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> The alternative is to do the kind of work very few else can do. I feel like that's a ridiculously arrogant worldview. There are nearly 8 billion people in th

> The alternative is to do the kind of work very few else can do. I feel like that's a ridiculously arrogant worldview. There are nearly 8 billion people in the world. And by definition, half of the population is average/below average. It's supremely arrogant to think that you're vastly above average to the point of being irreplaceable. Additionally, the issue is that given two equally-qualified candidates, one can do the work for less simply owing to the fact that they live in a region where the cost of living is much less. That's the issue I'm struggling to death with.

TameAntelope 4y ago
To put what I said another way, try to do the kind of work that gets snatched up quickly when it's on the market, so the people you're competing with are all otherwise happily employed. It's not as hard as you may think, to be "among the best". Very few people are trying that hard to begin with, so you can make a lot of ground quickly. Also, when 6 out of 8 of those billion people aren't nourished or raised in a way that grows their brain (physically or developmentally), it's not hard to beat them, and then from there other opportunities whittle it down. Also also, in western culture (which is where the jobs I know anything about are), there are huge payoffs for being at least a little arrogant. If you're not arrogant, you're going to lose to someone who is.
- Ansil849 4y ago
  I feel like I'm not articulating my predicament properly. My concern is not a lack of self-confidence, I know that I am good at what at I do and my resume and references reflect that. What I am concerned about is that someone else who is just as good at what they do, but lives in a country with a lower cost of living, then therefore ask for substantially less when asked for their salary expectations, and will therefore likely get the job, which then creates a race to the bottom of sorts, because to stand a chance of being hired I then need to lower my salary expectations to be lower than theirs, and so on, does that make sense?
  - TameAntelope 4y ago
    > someone else who is just as good at what they do, but lives in a country with a lower cost of living Be better than them in some way. Surely no one person is out there who is as good or better at literally everything you bring to the table, yeah?

TameAntelope 4y ago

To put what I said another way, try to do the kind of work that gets snatched up quickly when it's on the market, so the people you're competing with are all otherwise happily employed. It's not as hard as you may think, to be "among the best". Very few people are trying that hard to begin with, so you can make a lot of ground quickly. Also, when 6 out of 8 of those billion people aren't nourished or raised in a way that grows their brain (physically or developmentally), it's not hard to beat them, and then from there other opportunities whittle it down. Also also, in western culture (which is where the jobs I know anything about are), there are huge payoffs for being at least a little arrogant. If you're not arrogant, you're going to lose to someone who is.

Ansil849 4y ago
I feel like I'm not articulating my predicament properly. My concern is not a lack of self-confidence, I know that I am good at what at I do and my resume and references reflect that. What I am concerned about is that someone else who is just as good at what they do, but lives in a country with a lower cost of living, then therefore ask for substantially less when asked for their salary expectations, and will therefore likely get the job, which then creates a race to the bottom of sorts, because to stand a chance of being hired I then need to lower my salary expectations to be lower than theirs, and so on, does that make sense?
- TameAntelope 4y ago
  > someone else who is just as good at what they do, but lives in a country with a lower cost of living Be better than them in some way. Surely no one person is out there who is as good or better at literally everything you bring to the table, yeah?