I am looking for a job and I may apply for jobs that are not at the pay level I am at now. It won’t be a lot lower from what I know. The place I am applying has top notch benefits so that helps a lot.
Will this make it harder for me to get an interview - will they just toss my resume out quickly? Or do I need to explain that I am willing to take less pay? I assume that if I do get an interview this question will come up. Part of the reason I am OK with less pay is I will be going into an area that is not directly the same as what I am doing now.
Do you have to tell them your current pay on the application? Surely you don’t have it on your resume…
I’ve been a gov’t employee for decades, so I don’t know what the standard is. I guess I assumed that at most, they’d ask you what kind of money you wanted to make.
They normally will ask what you want to make and also what you make now. Some places make a big deal that you cannot put “open” when they ask what you want to make. I guess they want to make sure they don’t waste time interviewing people who want more than they can pay.
On the application write in the salary box, “Open”. Also lower what you made on previous jobs. It isn’t like they are going to be able to check that. If you were making a lot more money they look at you as a person who won’t be happy making less.
Can I really write “open” even if they say do not write open? To me it seems like if I do not follow their rules they will toss me out. Maybe I can write a range of salary that is broad.
If you know it will be less, make up a good lie. You already have sort of the ammunition to do this. Tell the new job that your current job has told you they plan to reduce health care coverage and you have to make that up out of your own salary. And if you got this job (the one you’re interviewing for) you would come out ahead because you don’t have to bear such a high cost for your insurance.
Unemployment is very high now and what you have to realize is you’re going to be on a list. Chances are there will be somoene else interviewing for that job that has just as good qualifications as you. So ask yourself, why would a company risk hiring you when you may become unable to live with a pay reduction, when they can go with another candidate just as qualified who may be making MORE at this job.
But the fact you have to pay for your insurance is a good cover story and they will most certainly not check that and it’s plausable enough to be true
I would suggest that the way to present this is to say that you look at the whole package rather than just the base salary. Health care has already been mentioned, but commuting time and costs are other good issues.
And I don’t understand ‘Open’; I’ve used ‘Negotiable’. Maybe it’s a U.K. vs U.S. thing?
I would just stay this if they asked for an explanation.
I’ve never been asked what my current salary is, I find that odd. I do slightly inflate my asking salary though, because they always seem to low ball me.
I had one case where they were very big on knowing my current pay. Their stated reason was they did not want to give me too big of a raise. I found that very odd.
Tell them that: their benefits package is terrific and in your life situation that means more than take-home pay.
I’ll disagree with another and say honesty really is best. Where I am now, I took a big pay hit to move to. So much so that they weren’t even going to offer me a position. But I told them up front that the job being flex-time (basically make my own hours as long as the hours get done) was worth ten times the pay to me. I had four aging parents to help look after (now down to two) and most of my things were paid for and mine. A big paycheck I didn’t need - the ability to take Muvver for her blood draws and help my Dad get around was.
This is perfect. I recently changed jobs, taking a position that paid about 4000-5000 less than I was making. In the interview, it came up, and I explained to them that my current job was 40 minutes from my house, took up to 50 hours a week, and stopped me from being able to go back to school easily. It also had very little time off and was a pretty formal environment. The new position was close enough I could ride my bicycle to (about 2 miles each way), a set 40 hours a week, weekends off, four times more vacation time, and I could go back to school while working there rather easily. I also explained that the price of gas cost me so much to get to work, and that if I didn’t spend that money, making less wasn’t an issue, and in actual cash in my pocket, I pretty much broke even with benefits and whatnot.
They seemed to be alright with all of this, and decided to hire me a few hours after the interview. When I’ve interviewed people, it basically comes down to if the job was a good fit or not and if they met the qualifications. If you can justify why you want the job and that you deserve it, the employer usually has no problem.
I know I can explain my reason for less pay in an interview , I was more wondering if it will be a problem before the interview - when they screen out candidates. I don’t know their pay level for these jobs but I suspect they are below where I am now.
My guess–sometimes. Not always, but sometimes. How often will probably depend in part on how much the difference actually is, and a lot will depend on how many people who appear better qualified and more likely to stick around in the position for a while apply.
So try more than one proposed solution to the problem, and don’t stress too much about it.
If you are well qualified or your background would make you an excellent fit for the position, they may be more interested in finding out more about getting you into the position than pay, which may be negotiable. Of course, depending on field, company, or person screening the resumes, this may be completely wrong, also.
Bijou, I would try and find out what people are making at that company for the job you are asking for. I don’t know how you cvould do that unless you know someone working there. Ask them how long they have been theri and what their starting pay was. Adjust your resume to that.