For various reasons, it has come to my attention that my current job is not working out. To make a long story short, here are A FEW of the reasons why:
The money sucks. After taxes and whatnot, My salary evens out to about $10.50/hr.
My personality doesn’t fit in so well with the higher-ups.
I’m bored out of my face.
It makes me substantially less available for auditions than I would like to be.
The hours are long (my schedule is roughly 1 hour more than everyone else in the office, and my pay is much lower from what I understand), making it harder for me to take the classes I want to.
I know I can get another waitressing job in about two seconds if I want to, so I’m not overly concerned about employment.
I’ve approached the HR manager and discussed the money problem with her, explaining that while I understand I am new, the hours + the pay = crap. (I said this in a much nicer way). She has informed me that the Big Boss will have a meeting with me on Monday to “discuss” my salary.
So how do I prepare for this meeting? What do I say? As I said, I’m new (I’ve only been here 4 1/2 weeks) so I don’t have a whole heckuvalot to show them re: “proof”. I DO know I have them over a barrel, because they have no one else who can do the job and had a very hard time finding a good receptionist.
The HR person asked me if, should they give me a substantial amount more money, I would be willing to make more of a commitment to the firm should I get an acting gig or something. I said no, (I gotta be honest) that would be like turning down the lottery.
Basically, I’m fully prepared to concede defeat and give my notice if they don’t pay up. But what should I say/prepare for this meeting that will bring about the best results either way?
I agree. If you accepted the position at the current rate and conditions, a raise is earned after you’ve been there awhile and proven your worth. I’ve been at my current position a year, and am just now about to receive my first raise - and I worked pretty hard for it.
None of the reasons you gave are the company’s responsibility.
Were you not there when they hired you and went over all of this? And just what makes you think it’s so difficult to replace a receptionist? I bet there are a few dozen people just waiting to send in their resume for a gig that pays over $10 an hour for being bored out of your face. You should quit now if you’re this unhappy only one month in.
Maybe if I give more info I’ll get more helpful responses.
All right. First of all, this firm has a very strict idea as to what they want in a receptionist. They interviewed a whole bunch of people before me, and even hired someone they ended up firing because they didn’t fit with what they wanted. I was recruited from my old job by the HR person here. There was a bit of confusion regarding my hours, but by the time I realized this I was already here for my first day.
Basically, the reason I’m starting this thread is exactly what you all said. Of COURSE I don’t “deserve” a raise; I’m brand new. However, I can’t see why I’d stay here if I’d make more money waitressing. Which is exactly what I told the HR person. In fact, I went in there to give my notice. It was the HR person that said “Well, if the issue is money, maybe that’s something we can fix” and set up the appointment with the Big Boss.
What I’m asking isn’t “Do you think I deserve a raise”, it’s “How can I best approach this meeting on Monday for the best possible results”.
“I’m making less money than I was expecting, due to some confusion over my hours. My budget is very tight, and frankly I’d make more money waiting tables. I think I’m going to have to go back to waiting tables if the company can’t adjust my salary upwards.”
Honestly, my response, were I the person you’re talking to, would be: “Good luck waiting tables.” But if you think they need or want you enough to ante up some more money to make you stay, you probably can’t do any better than just telling them the truth. The “I need more money” part of the truth, that is; not the “I’m bored out of my gourd” part.
Yeah, I’m for sure going to say that. And like I said, I went in there and gave my notice to the HR Manager. I definitely wasn’t expecting them to say “Well, let’s talk about your salary, then”. Which is why I’m sort of thrown for a loop as to how to deal with this.
Well it’s relevant because this is the sort of thing you should have figured out when you were first hired. Now that you’ve accepted a certain pay, and admitted you have no particular loyalty to the company (which I don’t blame you for, but it doesn’t exactly inspire the “I want to give this person lots and lots of money” neurological pathways to fire in the brain), you will have a tough time of getting more.
I’m sure your boss will ask you “Why didn’t you bring this issue up when we first told you what the salary was?” or something to that effect. If you admit that you are unhappy with the job, then more money will not solve that problem and your boss will know this. Even if he does give you a raise at that point, it’s only to sedate you while they continue looking for your replacement.
I vote to cut CarlyJay some slack. She’s new & she may not have negotiated a good deal from the start. Management may know that, and may now be trying to step up to keep her from leaving. Still, will more money in a job that is essentially a very marginal fit for her, make her happy? CarlyJay, you’ll still be bored, personality clashes will still be there, and if you take the money you’ll be expected to conform more fully to office expectations. Are you OK with this? Is it a trade off that you can live with? Also, can you reduce your hours to part-time so yu have more ‘audition time’ availability?
“I really enjoy working here. The people are great, and even in the short time I have been here I can tell the company really takes care of its own and rewards loyalty and hard work. I would very much like to continue working here and contribute to the successful envrionment that has been established. It’s just that, between this job and out side commitments I dont have the time for a second job, so i really need to find something that can pay me a little more to help…”
And add school loans, parents, current study classes, whatever. The important part is to place emphasis on how you enjoy your job and the company, and would very much love to stay. If you put it out there as an ultimatium, expect to be a waitress next week!
Thanks, Count Blucher, I was sort of starting to feel like I was a total jerk/idiot for agreeing to go in for the meeting, even though I never intended to ask for a raise and this was MY COMPANY’S idea.
hehe… Dont let the sharks get to you. This place prides itself on fighting ignorance, and they take every opportunity to do so. It’s not malicious (well mostly not), it can just be over done on occasion.
Come back and let us know how it goes with the Big Boss!
I’m still not sure why a starting receptionist position is worth considerably more than what you’re being paid. You mention it amounts to $10.50 per hour “after taxes and whatnot” taxes so it sounds like you’re getting paid a gross salary $12- 14 an hour or 24,000 to $ 28,000 per year which is not bad starting money to be a receptionist.
I’m not saying you personally are not worth more, I’m just curious as to what the receptionist skills are you are bringing to the table that makes this so.
And Astro: See, I can’t argue with you or give you any reasons why I, as a receptionist, or why receptionists in general ought to be paid X number of dollars. All I can say is that:
I gave my notice today, reason being that my hourly wage is less now than it was as a waitress, so I wanted to go back to waitressing.
My HR Manager responded by saying, "Well, we like you. We don’t want you to leave. We can discuss your salary. I will set up an appointment for you for tomorrow.
As a result, I’m going in for a meeting to discuss this, and I’m nervous. I wasn’t expecting a meeting.
I know that the person I am replacing was making somewhere in the $20/hr range. I also know that I am more efficient than she is, and I am doing the job better than she did in many ways after only one month’s worth of work.
Regardless, I want to explain AGAIN that in no way do I necessarily feel entitled to X number of dollars. I just tried to give my notice so I could go do more financially profitable work, and they came back saying they would like to negotiate.
It has nothing to do with “How Much Do You Think Receptionists Are Worth?” or anything. I’m sure we could all get into a big ol’ argument about how much every job is worth. How much is an administrative job worth? How much is an IT job worth? How much is a teacher worth? Is so-and-so the carpenter overpaid? But frankly, I don’t want to get into that.
All I want is advice on how to best handle this meeting I wasn’t expecting.
Frankly, as someone who has been in a similar situation, I can tell you that if they do decide to give you more money they will start expecting you to jump through all sorts of hoops that weren’t there before. After all, they ponied up the dough, now it’s your turn to reciprocate. Besides, if you don’t like your job now you won’t like it with a higher paycheck. If you would rather wait tables this must be a horrid job indeed and you might be better off leaving it. Maybe use this weekend to apply for waitress jobs? Being happy is worth far more than the raise they would give you.
I do not mean to sound ugly, but if I was your boss, and your personality didn’t fit in with the admins, and I was mindful that you’d drop me like a wad of live hornets the second an audition came up your way, I’d quietly find an excuse to fire you while quietly looking for your replacement… and the second I had your replacement landed…
… adios, muchacha.
Well, actually, I personally wouldn’t do that, but I’ve worked for any number that would.
I would think that you are in the proverbial catbird seat here. They need you but you don’t need them. It seems like a perfect opportunity to re-negotiate your employment terms.
For the meeting, I would be completely frank with the boss. Tell them exactly what you told the HR director (since they will have passed it on anyway), that you had no intention of asking for a raise and that you do not have any other job offers. You were simply giving notice so that you could pursue a better paying job. Be prepared to state exactly how much more money you expect to make as a waitress. They may offer to match that, make you a counter-offer or ask if you would be willing to stay long enough to train a replacement. Whatever the outcome, you are no worse off than you were before.
You need to come up with a good explanation of why you thought this job would pay better than it does. Detail what was done or said to lead you to believe this.
You also have to have a minimum raise amount in mind when you go in.
Frankly it sounds to me if you ought to quit if it’s that bad in many ways.
And I’d keep mum about that “audition” stuff, as I imagine if you got a role, there’s a good chance you’d quit your job for it. No one would want to hire you on that basis.
