what employers owe job candidates — and what they don’t

by Alison Green on October 31, 2012

As the tight job market drags on, job searchers are getting increasingly frustrated with what they often perceive as bad treatment from employers toward applicants. And it’s true that in a flooded job market, it’s become all too easy for employers to feel they don’t need to worry about treating applicants well. But at the same time, job seekers aren’t always clear about what employers do owe them when they apply for a job.

Here’s a breakdown of what job seekers should be able to expect from employers – as well as two items that aren’t reasonable to expect.

* Employers should provide a clear, honest description of the role. Employers who make the job sound more glamorous than it really is or who downplay less attractive aspects of the job, like long hours or a difficult boss, are guaranteeing they’ll end up with a resentful, unmotivated employee. Truth in advertising works to everyone’s advantage, because candidates who won’t thrive in the job or the culture can select out before they become disgruntled employees.

* Employers should provide a clear yes or no on your application, particularly if you took the time to interview. Too many employers don’t bother to get back to applicants at all, even after candidates have taken time off work to interview. This is rude and inconsiderate, and it’s simply not that hard to send a quick email letting applicants know where they stand.

* Employers should give job candidates same amount of consideration they’d show any other business contact. This means not canceling interviews at the last minute unless it’s truly an emergency, not insisting candidates to drop everything for an interview tomorrow, and not checking their email in the interview.

* Employers should provide an application process that respects the time of the people they want to hire. But increasingly, companies are asking candidates to complete endlessly long online application forms, often riddled with technical problems. Candidates shouldn’t need to spend an hour wrestling with an onerous application system simply to submit a resume.

* Employers should stop invading candidates’ privacy just because they can. Increasingly, companies are asking candidates to submit their social security number, references, and even driver’s license number with their initial application. There’s no reason to require this kind of information from candidates who haven’t even gone through an initial screening round yet.

* Employers do notowe you feedback on why you were rejected. Candidates often feel companies are acting unfairly by refusing to tell them why they didn’t get the job, or even an interview. But employers aren’t job coaches, and they don’t have time to provide thoughtful feedback to most applicants. (Heck, many of them don’t even do it for their employees, although they should.) While kind interviewers will provide feedback when they can, it’s unrealistic for candidates to expect it.

* Employers don’t owe you a fair chance at the job. Other than not discriminating based on race, sex, religion, or another protected class, hiring isn’t about giving everyone a fair shot at the job. Hiring decisions are made for all sorts of reasons: The job might go to a less qualified internal candidate who happens to be the CEO’s neighbor. You might be rejected because the hiring manager knows your former boss, who disliked you. You might even be rejected without anyone bothering to look at your resume. Expecting fairness from the process will set you up for disappointment.

I originally published this at U.S. News & World Report.

You may also like:
{ 76 comments }

coworkers are joking that I’m pregnant after a couple of absences

by Alison Green on October 30, 2012

A reader writes:

I am a woman (this is relevant information). I have worked in my current office for over 2 years and began shortly after graduating from college. I am one of the younger people in the office.

Last May, I got married. I recently learned from a coworker (female) that three of my colleagues, including my boss, were joking around that I am pregnant. They chalked this up to my not attending an upcoming offsite meeting (I have a previous family obligation); being out for a doctor appointment (an annual physical); and taking one sick day (for a head cold). I was not there to refute them but even if I had been there, I do not know how to handle it.

My workplace is small and has no HR department. What is the best way to handle these kind of remarks? My workplace has a boys’ club feel that seems to encourage that kind of joke.

Ugh, they’re stupid.

It’s pretty likely that they genuinely didn’t mean anything by it and were just being dumb, but it really is dumb.

It’s up to you if you want to address it or not. Personally, I’d let it go unless they say something similar when you’re around, because the reality is that sometimes people make stupid jokes and the best thing to do if you want to be treated as a peer is to have a reasonably thick skin. You’d certainly be in the right to speak up, but that doesn’t mean that you’d ultimately be helping yourself, if it causes them to see you as overly sensitive.

But if they say it in front of you at some point, I’d tell them to cut it out. My wording would depend on the office culture and your relationship with the people doing the joking. Depending on what type of relationship you have with them, I’d say, “That topic isn’t up for speculation” or “Can you guys cut that out? Thanks.”  If they protest that they’re just joking and you should lighten up, reply to that with, “I know you didn’t mean any harm, but joking about women in that way isn’t really appropriate at work.”

You can also enlist the coworker who told you about this in responding on the spot if it happens again when you’re not around.

And frankly, if you know any of these guys well enough and are comfortable doing it, you could also take them aside and educate them on why this isn’t appropriate. You could explain that interpreting women’s behavior through a particular lens just because they’re women is offensive, particularly in a professional context. And you also could explain that joking about someone being pregnant is always a bad idea because you never know if that person might be struggling with fertility issues — or, in fact, might actually be pregnant and not ready to share it. You’d be doing them and everyone else a favor if you’re willing to educate them about this … but it totally depends on your relationship with them and whether you’re comfortable doing that.

Read an update to this letter here.

You may also like:
{ 213 comments }

things you’re wondering about how to negotiate salary

by Alison Green on October 30, 2012

Here’s an interview I did with Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, talking about how to negotiate salary, common misconceptions people have about the process, how to negotiate for an internal promotion, and more.

You may also like:
{ 27 comments }

my boss won’t do anything about a coworker with attendance problems

by Alison Green on October 30, 2012

A reader writes:

I am the office manager for a small business. Part of my job is to keep attendance for payroll. The previous office manager had problems with the staff turning in approved PTO request forms in time. I joined last year, and I inherited a mess. The employees weren’t notifying their managers when they were taking time off and managers weren’t doing anything about it. There weren’t accurate records of how much time off some employees took.

I had a meeting with the managers and had some success in collecting approved PTO forms, with the exception of one person. This particular employee has been with the company since the day the company started, 15 years ago. She was a successful salesperson and she did most of the work to acquire one of the company’s most profitable accounts.

When the company first started, there were only 4 employees so there weren’t any formal procedures for taking time off. She seems to be stuck in the past. She is consistently late for work. Business hours start at 9 a.m. and she shows up whenever she wants. Sometimes she does not show up at all and does not call or email the office. Other employees have commented that she comes in whenever she wants and that she acts like the “Queen Bee.” I have reminded her directly regarding the company’s policy on attendance and referenced the employee handbook. I even offered her a different work schedule of 10 am to 6 pm but she is still late.

She reports to the president of the company. I have discussed this matter with him. I told him that he needs to reiterate the importance of asking for time off in advance and coming in on time. He has only asked her to let me know if she will be late. When he is out of town, she does not show up and emails me after lunch, telling me something came up and will work from home. We don’t have a work from home policy.

I feel like my hands are tied and the boss won’t do anything. I think he won’t fire her because of her influence in our industry as well as her tenure. I can’t write her up even though I have suggested this to the president. I want to take a different action to resolve this but I don’t know what else to do. What do you suggest?

Stop worrying about it. It doesn’t sound like this is your job.

Your job is to keep attendance for payroll. It’s not to write people up or set their hours or discipline them for not working specific hours or stop them from working from home. Those things are the job of their managers.

More importantly, it also sounds like you’re way out of alignment with the company president about what matters to the company. You’re wondering why he won’t fire a top salesperson for working a flexible schedule, when he doesn’t even seem to object to flexible schedules?

Since you’ve brought your concerns to his attention and he’s declined to do anything about it, that means that one of the following two things is happening:

1. The president doesn’t care because she does good work, and he’s more interested in the results she produces than in how she handles her hours. This is a very common attitude, particularly when dealing with senior-level people, and in fact it’s a good one –– good managers focus on results over face time. Many high performers keep their own hours and telecommute when the work allows it, and many companies welcome it, because (a) these are benefits that attract and retain high performers and (b) results are what matter.

2. Alternately, maybe the president does care, but isn’t willing to do anything about it because he’s not sufficiently assertive. If this is the case, though, it’s still not your problem. He’s her boss, and the way he manages her is up to him.

Now, if her habits are causing real problems for you, then you can certainly bring those problems to the president’s attention. But it needs to be framed in terms of the impact on you or the office’s work — not in terms of her not following the office rules, because he’s already shown that he doesn’t consider that sufficient cause for him to take action. And if you’re not able to point to specific impacts on you, and the issue is just that it seems unfair that she’s not following the same rules that everyone else is following, then it’s time to let this drop entirely. Because again, you’re not her manager, and this isn’t your job to act on.

Ultimately, as the office manager, you can point out problems and suggest solutions, but you can’t tell other managers how to manage their staff. If the president of the company doesn’t have a problem with a top salesperson having this type of flexibility, you shouldn’t have a problem with it either.

By continuing to pursue this, you risk looking like you don’t understand what’s important to the business, and that’s a much more serious issue than someone coming in late and still getting all their work done.

You may also like:
{ 103 comments }

tiny answer Tuesday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

by Alison Green on October 30, 2012

This post was set to automatically publish since I may or may not have power right now, due to the storm. (How’s that for preparation though?)

It’s tiny answer Tuesday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go…

1. Do we have to let this employee return to the office to clean out her desk?

We’ve got an awkward situation and could sure use some guidance. One of our employees went out on a 4-month leave of absence to have a baby. One week before she was scheduled to come back to work, she called in and told us she decided not to return to work. With only one week’s “notice” (or lack thereof) she has put our firm in a very difficult position. And, of course, we’re all very upset that she did not provide more notice.

My question is, what are her “rights” as far as coming back and cleaning out her desk? Would it be customary for someone in this situation to return during normal business hours? I believe that it will be disruptive to our office and to our staff if she comes in when we’re trying to work and it could potentially become hostile. I’m hoping the boss could meet her after hours and take care of her remaining items but I don’t know what she is entitled to.

She’s not legally entitled to return during business hours if you don’t want her to. If you want, you can box up her things for her and mail them to her, deliver them to her, or have her come by at a mutually-agreed-upon time to pick them up. Any of those are perfectly reasonable, and not uncommon. However, I’m curious why you’re worried that it could become hostile if she returned during regular hours. After all, people leave jobs. Sometimes they leave them in irresponsible ways. It’s generally not personal, and you shouldn’t make this hostile. Get her stuff back to her however is most convenient, but leave any anger out of it.

2. My manager doesn’t ask me to cover for her when she’s away

I am an assistant to a manager. Lately my manager has not asked me to cover for her position when she is away. It is absolutely clear that my experience and qualifications are far ahead of the person she chose to cover for her. I feel that she has a personal issue with me because her decision is not a decision that shows good business practice. I have already asked for an explanation previously and I did not receive a response that was valid. Please advise if there is anything I can do.

No. Your boss can decide who covers for her without having to justify her decision to you, and it very well may be made for reasons other than experience. For instance, it might be that she trusts the other person’s judgment more, or feels she has a better rapport with other employees, or all kinds of other reasons. It’s your boss’s call.

It’s reasonable to ask her if there’s any reason you’re not asked to cover for her, but she doesn’t owe you an explanation. If you’re concerned that there are issues between the two of you aside from this, it would be smart to bring those to the surface and try to resolve them, but I wouldn’t keep focusing on this.

3. Time clock clocks us in and out incorrectly

I work for a periodontist in Massachusetts. They have us clock in, but if we clock in at 7:30, the timekeeper autos to 7:45. For lunch, it is put in 12-1 automatically even if we work into our lunch. If we stay past 5 due to patients, sometimes til 6 due to the doctor running late, we are still clocked out at 5. The periodontist’s manager is salaried so it doesn’t matter to her. I have mentioned to her that this is not correct, and she states that he has been fined before and won’t do anything about it. If we run a errand for work, do we need to clock out?

If you’re non-exempt, this is illegal. You must be paid for all time worked (including running errands for work). If you want to take action, you’d go to the Massachusetts Department of Labor.

4. Explaining long-term travel when applying for jobs

I was laid off at the end of February from my full-time nonprofit job. I chose to spend some time overseas visiting family and backpacking. It’s been about three months since I returned to the country and have actually started looking for a job again, but I still haven’t found anything full-time. Should I say anything about spending time out of the country in my resume or cover letter? I feel like I need to justify the long-term unemployment, but am not sure how to do it.

Yes, you should explain it at least in your cover letter, and possibly on your resume too. It shouldn’t be anything lengthy — just a sentence that lets employers know how you were spending that time.

5. Listing current but unrelated experience on a resume

I have recently decided to take on a part-time retail position to fill a gap on my resume. I want to list the position to show that I am doing something during my period of now underemployment, but I don’t want it to take up too much space on my resume. I worry that it will take away from my relevant experience to the full-time positions I am applying for. What is the best way to show that you are currently working, without making it stand out too much? Is it okay to just list the title and dates for this, or does it have to mirror the rest of my resume with duties and accomplishments?

No, it’s completely fine to just list the title and dates. You can also kick off your resume with a “relevant experience” section, and then list this in an “other experience” section after it.

6. Employer hasn’t been paying my commission

My employer offered me a position that I accepted that included salary plus commission. I have been with the company just over 1-1/2 years. I have received only two commission checks that are supposed to be paid quarterly. They are 1 year behind in paying out the commissions. Are employers required to make these payments timely?

It depends on what kind of agreement you have with them. If you have a written agreement that clearly spells out when they’ll pay the commission and under what circumstances, and those circumstances have been met, you probably have a wage claim. If it was left less formal than that, you probably don’t have much recourse, unfortunately.

7. I don’t want to carry my company cell phone to church

Can my boss write me up because I will not carry my company cell phone to church? I am an hourly employee in Florida, at a large company with 500-700 employees.

This probably falls under your employer’s legal obligation to provide you with reasonable religious accommodation, unless this would cause them “undue hardship,” which I doubt it would at their size.

You may also like:
{ 111 comments }

do you have to be paid if your office is closed due to weather?

by Alison Green on October 29, 2012

With pretty much everyone on the east coast expecting to lose power due to the storm, a few people have asked me whether their employers have to pay them for days that their office is closed because of the weather or lack of power.

Here’s the answer:

If you’re a non-exempt employee (eligible for overtime): If your office closes because of the storm and thus you don’t work on those days, your employer is not required to pay you for those days. Some employers still will, but the law doesn’t require it; it just depends on what your employer’s policy is.

If you’re an exempt employee (salaried and not eligible for overtime): If you work any portion of the week, you have to be paid your full salary for the week … even if your office closes because of the storm. They can, however, require you to use a vacation day for that day. (But if you’re all out of vacation days, they can’t dock your pay to cover it.) Smart employers will not make you use vacation time for these days, but they’re not all smart.

What if your office is open but you can’t get to work because of the weather? If you’re non-exempt, nothing changes. If you’re exempt, however, it’s a little different:  In this case, you’re not considered “ready, willing, and able to work” — even though that’s not within your control — and so your employer can dock your pay if you miss a full day. If you only miss the part of the day, they can’t dock any pay; that’s part of being exempt. But most employers will let you use vacation time for these days, and some won’t charge your accrued leave time at all.

So the answer, as it so often does, comes down to whether you’re exempt or non-exempt. Employers should, however, think about the morale problem they’re almost certainly causing if they pay exempt workers but not non-exempt ones, as well as a host of other morale issues associated with all of this.

You may also like:
{ 149 comments }

8 workplace rights you might not know you have

by Alison Green on October 29, 2012

As I’ve noted here a lot, people often think that they have legal rights at work that they don’t actually have — many people mistakenly think that it’s illegal to be fired for no reason, or that it’s illegal for their boss to be a jerk to them, or that it’s illegal for a past employer to give them a bad reference. None of those things are illegal … but you do have some rights at work that you might not know about.

Here are eight of the most important workplace rights you might not realize you have.

1. Your employer can’t withhold your paycheck for poor performance. No matter how poorly you perform, your employer can’t dock your salary. Make an error that costs the business thousands of dollars? Break an important piece of equipment? These are costs of doing business for your employer, and it can’t come out of your paycheck. Of course, if you really mess up, you might get fired, but you still must be paid for all the hours you worked.

2. You must receive your paycheck promptly. Most state laws dictate how soon you must receive your paycheck after a pay period ends. In some states, your employer may even be required to pay you additional money on top of your wages as a penalty if your paycheck is late.

3. Whether you’re eligible for overtime pay isn’t up to your employer; the government decides. The federal government divides all types of jobs into one of two categories: exempt and non-exempt. If your job is categorized as non-exempt, your employer must pay you overtime (time and a half) for all hours you work above 40 in any given week. Your categorization is not up to your employer; it’s determined by government guidelines.

4. Your employer cannot ask, require, or even allow you to work off the clock. If you’re a non-exempt employee, you must be paid for all time worked. You can’t waive this right. Moreover, your employer cannot give you comp time in lieu of overtime pay.

5. Your employer can’t stop you from discussing your salary with your coworkers. The National Labor Relations Act says that employers can’t prevent employees from discussing wages among themselves. Many employers have policies against this anyway, but these policies violate the law.

6. Similarly, your employer can’t stop you from discussing your working conditions with your coworkers. Here again, the National Labor Relations Act protects you. The reason for the law is that employees wouldn’t be able to organize if they were forbidden from talking with each other about such important issues.

7. Promises made in your employee handbook are often binding. Circumstances very, but in many cases, courts have ruled that promises made in employee handbooks are legally binding. In particular, pay attention to whether your employer writes that it “will” or “shall” take particular actions; those statements are more likely to be binding than statements that your employer “may” or “can” do something.

8. Your employer can’t pay you as a contractor while treating you like an employee. If your employer controls when, where, and how you work, the government says you’re an employee – and your company needs to pay your payroll taxes and offer you the same benefits it offers to regular employees.

You may also like:
{ 213 comments }

should you go into the office during severe weather?

by Alison Green on October 29, 2012

A reader writes:

What do you recommend employees do during a storm like Sandy? I live in Boston and rely on public transportation. The MBTA (and the governor and mayor) recommend everyone who can stay home and off the streets. The MBTA is running service now, but has issued warnings that service may end or get interrupted later in the day. I think I could get to work, but I’m worried that I won’t be able to get home easily. My manager emailed our team to say she’s working from home and to use our judgement about getting to the office. I decided to stay home and I’m just curious what your thoughts are on the matter.

Obviously the office is open (to what extent staff is actually there, I’m not sure). I’m mostly curious because I’m new to the company (started in the spring) and corporate culture in general. Previously I worked at a nonprofit (in the arts) and that company always stayed open during severe weather, so I don’t think I have a good gauge about what to do.

Stay home.

When your city is telling people to stay off the streets, you stay off the streets. They issue those warnings for a reason. People are going to get killed in this storm, and in many or all cases, it’s going to be because they were on the streets.

You should also take your manager’s words at face value when she tells you to use your judgment about whether or not to come in. And note that she herself is working from home.

Reasonable employers (and even many/most that normally aren’t especially reasonable) do not expect people to put themselves in harm’s way to get to work. Your employer is sending you a very clear message. Believe it!

I’m locked in my house and not going out until Wednesday, and I hope everyone else on the east coast will do the same. Join me in wrapping yourself in a blanket, drinking tea on your couch, and preparing to read books by flashlight if your power goes out. That’s the only sensible thing to do sometimes.

You may also like:
{ 221 comments }

how can I find a boring job?

by Alison Green on October 29, 2012

Remember the recent letter from someone who didn’t want to sit in an office all day and and stare at a computer? A commenter on that post asked a question quite different from what we normally hear here:

After literally many years of searching online for a job I might not totally despise … I’ve heard time and time again about these jobs (that people hate) where they just sit in front of a computer doing the same thing every day. My question is: What the heck are these jobs and how do you get them?

I found this blog by doing a google search on “job where you can just sit at a computer all day.” And just like every other website I see on the subject, people seem to hate these jobs and want something different … I would LOVE to just do routine work at a computer. But no one ever seems to say what exactly these jobs are and how a person can get them.

I’ve asked the question before, of course, but am usually told IT jobs, programmer, etc. But the problem is those jobs require degrees in which you need to be able to pass courses such as Calculus and Physics. I’ve tried that route and am just not good enough at higher level maths and math-based sciences. The person in this article landed a “boring” job that was just sitting at a computer all day with just a History degree…how? What kind of job was that? I might be willing to go get a History degree if I could get a job like that.

I’ve heard data entry tossed around as well, but have never been given a clear answer on what’s required to get a job like that and where those jobs are located. I’ve never seen a job listed as “data entry” in the area I live. I assume most jobs that would require that type of work are lumped in with general office duties that are performed by secretaries. Are there such jobs where you’re just typing stuff into a computer and not having to answer phones, etc. as well? Are those jobs just located in bigger companies in large cities? At this point I may even be willing to move to get one of these so-called “boring” jobs.

Well, there’s a difference between jobs where you’re in front of a computer all day and jobs where you’re in front of a computer all day doing routine work. Lots of professional jobs (maybe the majority) involve sitting at a computer most of the day, but many aren’t especially routine — although plenty of people who have them still call them boring.

If what you’re looking for is routine work where you don’t have to problem solve, interact much with others, or deal with much variety, your options are more limited.

Data entry would indeed fit the bill, and there are lots of jobs focused on it (transcription, medical coding, incoming mail processing, and lots more). To do data entry, you need to be a reasonably fast typist, accurate, and uptight about details … and to get a data entry job, you need to demonstrate that you’re all those things, plus professional and easy to work with. I’m not sure why you’re not seeing those jobs — I just Googled “data entry job” and tons of listings came up, although of course I don’t know where you live.

But it would help to know more about your background. What’s your work history? What are you good at and not so good at? Why do you want this type of job?

Meanwhile, maybe readers will weigh in with details about boring jobs they’ve had and they got them … but to really help, we need to know more about you.

You may also like:
{ 138 comments }

short answer Sunday: 4 short answers to 4 short questions

by Alison Green on October 28, 2012

It’s short answer Sunday — four short answers to four short questions. (Yes, only four! I’ve cleared out my backlog of short questions.)

Here we go…

1. Applying with an employer where you have a bad internal reference

Recently, an employer for whom I interned early in my graduate degree informed its former interns of a new, available position. The job sounds great, and I plan to apply.

The problem is that I have a bad internal reference. As I was searching for a later internship, a prospective employer asked another reference if I was immature, citing concerns of another reference. Once I figured out who it was, I removed him from my reference sheet. I was upset, however, because neither he, nor the intern coordinator, ever mentioned these concerns to me. In fact, they only told me that I was doing great work. The deeper truth, however, is that I was a bad fit for the department. I was less experienced than their typical intern and a bad cultural fit, with a supervisor (the reference in question) with a short fuse. On a personal level, I’m willing to chalk it up to a bad few weeks in the department, made worse by the problems I discovered, but on a professional level, I’m sure it inhibited my ability to put my best foot forward in this eight-week internship.

The current position is in a different department, with a different boss, and I’m a different (more experienced, talented) employee. How can I stop this old conflict from coming back to haunt me?

You might not be able to. If that person’s reference was negative enough to be a deal-breaker for a different employer, it’s probably going to pose a pretty big obstacle here, especially since (a) people are generally more candid with their own employer than with outside reference-checkers, and (b) a reference from a current employee generally carries a lot of weight. It might simply be unlikely that you’d be able to return to this employer any time soon, unfortunately. That might seem unfair, but hiring isn’t about being fair — it’s about them choosing the person who they’re most confident will be the right fit for them.

2. How long does it take to create a new position?

How long does creating a new position take? My friend said at least two weeks, why all this time? It is a multinational company and this is a contract position.

It varies widely by companies. At some places, two weeks might be enough — at other places, it could take six months or more. It depends on several factors, including how much bureaucracy they have, how committed they are (or aren’t) to pushing it through quickly, and what other priorities they have going on. But if you’re in the running for this new job, it’s fine to ask for a sense of their timeline for being able to move forward.

3. Did I shoot myself in the foot with this salary negotiation?

I think I “shot myself in the foot” when accepting my new job. At the beginning of the week, I had a final interview with Company A, which went well and I was given an offer on the spot. They allowed me one week think it over.

Two weeks prior, my former employer (Company B), who I had interned for in the spring and was liked so much that I was kept on for a few additional months of contract work, told me to keep them updated on my search and that there was a possible position creation at the beginning of the year (contingent upon the organization receiving a grant). Flash forward to the Monday of the interview, I updated my previous employer and within the afternoon I was talking with them about returning. Three days later, I was given a verbal offer over the phone from them, and while the salary was less than Company A, it wasn’t bad. I expressed that Company A’s offer was higher, but also that I really liked their organization. When I received the final written offer, the salary was a little lower than I had anticipated but still comfortable.

I signed and accepted the offer and am now wondering if I should have done something differently. Do they think less of me for not negotiating more, and is there anything I can do now or in the future to ensure the salary is fair? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Side note that I think is important, both organizations are nonprofits, Company B is in my top 3 organizations to work for EVER, and Company B never expressed if they received the grant.

They don’t think less of you for not negotiating. Lots of people don’t negotiate. Plus, if you were an intern there recently, you’re presumably not at a point in your career where you have a lot of negotiating power anyway … and besides, it actually sounds like you did negotiate, by responding to their first offer with a statement that your other offer was higher. That’s negotiation.

As for doing anything now or in the future to ensure the salary is fair … I’m not sure what you’re thinking of, but it’s basically moot, because you’ve already accepted this salary. If you were uncertain about it, the time to deal with that was before you accepted. At this point, you’ve already accepted it, and you can’t go back on that.

4. Should I reapply for a similar job?

Should I re-apply for a very similar posted job? A company posted a job last month, I applied, and now a new posting is up in which the job is permanent and the salary is $600 more. (The previous job posting stated that the job is temporary but there would be a possibility of extension.) Same job title, same qualifications. I didn’t hear back after applying for the first posting. Does it look desperate / overeager to apply for this new posting?

No. You have nothing to lose, so you might as well apply again. It starts to look bad when you’re applying over and over, but twice — for two slightly different positions — is fine.

You may also like:
{ 17 comments }