Here’s a somewhat sticky situation I need some advice on:
I’m currently job hunting. I had a couple callbacks a couple weeks ago, and the people said they’d continue narrowing down the list, and if I “made the list” they’d call me back soon to schedule an interview.
In the meantime, I’ve had another interview and gotten an offer. I have a deadline for that decision.
Now, if I get callbacks, I’d really like to be able to evaluate them in comparison with this other offer. I know you’re not really supposed to discuss salary until the offer is made. Is it a complete faux pas to even ask, and put it in the context of wanting to fairly evaluate their potential position against the offer I already have?
I don’t think it’s bad form to ask “Can you tell me what the salary range for the position is?” early on.
I was at a job making $50K/yr looking for another that paid more. I applied for another and when they called me offering an interview I immediately asked over the phone what the salary range was. $27-$35K. I politely declined the interview and saved myself some time as well as theirs.
I disagree. I you won’t work for under $X and their top offer is 2/3X, then continuing to talk and/or negotiate is wasting your time and theirs. I’ve always asked at the first interview when I was being interviewed, and when I’ve done interviews, I always answered that question, even if I had to do it with a range.
Just to clarify…you have been offered a position, and are waiting to see if a couple of other places will call you in for an interview?
Bird in the hand, IMHO. If you want, make a quick call to follow up, but I wouldn’t waste too much time. If worst comes to worst, and you start the new job, and Company X calls you in for an interview and offers you the sun, the moon, the stars, and naked dancing girls of your choice, you can always tell the new employer that something came up and you’re going to have to leave.
It happens. Not a lot, but it does happen…new employees who barely have time to learn where the bathroom is decide it’s not what they want and jump ship.
That’s true, and that’s what I did (option 3), it just seemed to go against what I’d heard (which is not universal, obviously) and seemed to catch the person off-guard as well (which in turn reinforced the notion that it “just isn’t done”).
I’m fairly certain I’ll take the offered position – but another twist is that it’s a bit different job than the others. The others are actually what I intended to do and what my experience is in. The offered one is in the same field, but different – not what I intended to do and not something I have much experience in (but am capable of), but it’s a very exciting proposition and the location is great as well. That’s also the reason the “bird in the hand” thing is more complicated – any of these jobs will require relocation, and I’d really rather not have to move twice.
Anyhow, it seems my thought to not discuss salary early is not exactly as standard as I’d thought. I’ll ask if I get any other callbacks. Thanks for all the help, everyone. (Feel free to keep contributing thoughts, I’ll still be reading)
My general rule is if you are unemployed, take the first offer you get. If you get a better offer a week later, then take it. Just tell them it wasn’t what you expected.
I always like to know the job description and salary range before I waste my time with an interview. If they say something like “they are hiring for all levels and will decide once they meet you” that means they are just hiring bodies to fill some short-term demand. It can also mean their recruiting procedures are bullshit and they don’t know what the fuck they are doing.
If relocation is an issue, see if you can push your start date far enough away to hear back from the other offers. Tell them you are still looking for a place or whatever. If they insist on having you start immediately, once again, that is usually a sign that they are hiring for some short-term demand.
When I was doing a lot of hiring, I really used to hate people who did that. I’d lose other qualified candidates, spend a bunch of HR time on paperwork, set up benefits needlessly, buy office supplies, order business cards, and waste a week of training time. Doing what you’re describing can cost a company a lot of money and it’s an incredibly rude and thoughtless thing to do.
Well…no offense but…Jimmy cracked corn…I have to do what’s best for my career.
I’m not saying you should do this on a whim, but I’ve been in situations where I started a job and was basically left in a room for days with no instruction or contact. People kept waiting to see if I would beat the current record for someone quiting after three days (day aint over yet). And actually, the only reason I didn’t was because I didn’t get an offer from the other company I was interested in.
The point is, first impressions are important and if you run your business like a bunch of clowns who don’t care about investing in new employees, they will second guess their decision to work for you.
Okay, but you’re conflating the clowns here with the numbnuts that won’t provide a solid salary range prior to the interview and the people that have actually made the OP an offer.
The behavior of the firm actually making an offer could be exemplary (except, perhaps in making a job offer with compensation lower than the market value of the employee, but that’s his own decision in choosing to accept the position or not) and they could still get screwed.
I think you owe the company some sort of good faith effort when accepting a job.
threemae responded well, so I’ll just add this: People expect loyalty from their employer. Over the years that I’ve had employees, I’ve put in a lot of effort to keep them happy and take care of them. It’s a lot better for my business and my customers to keep employees long-term so they understand the business than to have fresh newbies all the time.
You want loyalty from people? Then you’d better be prepared to show some back. If you treat people with integrity and courtesy, they’re more likely to treat you that way.
Gotta agree with msmith537 here. This is business we’re talking about.
It’s regrettable when a deal falls through and not something to be done lightly, but I don’t see where “rude and thoughtless” enters the picture. If your organization wants to retain people, their offer has to be competitive. If there’s no breach of contract, well - that’s how business works.
I am in the midst of a hiring process that is exactly like this. We interviewed people at a variety of levels. If pushed, we could not have told candidates that we definitely wanted a senior person, or an entry-level, or inbetween. Having interviewed a handful of them, we’re now stuck with the difficult task of deciding what level we want to hire for. It’s made for some jacked-up debates on our part among the candidates (who can’t really be compared easily) but it’s NOT a short-term position we’re hiring for.
I guess I’d agree with your second statement (that it’s screwed up) but not with your first (that it’s about short-term demand).