The truth about following common advice

''Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.''

Mark Twain

The quote above summarizes the whole article, so you can go ahead and skip the reading.

Here I was looking for a job, for the first time in my life, this happened back in 2011 when I was fresh out of college and I was dedicated full time sending resumes. Everything was working out perfectly, I was getting interviews from several companies. Because I was new in this process and I didn't know how much should I ask for a salary, I asked several people (family, friends) to give me advice on this topic.

I remember clearly, all the answers that I got that were basically the same : "When you are fresh out of college, you should go for a low salary to get the job, gather experience for some time, and then you can get raises or move to another job where you are paid more accordingly, so you should ask for $X quantity of money". This is what from now on I will define as common advice, the advice that you are given by the majority of people that surrounds your life about any topic.

So here I was... at my brand-new job. I asked for the salary that I got as a recommendation from common advice, and I was given exactly that amount. I started with all the energy that a recent graduate can have in his first job, very motivated, giving the extra mile, and I was indeed very happy... until I realized something that slapped in the face, made me feel unworthy and crushed all my motivation. I was the lowest paid employee in the whole department. My coworkers that also were recent graduates were getting paid about 30 % more than me (ignoring the fact that I came from a better college). I don't think any reader can realize how miserable I felt.

When you are in this kind of situation and don't know how to proceed or what to do to avoid feeling so miserable, you will be tempted to ask for advice, so I did it... again, for the second time in less than six months, I received common advice: ''You should ignore the fact that even the dog across the street earns more than you, you should stay there and gather experience for some time, even that you feel miserable and worthless. It's your first job and you should be grateful for having one if you quit your resume will look bad''.

This all happened in my first month at the job, and after receiving this advice I felt very bad, that was not how I wanted the situation to be, for me it wasn't fair that I was receiving less salary for performing the same activities that people that were just as or less prepared than me were performing. Something was wrong with this advice, I was feeling so bad and depressed that I came to the realization that my body was trying to tell me something... was trying to tell me that I shouldn't accept reality as is, I should make it as I wanted.

I took the first step in ignoring the common advice by focusing all my energies in looking for a new job, I didn't mind if I fucked up my first job or if my resume would look bad. I hated the situation, the reality and I was committed to changing it. I got two interviews, I asked for more salary (the same that my coworkers were earning), got good feedback from the interview, but they told me that the process was going to be slow and that I should wait.

In the meantime, something happened in the place where I worked. Three of my coworkers resigned in a row because they were getting a better salary in another company! That meant they were considering themselves as being a low paid employee, so because of that reason they were moving to another company (In my interior I thought, so if they are low paid, HOW SHOULD I CONSIDER MYSELF???).

By this time, I had just had enough, and I quit, I presented my resignation letter as the 4th guy leaving the company in the same week (I knew that for a single department this can be seen as a problem, and they were needing the people really bad). Different from the other coworkers that quit, I didn't have a job offer with a better salary, but I didn't care, I was feeling very bad. I did this with a special intention, so I told them: I'm the only one that you can save from the ones that are resigning. I would stay at this company and cancel the other offer (I didn't have one) if I get a 50% raise.

I was bluffing, but I knew the stakes were on my side because it was a new department that was requiring people really bad, and if the things went wrong and lost the job, I just didn't care. I was asked to wait a week for an answer and I agreed. At the end of the week, I was informed that I was getting the 50% raise. Normally this could have taken years.

I knew that a luck factor was involved, but I saw the opportunity, I took the risk and I got the benefit. All of this by ignoring the common advice. Some people can say that this move was not ethical, but I didn't care, for me, the company was not being ethical by underpaying me. Also if I didn't do that move, I was going to feel miserable, unworthy a depressed all my time in that place, and that is not how things should be.

This is a good example of how I hacked the reality and I discover the truth of the common advice: If you want a better life, you shouldn't follow it!

Thanks for the reading and stay tuned for part number two.

How not to be the unsuccessful story about a successful employee in a successful corporation

Give the extra mile and 200% at your job... Just kidding, you were expecting something else for sure. Well here is the complete answer:

• Get in the process of continuous learning: This one is easy. If you have no degree, get a technical degree, if you have a technical degree, get a bachelor degree, if you have a bachelor degree, get a master degree, if you have a master degree, get another master degree or a Ph.D. Ok, so you are one of those millennials who don't believe in formal education, IT DOESN'T MATTER, learn a new skill, how about cooking, surfing, dancing, painting, typing, artistic writing, programming, juggling, electronics... something that you like. The point here is that studies show that people that are in constant learning (formal or informal) adapt easily to new situations, so if they lose their job, it will be easier for them to find a new one. Also, constant learning stimulates your brain so it will be easier for you to solve any kind of problem in your life. The last point is, by learning new things maybe you will find the passion of your life, something that you love doing and you are very good at it, finding this will make your life happier.

• Get a life: The previous bullet is included here, don't let your work define you and your life, get into other activities besides your job, e.g. some voluntary work, a reading club, practicing some sport, getting out for a drink with your friends, enjoying some time with your family, anything. Perform these activities with other people different from those at work. This will improve your networking, and your whole life will not come to an end if you lose your job.

• Do just what you are getting paid for, no more, no less: When you start in a new job, it's interesting how the Human Resources department brainwashes you into believing that if you dedicate all your life and effort to the company, you will become more successful and you will receive a better paycheck... Truth is, this is not the case. Studies show people that change jobs every 2 years maximize their income compared to the one that decides to stay in a single place (check this http://www.forbes.com/sites/cameronkeng/2014/06/22/employees-that-stay-in-companies-longer-than-2-years-get-paid-50-less/), so please have in mind that HR wants to get the most out of you without paying you accordingly, just don't fall for this trap. Also, please have in consideration that when this company has the option of increasing their stock value in a 0.0000000000001% by firing you, they will do it, so the extra effort and sacrifices from your own life don't worth it.

• Find an activity that generates additional income, does not matter how small it is: you have a job, so your financial stability is at his best... again the truth is that this is not true. By having a job you decided to let your financial stability in the hands of others, so if they decide to fire you, you can do nothing about it. This is where you start working in your side project, this one can be giving a class, selling goods on eBay, repairing tv's, washing bicycles.... you get the idea. This doesn't mean that you want to be an entrepreneur like every other young millionaire that appears on tv, but by doing this you will find activities that you like and also generates you money! and believe me, this is a good thing and it could come in handy, or in an extreme case, your complete support when you get fired (check the statistics, this is more common than you think). A good trick to do this is to get up an hour early to work on your side project in the morning, by doing this you will avoid the excuse of being tired after work.

• Understand that suddenly, spontaneously, unpredictably, inadvertently you will get fired: don't believe me? check the newspapers, ask your colleagues, check the rising statistic of unemployment, so you better be prepared. Unemployment has arrived, and it´s planning to stay, so don't choose a unique plan, have several choices.

• Quit now, don´t plan it!: Ok this one sounds a little more extreme, and you might think that I'm crazy, but have you realized that this is what happens when you get fired? By doing this you will know about how much you are capable, and if you survive (99% sure you will) you will lose your fear of not having a stable income. This is where you apply your side business and check the real result. I have actually done this myself and I don't regret it (my side activity was teaching some classes), it made me move from a job that I just hate to an activity that I just love. 

Well, this is it. Please check my next entry about how to avoid the rat race and live life in your own terms. Bye.

The unsuccessful story of a successful employee in a successful corporation

Back in the day when I used to work in one of the best companies that you could work on (here in my country), I saw a particular behavior on several of the employees, they decided to give away their life for his job and the company. Let me tell you the story.

This guy was hired 17 years ago, he had only a technical degree provided by an educational institution. He was really happy because he was being hired in one of the best corporations at that time and his salary was well above average. He decided to dedicate and give all his efforts to become successful inside this organization. He started to work overtime, on weekends without any extra payment, and eventually he got what he wanted... a promotion. After this promotion, he realized that having only a technical degree could not be sufficient to escalate on the corporate ladder, so he decided to continue his studies in order to get a bachelor degree. The good news was, the company was going to pay his tuition! He could not be more grateful to this company: he was getting a good salary, was given a promotion, and now he's tuition was being paid.

This exact moment was when this person decided that he was going to work in this place forever, and he was going to dedicate all his life working just for this corporation. So, he finished his studies, got another promotion and now he was the manager of a complete department. When he went out for a drink with his friends, he could not stop talking about how fabulous this company was, about how well it paid, and how he has been very successful in it. His salary was very good, allowing him to get a loan for a very nice house and car. He got married to a girl that also worked in this place, and this was obvious, he was spending all his life in this company so he could only meet a girl there.

At this point, he realized that his life was done entirely: married, nice car, nice wife, nice children, good salary, manager of a department of the company, highly respected among his co-workers, so how could this get any better? He felt like this company has just given too much to him, and he is only paying it back by giving all his life and dedication to his job, and if you think it, it makes sense, right?

Well, one day, one beautiful sunny day, one beautiful sunny day like any other, things changed. Higher management arranged a meeting to communicate that due to cost reduction, the company was going to close and move to another country. This impacted 1500 employees, and for sure, he was included.

And that was it, this guy is now unemployed, without any experience in anything different from what he did in that company. Also, he had lost a lot of competitiveness due to the fact that he has been working in his comfort zone for over 17 years, and now he feels like he could not do any different activity from what he did in his previous job.

Please make sure that this doesn't happen to you. In my next entry, I will talk about a little about how not to be the unsuccessful story about a successful employee in a successful corporation.