Season 3 episode 10: Value

Recovering Academic

In this episode the recovering trio discusses how to ask for more when academia train us not to negotiate/request what your time is actually worth. How do you put a dollar value on your time. Entrepreneur Amanda has so many great things to say, like researching rates charged by others in the industry, charging more for rush requests, and not falling into the trap of feeling like a constant beginner and never ending up charging for what you can do. And last: if someone comes to you with a project that might be worth doing, but would make you grumpy or stressed to do, ask for a rate that would make you not feel stressed out or grumpy and let the client say yes/no to that rate. In other words, make yourself happy. We also discuss the three P’s (Passion, Prestige, and Pay). If a project or job doesn’t offer at least two of those three, turn it down.

We also discuss how hard it is to say no to opportunities sometimes, and how you have to feed your cat. People pleasing may be a common trait amongst academics (at least n=3 for the podcast co-hosts), and one that can lead us to not ask for our value or accept offers that are too low for our actual value.

“If you’ve ever thought about calculating your hourly pay as a postdoc or PhD student, my suggestion is to not do that” – Amanda

“…if a project comes back with a dollar amount, practicing saying “that sounds a little low” – Ian (quoting advice of science writer Kate Gammon Ian encountered at SciComm Camp).

“Working on next month’s pay in the current month…” – Amanda on how she works with a cushion, always working on the next month’s pay in the current month.