I recently found out that a colleague with less experience than me is making noticeably more, and I cannot stop thinking about it before interviews now. It changed the way I look at compensation conversations completely. I used to just feel grateful to get an offer, now I feel like I probably undervalued myself for years. Has anyone else had that moment? Did it change how aggressively you negotiate or interview?
I am an older woman with 25+ years of experience and a masters degree in psychology but have been fired from my last two positions due to issues with timely progress note completion. In my last position, I was made an assessor on top of my case load. What tip can you give to help with the interview?
Hey folks -- what’s a subtle interview red flag people should pay more attention to that most candidates ignore at first? I’ll start: - The interviewer constantly interrupts or seems distracted the whole time. - Nobody can clearly explain what the role actually involves day to day. - They dodge questions about turnover, onboarding, or why the role is open. - The interview feels weirdly adversarial for no reason. Anything else that comes to mind?
For me I adjusted the way I interview first as well as overhauled my entire resume. I really needed to ensure I showed the value I bring to the table…and had the numbers to back it up. It makes negotiating easier after that (imo). I went from interviewing for roles in the 75k-95k range to upwards of 150k. But yes, don’t undervalue yourself. Take your years of experience and show why that experience will help your new team win. Best of luck!
I have a similar experience and now it makes a difference with negotiation. After 4 months I left that employer as a result. If a company does not see my value time to move on.
Eh, I'm that's what I'll be forced to do soon.
Comparison is the thief of joy. There’s no telling what that person gave up or said to get that salary. And there’s no telling if it’s going to last. Just know your worth and advocate for yourself.
"You cannot please everyone; control the things you can control, one step at a time." ~Suncha Ferriera (Victus Group)/Matthew 13:12
Fair! :)
Yes I have. And I am still met with endless no's when I mention getting paid gasp 16 per hour instead of the 12 Dollar per hour offers they love giving. They offer me 50 cent raises just for kicks. Then coworkers who just got hired after I was there 2 yrs tell me that they all just got raises. Meanwhile my pay was frozen and stuck bottle necked at 12.00 per hour. Interesting.
Yes and it's even worse to live it...🙏🏽💔😞
Have you been with the company for much longer? If he is a recent hire and you’ve been there for a decade then it makes sense.
5 years, so yup, half a decade.
So, um, I'm currently in the process of finding a new job. And this time it's probably the second time in my life I'm actually doing this myself (after I fell out of high school for the first time). Each time before now someone popped up with an offer, and it was sometimes like "Hey man, we have a position and we want you in — peps, I have no idea what I should do there as I never worked with that — whatever, we want you on team", and after years some weirdest proposals left a huge mark on my resume. Whatever, this is my new beginning, first in new century. I never researched what people do and how it is actually called before, I just spent time nice during workhours. I still market myself as SysAdmin. And I tried to use AI to summarize my previous experience and polish resume a little. And AI was like "Uhm, man, that's not you. Sincerely, here's a typical sysadmin job — office all-doer, look for yourself, and here's a job for your skill set, there's things you know are listed as requirements all over it." And to my amusement the position I probably should pursue is actually a league or two higher than I imagined myself. (Also don't trust AI blindly, if you are searching for a job — try finding some guy who can sum up all your experience and is fluent in current job market) Another answer is that, actually, I left a few jobs because I got no… team feeling?… boss understanding?… there might be different things, almost all of them are soft skills, which are actually preventing you from being efficient. Like, I know I do some idiotic things from time to time, guess I have some issues… but whatever the main problem is you have to learn not to cement the ground after a breakup in team (or with boss), but go till the final end, say sorry, think what you have done wrong and how to prevent it. If team can't speak with each other freely that's not a team anymore. If you can't argue with boss freely — you are not a coworker, but blind labor. This might happen because of you, or because someone else. And for me this was a sign it's time to wave goodbyes, even if noone asked me out, even if the pay was high enough. Last time that happened after a month of database issues. I profiled damn database as far as I could, yet outside of the service, I wasn't fluent with how to optimize MySQL queries, that's still a totally alien field to me. And after a month of boss poking me for I can't actually do anything I just said that I think it's time for me to go. And like in a month I heard a rumor the whole problem was in a way they designed database, and that guy designing it wasn't good in databases either, so he kinda mimicked Excel workflow making it impossible to optimize queries. Probably I had to do stuff differently, or try better identifying the cause and talking with other people — that's stuff I learned after that, but I just felt team is not a place for me and I left before tension strikes hard.
How did you how much they’re making?
We confessed after a specific conversation that eventually got there, LOL. They were mentioning their bonus, which was 10%, and x $, and I said -- "wait, then..."
Same. I have almost 8 years experience now, bachelors and masters IT and design related. Im working as a designer at a conpany for 4 years now. I had my degrees completed and 2 years corporate with 2+ years freelance expeeience when i joined this place. My salary is roughly $ 145. That was also recently before i waa a junior for less for around $105. I worked so hard but yearly apraisal increment didnt give me what i deserve, a very small amount. And other people join with me earns nearly $295 - $300 and even the new comers in my team paid around $240 when they joined. Now after 1 or 2 years they earn nearly $295 -$300. Ive been asking for an increment for a long time and they said they system doesnt let them give old (joined earlier) employee increments. But i know other people who received special increments. After considering a lot i even told them im financially struggling i need a raise. Because working over time without OT or doing the job correctly didnt paid off. Still my requeat got declined. My work reduced. Ive been trying so hard to find a new job and still couldnt. They dont let me use my talents to the full potential now with the work i get. But i cant resign without a new job. And i cant stay at a placw like this either. Im hopeless
Unless and until those interviews lead to an offer at those higher ranges, there’s no proof that your market value is within those ranges. I hope they do make an offer though. Yes, once you are hired, there’s no internal adjustment to pay people at market regardless of your performance or contributions and all that, and it’s not meant to be fair nor consistent even internally, this is correct, and normal, and expected, and one main reason why people change company, which leads to why new hires are supposed to get paid more than existing employees — new hires come in at market which is usually higher than existing employees’ pay which is based on the market rate years ago which is usually lower. If you were hired at a lower pay than existing employees for the same job and same level, then either you joined during a deep recession or you didn’t negotiate and just accepted the first job offer you got and they lowballed you. You have this belief that if you work hard you will get big raises, it doesn’t work that way.
I had two have been so grateful to just get a call back or an offer letter that I would just not negotiate on wages but with seeing hearing and reading about other people's interview tips and interview hacks has changed my outlook on my future when it comes to career wage options
BSN, RN with 40+ years of experience who has also spent time as a contingent search recruiter. I'm so grateful for what Iearned in this role, placing other people in IBM AS/400 roles from Operations to VP of Information Systems and everything in-between. I learned a LOT when I went to visit a company to see their place, learn their business, and learn what to look for in skills and quality when placing people in their roles. In that position I also negotiated the fees for our services and came to understand the VALUE of knowing one's role and value in business. It's something that, as nurses, we are woefully inadequate in knowing our own value and standing up for it in the marketplace. Nurses are the ones who produce both the work AND the value in the health care system but have no say in compensation. Being in the business really opens one's eyes to the numbers/values nurses have in healthcare. Now, it's time to learn the numbers and be the value that we are.
You should always look at what they pay for the skills that you have in the Market. Do compariables and also look at what you need to make your household bills easy as well as what you would like to go into savings. What you need and what you need to save should be the first key. Then look at what is being offered for the same skills. Come up with the least amount you would except and what would make you happy. Don't be afraid to let your employer know. If they think you can do the job and like you...you will get what you want. Or they will negotiage a starting salary and then after 90days you get what you want. Don't worry about anyone else, you negotiated your salary so you should feel that you got what you needed and whated. If you start looking at what other people have you will loose your love for the job you do. You are there to get what you want and give them the employer what they are paying for. This is why I can do payroll and it not bother me. I make sure at the end of the day I negotiaged what I'm worth. You also have to take into account, education, and the amount of time someone has been on the job. My advise is just don't do it. Just focus on you.