Out of the three sections that TFA is broken down into, two of them deal exclusively with how (and why) to improve your negotiation skills, and the third one is

Out of the three sections that TFA is broken down into, two of them deal exclusively with how (and why) to improve your negotiation skills, and the third one is roughly 50 percent dedicated to the topic. If dedicating 83 percent of your essay to how and why to overcome "nonassertiveness and a dearth of social skills" isn't enough, exactly how much would be enough? I personally found his advice extremely actionable, and I'm keenly aware that I struggle more with being assertive in negotiations than probably everyone I've ever worked with. I'm very sorry if this comes off as insulting, but I have only ever known two developers who really needed much more basic advice than what Patrick is offering here, and I believe that both of them are mentally ill. (One has Asperger's Syndrome, and the other, I strongly suspect, has severe clinical depression which is going undiagnosed and untreated.) Now, if you are in this situation yourself, it is absolutely worth your time to seek treatment, or at least research and practice using coping mechanisms that apply to the issues that you struggle with most. Seriously, just memorizing a few new sets of behaviors and then "executing the program" in appropriate situations can profoundly improve your quality of life, in ways that go far beyond getting a fatter paycheck. If you want to discuss any of this with me further, feel free to contact me at afishionado@gmail.com.