Selling Your Salary in a Penny-Pinching Economy

Selling Your Salary in a Penny-Pinching EconomySelling Your Salary in a Penny-Pinching EconomyIts a buyers market out there. How can top-priced talent make its pitch? Is being cheaper really being smarter?Whether we are downsized or right-sized, unemployment in 2009 is not associated only with mid-level and lower-level jobs. Its an egalitarian phenomenon.We all know someone who has been laid off, from the corner office to the cubicle. Maybe as you read this, youre thinking about yourself or a loved one. Even my friends who hold American Express coveted Centurion Black Card should listen up Membership may have its privileges, but apparently helping you keep your corner office isnt among them.Executive-level jobs are twice as hard to find, often due to the age of the six-figure employee (those years of experience that justify a higher salary). Ironically, behauptung are the very salaries that have either gotten them fired, landed them on thin ice or are preventing them from landing tha t new job.Think of it this way Are you willing to buy a Rolex watch, a brand-new BMW or any expensive item right now, even if you can afford it? Not likely. You know the Rolex is better quality, just like you probably are as a high-priced executive. But guess what? The company youre interviewing with or working for isnt buying you for the same reason youre not buying that BMW Were all price conscious right now.Come on, be honest. Did you just cut back your cleaning persons schedule to only once per week? Well, the boardrooms no different everyones cutting back.Back to the Centurion Black Card Remember in the beginning, there welches the American Express green card. Remember that? Then it became a position symbol to have the gold. Once that wore off, platinum was the most elite. Then, one day, I heard rumors of a new card American Express was developing the Centurion card, a k a the black card.Suddenly, having a black card was the new status symbol. Like having a Hmmm iPhone today. (No, better Like having a job today.)Then last fall, the recession hit. Suddenly, many black-card holders may not want to spend as much. In fact, American Express just announced that even they were laying off workers. (Were they the black-card department, I wondered?)How to sell your product when its expensive and no one is buyingWhen that dreaded R word is used, I believe it is a blank check for bosses to fire anyone. You heard it here first Bosses use a recession as an excuse to get rid of the highly paid black-carders who would ordinarily be hard to fire. In other words, a recession climate is used as an excuse to clean house.In my book Bulletproof Your Job, (HarperCollins) I share 50 trade secrets on how anybody can seduce their boss into helping them save their job. Yes, I said seduce. Like the idea of how the black card seduced you in to wanting one, even though it was expensive.Keeping a job today is hard enough finding a new one is even more difficult.So here are some of m y most cutthroat but honest tips on getting back to work fast. More are in the book.1. Lowball yourself to get back to work.Take the lower salary dont scare away a company with your past Rolex wages. Get your foot in the door, and when this economy turns around next year you will be in the drivers seat to renegotiate or find a new job entirely.2. Loose lips sink ships.Everyone is looking for a job today, so their ears are everywhere. Every networking group you go to, everyone you talk to even the priest in your confessional may be applying for the same jobs. Youd be shocked at who else has their eyes on your perfect job. Have you ever seen that show in which the actors steal auditions from one another? Its no different in the executive suite, my friend. Keep it quiet.3. Never act desperate.Always look like you deserve a six-figure job. If youve been making six figures, youd better have a resume template that screams, Hire me Then, dont mess it up by dressing like youre headed f or an open casting call for the next Real Housewives (or Husbands) series. Youre dressing for an interview, not for your 15 minutes of fame.So now think back to the American Express color codes. Do you think the status or color of our credit card much matters now? I dont. You represent the upper echelon of the job seekers youre the black card, but it can be tough to sell your expertise when someone else will do the job for less. Consider these three tips and write me with your thoughts.