More jobby thoughts
Jun. 29th, 2006 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danaerisApplication deadlines
If you are hiring someone, and you put an ad with a deadline of July 12 (for instance), do you look at resumes and/or start interviewing people before then?
Loyalty and Ethics
If you say yes to Company A's job offer, and then Company B calls you up and wants to interview you, do you go for it if Company B is cooler than A? At what point do you say, "No, I've got a job" -- never?
Salary Expectations
When a job ad asks you for salary expectations or history, is it a problem to ignore it? That's what I've been doing. I figure if they like me, they'll contact me anyway.
If you DO choose to give out salary expectations, do you primarily base it on how much you need to make to maintain the style of living you want, or do you primarily base it on what you've made in the past, or do you primarily base it on what similar jobs are likely to pay (ie. the market)?
I just did some calculations. Based on the nicer 1-2 bedroom apartments on the market (right at TTC in a nice neighbourhood, with a pool or gym in the building), top cable, internet, cellphone and landline packages, adding in a ttc pass AND car insurance and gas, and assuming a food and other shopping budget of about $50 per day, while saving $500 per month, expenses in TO would come to about 50K, plus any traveling or large purchases I wanted. Of course I would not choose to live like that even if I could afford it. I'd rather have cash to purchase items and go con-hopping and travel and save up lots of money for the future than max all of that stuff out. If I lived more modestly than that but with a little more wiggle room and luxury than I do now, I'd need about 40K. If I want to be just barely squeezing by, then around what I'm paid now (31K).
If you are hiring someone, and you put an ad with a deadline of July 12 (for instance), do you look at resumes and/or start interviewing people before then?
Loyalty and Ethics
If you say yes to Company A's job offer, and then Company B calls you up and wants to interview you, do you go for it if Company B is cooler than A? At what point do you say, "No, I've got a job" -- never?
Salary Expectations
When a job ad asks you for salary expectations or history, is it a problem to ignore it? That's what I've been doing. I figure if they like me, they'll contact me anyway.
If you DO choose to give out salary expectations, do you primarily base it on how much you need to make to maintain the style of living you want, or do you primarily base it on what you've made in the past, or do you primarily base it on what similar jobs are likely to pay (ie. the market)?
I just did some calculations. Based on the nicer 1-2 bedroom apartments on the market (right at TTC in a nice neighbourhood, with a pool or gym in the building), top cable, internet, cellphone and landline packages, adding in a ttc pass AND car insurance and gas, and assuming a food and other shopping budget of about $50 per day, while saving $500 per month, expenses in TO would come to about 50K, plus any traveling or large purchases I wanted. Of course I would not choose to live like that even if I could afford it. I'd rather have cash to purchase items and go con-hopping and travel and save up lots of money for the future than max all of that stuff out. If I lived more modestly than that but with a little more wiggle room and luxury than I do now, I'd need about 40K. If I want to be just barely squeezing by, then around what I'm paid now (31K).
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 04:04 pm (UTC)>If you are hiring someone, and you put an ad with a deadline of July 12 >(for instance), do you look at resumes and/or start interviewing people >before then?
From what i understand about most deadlines, the resumes are not even looked at until the deadline.
>If you say yes to Company A's job offer, and then Company B calls you up >and wants to interview you, do you go for it if Company B is cooler than >A? At what point do you say, "No, I've got a job" -- never?
When i started my current job, a week later another company called me up for an interview, i went, didn't end up getting the job but i figured that i didn't owe the new company any loyalty yet.
>When a job ad asks you for salary expectations or history, is it a problem >to ignore it? That's what I've been doing. I figure if they like me, >they'll contact me anyway.
I will give my salary history but i may not give expectations.
>If you DO choose to give out salary expectations, do you primarily base it >on how much you need to make to maintain the style of living you want, or >do you primarily base it on what you've made in the past, or do you >primarily base it on what similar jobs are likely to pay (ie. the market)?
I usually base it on what i've made in the past but if i've been living beyond my means then my expectations would be higher.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 04:26 pm (UTC)I remember getting some advice about resumes/cover letters early on in my job-hunting life (although I no longer remember who I got the advice from). The advice was to never put salary expectations in the cover letter/application, but to wait until in-person interview to discuss that. Use wiggly phrases like "open to negotiation" or "commensurate with experience" (which is when that phrase came into my vocabulary). :)
If salary history is asked for, I usually just proceed as though they've asked about salary expectations, and give the same vague answer in a cover letter (thus not ignoring it completely, but waiting until the topic can be discussed in person, hopefully). If it's an application, and it's got pre-printed fields for salary history, I usually break down and fill those in, although presumably one could be stubborn and follow through in a similar manner with these, as well.
Good luck finding what you want!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 07:21 pm (UTC)Whether or not a company looks at resumes before the deadline date depends entirely on the company's process. If it's formalized and a unionized place, they won't look at them much before the deadline. They might briefly scan them but they're not sorting at that point. If it's formalized it will be based on a scoring system whether or not you meet their criteria and will be called for an interview, rather than any other method. The less formalized the process is, the more likely they'll start selecting and interviewing before the end-date. The smaller private companies (less than 200) are far less likely to have a formalized process.
If you haven't signed a contract yet, you are still able to back out and make a different decision. Aside from that, it's all your conscience.
Do NOT ignore the salary expectations. They may weed you out if you didn't specify. Base it on what you feel you should earn based on your experince and research into the market for that kind of job. Give them the highest number you feel you should reasonably ask for and negotiate from there. If you ask too low they may just give you that. If you ask too high they may decide to overlook you as being either unrealistic or too expensive.
I hope that helps.
Ethical question?
Date: 2006-06-29 07:44 pm (UTC)My outlook is that until you actually report to work at Company A, (and perhaps even after you've technically warmed a chair there, for a few days at least) you don't really owe them anything.
In the past I've felt reasonably comfortable, when asked to make a commitment to a job offer, in letting them know that I'm "awaiting confirmation" from another job as well. However, that could backfire pretty easily - it's the kind of thing you really have to play by ear.
Likewise, if you accept a job then have a really appealing offer from a competitor, sometimes it's worth it to bring the conflict up to your soon-to-be-employer (of the job you accepted) - their reaction may well steer you in the right direction; they may offer you more incentives to choose them, or they may encourage you to go work for the competitor (in which case you might want to question how secure your position with them would have been, if they can spare you so easily)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 11:04 pm (UTC)2) Absolutely not. When you say 'yes' to a job offer, you've made a promise to that company. Not only is it in bad form to then later decline it (which could leave A in a shitty situation, if other qualified candidates have moved on) but it's also bad business, as companies do talk, and people have long memories about things like that.
3) I generally ignore it, or just write 'negotiable'
no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 04:33 am (UTC)Loyalty/ethics- I would consider how much Company A has invested in me- ie, how much would it hurt them for me to bail and them to have to find a new candidate. I wouldn't leave soon after starting until there was a real problem with Company A, but I've seen plenty of people do it. It also depends on how major the difference is. And of course, if you're a temp (or "contractor" without a real contract), they're not willing to commit to you in the first place...
Many companies won't even read your resume if they asked about salary and you ignored it. This is especially true if they get a lot of applicants. Why waste time on someone who doesn't follow directions?
I base salary expectations on the high end of market value for the job- and if I think that may be a little high for them, or I really like the job description, I specify that it's negotiable.