcast, grow, 13 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.560 make sure you're leaving a rating and review wherever you're listening. It takes thirty 14 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:54.759 seconds. I can wait, all right, And today I really want to 15 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.560 talk about well generally, I just want to talk because I love speaking to 16 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.719 you and I'm Italian, but I want to talk about the myth of higher 17 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:06.200 education and how it relates directly to the myth of making more money from getting 18 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:10.560 that higher education, and generally just talk about why it feels like companies are 19 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:14.040 paying so little and asking for so much, and most importantly, at the 20 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:15.560 end of the episode, we're going to talk about what you can do to 21 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.760 safeguard yourself against some of these weirdos with beirdo's. You know what I'm saying. 22 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.000 So let's hop right on into it. Grab your coffee, get comfortable, 23 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.719 let's talk careers. Before this episode, I googled why do companies pay 24 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:30.200 so little? Not because I don't know the answers, but because I was 25 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:34.680 really curious as to what news outlets would say about this, and no surprise, 26 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.599 most of the articles, particularly from very reputable organizations. I'll talk about 27 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.480 how it's all about demand and supply. People are getting masters in low demand 28 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.400 fields, naturally to pay is a little bit less. There don't know if 29 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:51.120 I entirely agree with that, because if you look at the job postings for 30 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.040 a lot of these positions, one of the examples that came up was like 31 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.599 in the museum or hospitality industry. They are asking for a master's degree. 32 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.159 Some of them are even asking for a PhD. So I think it's really 33 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:05.200 interesting that we're kind of spun this lie that, well, if you get 34 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.240 higher education, you'll have access to higher jobs, and I guess that part 35 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:12.080 is true, but what they don't tell you is that you're actually not going 36 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.759 to get compensated more for all of this additional work and frankly experience that you 37 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:21.039 have gotten as part of your by by way of your education. So I 38 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.840 want to start off there. I don't really buy into that whole demand supply 39 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.199 myth, but I'm no economics major girl, so you know, feel free 40 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.319 let me know if you disagree. In the DMS, I always want to 41 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:32.159 hear that what I think is happening and what I'm seeing is happening is a 42 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:37.960 direct response to a post pandemic workforce. In twenty twenty, we experienced something 43 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.680 called the Great Resignation. I've talked about this a bunch over on YouTube as 44 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:45.759 well, but it was basically this phenomenon where so many people were quitting their 45 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:50.319 jobs, jobs that they historically had loved and enjoyed because they realized they were 46 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.360 being taken advantage of they weren't getting paid enough frankly to be working through a 47 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.960 pandemic, and work from home actually meant that more people ended up working way 48 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.159 more hours out they're frustrated, they realize frankly, none of these companies given 49 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:06.000 shiit about me, So I'm going to quit. And that's what we did. 50 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.159 How organizations and Corporate America ended up reacting was saying, Okay, well, 51 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:14.560 we've got this global pandemic, so from a health and safety perspective, 52 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.560 we need to work remotely. But there's this growing demand for workplace flexibility, 53 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:22.520 so let's introduce remote work. And while we're at it, let's raise the 54 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:27.560 base pay in salaries that we're offering people to entice them to work. Especially 55 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.000 in tech. We saw this like salaries were higher than I've ever seen. 56 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:35.080 I was negotiating with candidates for salary ranges that I never thought we'd be talking 57 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:38.560 about. Like it's skyrocketed. So what's different now? Why is that not 58 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.319 the case. Well, for starters, we're no longer in insert air quotes 59 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:46.960 here a pandemic world. So we're starting to see companies who have allowed people 60 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.719 to work from home start to encourage people to come back into the office via 61 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.360 hybrid or being totally back on site. I could make a whole other episode 62 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:59.000 about why that is. Spoiler alert, it's not to drive company culture. 63 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.400 It's because they are paying for that office space. But that whole other shmag 64 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:04.840 I'm not going to get into that. But they're basically saying, Hey, 65 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:09.240 remember that nice, sexy, little work from home gig you had, baby, 66 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.000 bring it back in the office. And on top of that, economic 67 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.400 times are tough. I guess I can't give you a raise this year, 68 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.199 won't want like. That's where we're at, so much more complicated than how 69 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:21.600 I've just boiled it down to. But essentially, there is a lot of 70 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:28.040 turbulence from an economic perspective that's being taken into account. But largely the power 71 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.720 dynamic has shifted and the power is no longer in the hands of candidates. 72 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:34.319 It's in that of the employers. So they're a bit more rigid with some 73 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.519 of their requirements. The job market is not quite fruitful. There's not that 74 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:42.000 big tech boom we saw a couple of years back, and things are leveling 75 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.439 out and compensation is part of that. So the jobs that, yes, 76 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:47.360 if you had a master's for you'd be making one hundred and fifty k a 77 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:51.279 year. Suddenly it's one hundred and forty. Maybe it's one hundred and thirty 78 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:55.240 five, or maybe it's one hundred and fifty k, but you're not eligible 79 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:58.680 for a raise over the next three years, which ultimately isn't getting the bank 80 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.959 for your buck, especially if you pursued higher education. And that's it. 81 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:04.480 End of the episode. Guys, just kidding. Okay, So now we 82 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:09.199 have a little bit of context on why employers do this, and this is 83 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:13.560 unbelievably high level. There's a whole bunch of other reasons. Obviously, companies 84 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.560 want to make money, and part of that is cutting costs. Unfortunately, 85 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.720 sometimes that does come into effect when we're looking at your compensation. But you 86 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:23.240 know, neither here nor there. What I'm most concerned about is how do 87 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.319 we make sure that you're getting the most bang for your buck as you're applying 88 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.199 for jobs. The first thing I want to talk about is that notion of 89 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.160 higher education. There's no such thing as wasted education. And if you're somebody 90 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.399 who loves school and it's important to you as a person to have a master's 91 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:40.000 or a PhD or whatever, it might be go for it if you're on 92 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:44.959 the fence. My personal recommendation get into the workforce first, because you're actually 93 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.000 really likely to find a company who's willing to pay for you to go to 94 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.800 school. A lot of major companies have this where if you're getting a master's 95 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.519 or an MBA, or maybe just like want to take a couple of extra 96 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.720 classes if it's relevant to the field you're in, they're going to pay for 97 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.399 a bestie. So why would you pay when they could pay you to go 98 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:02.399 to school? Why would we do that? The other thing I will consider 99 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.519 is, or I would have you consider rather, is do a lot of 100 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:10.399 research on what job requirements look like in the field you're looking for. Like 101 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:14.040 I said before, I don't really buy into this whole like demand and supply 102 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.879 people only get masters in these low paying areas. But I will say do 103 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.319 a little bit of research. For example, having a master's in human resources 104 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:26.279 is not going to fundamentally change my compensation. And let's say it is like 105 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.199 a ten thousand dollars salary increase. Am I really making money if I just 106 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:32.160 spent all of that money on my masters? So do your research on what 107 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:36.319 average salary looks like with and without a master's and do research on what the 108 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:42.279 requirements are for entry level or whatever level you're at positions in the industry that 109 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.279 you're hunting for. One second, the sweet sounds of Toronto are hitting us. 110 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:46.959 Did y'all hear those sirens? All right, we'll keep the party going. 111 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:49.879 Other thing I want you to do when I spoke about this in my 112 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:54.519 TikTok video a couple of days ago, when I found that girl's TikTok, 113 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.160 make sure you're doing research on the salary range before you interview, because there's 114 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:01.639 nothing worse than getting into an interview with a company who's not going to pay 115 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.839 you what you want, Okay, So make sure you're doing that research. 116 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:09.399 You can either explicitly ask, and it is totally appropriate to do that, 117 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.639 or you can hit a website like blind or fish Bowl or Glassdoor or Reddit 118 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.800 and get a sense of what those salary expectations really are. The next thing 119 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.839 that you need to do is free yourself from the pain of trying to hit 120 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:24.759 every single job requirement. And I'm not saying this is the case for the 121 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.160 girl who posted this video, but if you're applying for a job and it's 122 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.839 asking for five years of experience and a master's and you don't have a master's 123 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:34.040 and you have four years experience, but you're reading the job description, it's 124 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:38.680 still an entry level role that you're confident you could do. Still apply. 125 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.199 Fun fact, a lot of people don't apply for positions and take themselves out 126 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:46.519 of the race and out of the running before the recruiter is even telling you 127 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.079 that you're not qualified. And this is particularly true for women. So women 128 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:53.560 tend to only apply for jobs when they feel they meet eighty percent of the 129 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:57.519 qualifications for the role, whereas men will more than likely apply if they feel 130 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:01.000 they meet thirty percent. So for the lot of this, yeah, these 131 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.879 are companies making things really difficult. Sorry, if you hear Binkie in the 132 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.759 background, Homie is very passionate about salary because he eats all of mine. 133 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:11.680 But basically what you need to focus on is can you still apply for that 134 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:16.399 job? Like, give yourself a fair shot of putting yourself forward for these 135 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:18.360 roles and see how the cookie crumbles, because nine times out of ten, 136 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.079 these companies will post, oh I want an MBA, I want a master's, 137 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:24.360 and they're willing to hire someone without it. At the end of the 138 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:26.680 day, though, if I could cure capitalism, baby, I would because 139 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.279 I think it's absolutely berserk that these companies are comfortable paying you slightly above minimum 140 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.840 wage for sixty thousand dollars masters like, it is insane. It is crazy. 141 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.759 My biggest piece of advice is be picky in your job application process, 142 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:43.840 and if you're struggling to get those interviews and start having those conversations, I 143 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.399 have a whole bunch of other content that's designed to help you get there. 144 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.559 So if you're struggling to even get your foot in the door and you're thinking, 145 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.799 do I need to accept less in terms of salary, don't do that. 146 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:56.200 I don't want you to take a job just for the sake of taking 147 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:58.600 it. Let's get you into the right company. So We've got a whole 148 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.080 bunch of content on my YouTube channel and on the podcast for this. But 149 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.759 yeah, I just had to talk about some dollars and cents because I think 150 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.799 it's pretty wackdoodle how these companies are operating, and having context can help you 151 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.240 make right decisions for you, and it's a great idea for you to get 152 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.080 a sense of what is the salary range that's realistic for the company that you're 153 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:18.840 working for or for the industry that you're working in, so you can make 154 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.600 decisions around that. But all to say, hold off on getting your master's 155 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.279 bestie and make someone else pay for unless you find like a very rich partner 156 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:28.360 who wants to do that for you, and I support that as well. 157 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.360 It's a good business decision. I hope this short but sweet episode was enjoyable. 158 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:35.600 I so appreciate you. I'm back and better than ever For twenty twenty 159 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.320 four, I have a year of kick ass, killer content, so much 160 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.320 cool stuff coming out. And as always, if you have questions you want 161 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:43.799 me to answer on the show, click that link in the description. I 162 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.639 get to those every single week and I'll talk to you next Sunday.