Why do people like to compare salary?
Today, i offended another friend of mine – an old friend. Here’s our conversation in Yahoo Messenger:
B: Hey, how are you?
Me: Not good, share jatuh la.
B: Oh, didn’t check for some time, been very busy.
Me: Oh, ok ok. I also quite busy.
B: May if i ask you how much is your pay?
Me: er…why do u want to know?
B: Because i think i want to ask my boss for the same salary. I think i’m underpaid.
Me: But you’re in finance industry, and i’m in IT…completely different. How can you compare? Furthermore, everyone will say he is underpaid even though the person is doing nothing and getting paid 10k per month. Hahah. Anyway, if you really want to know, try asking your colleagues or those in your industry. More accurate.
B: Why you are always so serious 1?
Me: Wah, you asked me serious question, of course i have to give you serious reply. You don’t expect me to fool around and said “where got underpaid..mine only 2k laaaa, worse than you laaa”. You won’t believe right?
B: F*****, if you don’t want to tell, then don’t tell la, so rude for what!?
Me: Er…i tell you lo…my salary is **** but bonus < 1 month per year compared to yours which is 6 months per year……see? i really don’t see a point
B Sign Out.
———————-
Aih…donno why nowadays some of my friends are soooooooo stressed up. =_= To be honest, i don’t mind telling people my pay provided i know the person well and provided the way the person asked is OK.
But in the end, i don’t see a point of comparing. If i want to check whether I’m underpaid, i will ask my headhunters/recruiters. They know the job market better than anyone and their information is more reliable than other sources.
To finish this blog post off (i’m down with flu…yea yea..i’m sick again… so i won’t be able to produce any comic today), i’ll show you another conversation between me and my ex-unimate few years back:
S: Yo Alvin, long time no see!
Me: Hi.
S: Mind if i ask you how much you’re earning?
Me: Er…why?
S: Because i think i am underpaid.
Me: Everybody thinks so. I can tell you lo, nothing much, RM 2.3k per month only.
S: Wah.. so low ah…i thought i’m underpaid at RM 3k….Nothing la, never mind liao. Byebye.
Get well soon bro…
I have friends in finance. They get paid very high and some with > 10 months bonus. 1 of them is contemplating of leaving her job for other challenges and of course… more $$$.
I’ve stopped comparing my salary with those in finance. Sure, we started off at about even par but after 5yrs, some of these folks’ salary has bumped up to more than what I made in a year.
If they really want market price, go ask the headhunter.. Kekekee…
Angie Tan
27 May 08 at 7:00 pm
How much is your salary ah?
Meehoon
27 May 08 at 7:43 pm
I have no idea what the working world will be like. But I know in schools friends keep comparing results with each other. So I guess it has become a trend everyone has been trained since young.
xD
- c H i E n -
27 May 08 at 8:07 pm
ok… i am in IT Finance… so i guess i get somewhere in between? but then again, i do know how much i am underpaid~ *sigh*
Mossie`Ol Chin
27 May 08 at 9:58 pm
@ Angie
Yea, exactly. We might’ve started at the same salary range but sooner or later, it’ll be very different. Really no point comparing unless you want to compete with your friends.
Even so, what’s the purpose at the end of the day? Just to make yourself feel better?
@ Meehoon
Wrote there mah. ****
@ chien
).
kiasu syndrome? i used to compare my results also…but in the end, no point la. jst get all As lo if i can (which i couldnt
@ Mossie
what is ur main industry. surely it’s either IT or finance. if you IT in banking industry, u r in IT….so don expect to earn as much as those traders or bankers.
Alvin Lim
27 May 08 at 11:36 pm
“Why do people like to compare salary?” So they can laugh @ you if you earning lesser than them … hehehe … :-> Just teasing…
I hate those people that like to dig out the salary that I’m earning … if you are more than them, they will definitely say something like you are richer than them or whatever …. Otherwise, they will tell you why you earn so low … should go to demand more … but from the comparison, they don’t consider different industry have different pay scale… so they actually are compare Apple with Orange … tell me how to compare :-p
For me, whenever come to this topic, i will immediately change topic … no comment… hehehe…
TZ
28 May 08 at 6:58 pm
hhm…in that case, we shouldn’t ask how much a person earns then~ even uncles and aunties like to ask how much we give our parents when we work? We couldn’t ask back their children because they’re still young, still studying.
ladylike
29 May 08 at 11:24 am
@ TZ
yea, if u r more than them, they will ask you to belanja makan. if you are lower, they will ask u to demand more then disappear without giving u the chance to ask them belanja makan. hahahah.
oh, and if u don wan to belanja them makan, they will say u r rich and stingy.
they just comparing at individual level, not based on industry. just want to make them feel GOOD (if they are paid higher) and feel their complaints are justified (if they are claiming they are underpaid)
@ ladylike
i wouldn’t give a damn to those uncles aunties. i will just say i do give. that’s all. full stop. i don need to report to them about my financial status. =_=
Alvin Lim
29 May 08 at 11:29 am
I think your friend’s just really stressed out la. Some people can’t handle work stress as well as others.
The Big Movie Freak
30 May 08 at 9:01 am
@ The Big Movie Freak
1st one was stressed out. 2nd one was nonsense.
Anyway, even if stressed out, one should be mature enough not to “pass on” your stress to another innocent person, esp your close friends.
Alvin Lim
30 May 08 at 10:42 am
For good times, and bad times, that’s what friends are for.
The Big Movie Freak
30 May 08 at 12:29 pm
@ The Big Movie Freak
I only know never to release your frustration or anger or stress on your friend unless he allows you to do so (esp if it’s not his fault).
Depends on how close you are with the friend.
Alvin Lim
30 May 08 at 6:57 pm
Too sad that we all like to compare, that’s the human nature.
ChampDog
1 Jun 08 at 5:20 pm
@ ChampDog
is it so that we can remain competitive?
Alvin Lim
1 Jun 08 at 5:49 pm
Yes, you can do your own market survey to know where exactly you’re. For that purpose, then it is okay. But for the purpose to make sure your salary is always higher than anybody else, it is really “kia su”. There are always someone getting higher pay than you no matter what.
ChampDog
1 Jun 08 at 7:13 pm
@ ChampDog
I dont blame people for being kiasi, since life is precious. but kiasu…that’s totally different.
Well, we’re living with a lot of Kiasu people.
Alvin Lim
1 Jun 08 at 8:09 pm
I have a friend who keep trying to ask me how much am I earning now… I just answered 2K ++. However, my friend asked me again the same question for the exact figure, well, since my friend so curious about it, I told her. I think this is really a matter of a person’s attitude. They should understand when people is giving a signal of not being comfortable to answer such a question. My point is before the comparison issue arise (whether who is higher or lower), the problem is they DO NOT respect people at all.
confuse
8 Mar 10 at 1:43 am
@confuse
And they think their salary is higher than most of their peers 
Normally in such cases, I will just tell the person off or just give a false figure. They see the need to boost their ego, so they do such things.
Alvin Lim
8 Mar 10 at 8:03 am
haha…
confuse
9 Mar 10 at 1:30 am
@confuse
Alvin Lim
9 Mar 10 at 8:34 am