18. Being selfless is hurting your salary

For this week’s episode, we are sharing Gerta’s recent interview with Brendan Aronson on the Milvet Podcast, where we discussed actionable negotiation tactics tailored for military veterans transitioning into the civilian job market; insights are just as relevant for people from other backgrounds.In this conversation, we cover:How military service shapes your mindset - and why “service before self” must shift to “advocate for yourself” in the civilian job marketThe single biggest leverage point: waiting for, and negotiating on, a written offer, not a verbal handshakeWhy lying about a competing offer backfires (and how to genuinely build FOMO with real options)The power of showing authentic excitement to seal the deal, and not negotiating against yourselfDefining your “walk-away” point and using it to guide every askEquity fundamentals for pre-IPO vs. public companies, and when to lean into cash vs. stockWe also share:Gerta’s journey from Albania to MIT and Harvard negotiation trainingsBrendan’s Marine-to-startup perspective on advocacy and interview prepMust-know pitfalls: dodging illegal salary-history questions and framing your “why”Listen in, sharpen your negotiation edge, and take confident steps toward the next chapter of your career.For more:Book free consultation call with Alex: ⁠Calendly⁠Get our free negotiation worksheet: ⁠YourNegotiations.com⁠Read our weekly newsletter: ⁠Newsletter⁠Instagram: ⁠@yournegotiations⁠LinkedIn: ⁠Gerta⁠ | ⁠Alex