Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job (42 page)

If an employer has exceeded a self-imposed hiring timeline or just seems to be taking an awfully long time, don’t automatically assume that you’re out of the running—the process may take a while, sometimes months. You can’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. The company may be trying to fire someone or shuffle things around. The employer may not even be sure what his needs are, and whether he should hire someone senior or entry-level. Qualified candidates may have appeared at the last minute. The company may be changing its whole financial model or moving offices. Summer and major holidays often cause incredible delays—it’s possible someone who needs to participate in the decision-making isn’t around. It could be flu season, or there could be a major internal deadline such as a board meeting or sales conference.

Unless you’ve established a specific timeline, it’s not unreasonable to check in by phone or e-mail if you haven’t heard anything ten days to two weeks after your final interview. If over the course of the process you’ve become friendly with an assistant or HR person—someone other than the hiring party—you might check in with her. She may be able to give you insight into what’s going on.

Q. I’m waiting to hear from a prospective employer, and I just had an article published in a well-known magazine. Is it weird for me to let him know?

A.
Not at all. Send the employer an e-mail or letter. Even if the news isn’t
directly related to the position, it will remind him of you and let him know that you’re still out there. Use your judgment, though. If your chocolate cake won first prize at the state fair, don’t bother—unless you’re applying for a food-related job.

Q. What if I have news that could adversely affect my candidacy?

A.
It depends. If you have become embroiled in a legal case or have been convicted of even a petty crime, my rule of thumb would be this: If you can no longer do or accept the job, you must withdraw your candidacy. You need only cite “personal” reasons. If you can do the job but the news might negatively affect the company from a PR point of view, wait until you have an offer. Explain that you’ve had a change in your life situation and that you hope they’ll work with you to make it possible for you to take the job.

The same goes for personal issues. One candidate told me she had become engaged to someone in another city and didn’t know whether to tell prospective employers, since they’d figure out that eventually she’d be moving. I advised against bringing it up unless asked. She didn’t know for certain that she’d be moving very soon; frankly, not all engagements pan out; and wedding dates are often pushed back. I would give the same advice if you’re pregnant or dealing with illness. If at any point it becomes clear that you would no longer be able to accept a job, that’s the time to withdraw your application, explaining the situation in minimum detail and attempting to keep the door open for the future: “With much regret, I must withdraw my candidacy due to illness in the family. May I be in touch when the situation is resolved?”

Q. I haven’t heard anything since the interview, but I have a contact at the company I didn’t use during the process—should I try now?

A.
Absolutely! But make sure you provide the person with essential information: Send a copy of the cover letter and résumé you used to apply, note exactly what the position is, when you applied and interviewed, with whom you interviewed, and how you felt it went. This contact will also be useful if you get rejected; if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to elicit information on what went wrong or how you might improve the way you’re presenting yourself.

WHAT TO SAY BEFORE “I’LL TAKE IT!”

I learned about negotiation through trial and error. For my first teaching job, the negotiation consisted of the headmistress handing me an index card on which she’d written my name and her salary offer in pencil. (Saying the number out loud wouldn’t be genteel.) When she handed it to me, I laughed. I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t help it. I don’t recommend this as a negotiation technique, but it worked. I told her I hadn’t been offered anything less than $20,000. “But that’s in New York,” she said. “This is Boston.” We agreed that if I taught French in addition to my regular responsibilities, my salary would reach a whopping $17,000. (With two master’s degrees. In 1986. But don’t get me started on the issue of compensation for teachers.…)

Several years later, I signed a two-year contract for another job. After my first year there, everyone got a raise. Everyone, that is, except me. I kept thinking maybe it would show up in my next paycheck … or the next … but then I realized I’d better say something.

Maybe they had forgotten. I went to see the business manager.

“We didn’t forget,” she said. “But you signed a two-year contract and there was nothing in there about a raise.” I was stunned. She offered some advice as consolation: “If I were you, I’d never sign a two-year contract … but if I did, I’d make sure to negotiate a raise up front.”

I couldn’t believe it. Why hadn’t anyone told me that when I signed the contract? The answer is simple: The employer’s job is to pay as little as possible, and the employee’s job is to negotiate for as much as possible. I hadn’t even negotiated. I was so thrilled at the offer that I had accepted it without asking any questions.

Now it’s your turn, and I hope you’ll learn from my experience. You get the call, the “We’d like to offer you the job” call. This is the job you’ve been waiting for, hoping for, working for.

Don’t say yes.

First, find out the terms of the offer.

There’s a distinction between the offer of employment and the actual “offer”: the salary, benefits, and terms of employment. Sometimes the person making the job offer is not the person with whom you will be discussing and negotiating its terms.

Most offers can be negotiated—something many inexperienced job-hunters don’t realize. It’s true that some jobs, particularly in the government sector, have little or no leeway; you may be told the exact salary and benefits at a first interview. But some things may still be open for discussion—your start date and review date, for instance.

You may be feeling uncomfortable at the thought of negotiating. Many people do, especially first-timers. But which is worse: feeling weird, or blindly accepting an offer and finding out later that you are grossly underpaid or have inferior benefits
and fewer vacation days than colleagues who negotiated? You won’t get what you don’t ask for. Don’t think, “Oh, I’ll just say yes and accept all their terms now, because once I’m there and they see how great I am, I’ll be in a better position to negotiate.” No, now’s the time. Though you will have other negotiations during the course of your tenure, the first sets the stage for all the rest.

Prepare for negotiation discussions well in advance by researching industry salaries and benefits packages, but don’t bring up terms until the employer does. (There’s nothing less appealing to an employer than a candidate whose first line of questioning is about hours, vacation time, and benefits.) In any negotiation, you want to be the last to put your cards on the table. Keep in mind that you never have as much negotiating power as you do when you’ve been offered a job but haven’t yet accepted. The employer wants you. She’s gone through a long process with many candidates, and she may be willing to negotiate to get you.

Don’t make decisions or accept offers on the spot. Say,
“I want to make sure I understand all the components of the offer; could you send me an e-mail outlining the proposed terms?”
Don’t be afraid to ask for detail or clarification; if you’re negotiating with your prospective boss, you may be referred to someone in HR for the finer points. Take the time to run the offer by experienced members of your network. One to two days of deliberation is reasonable, and some employers consider a week normal. But don’t drag your feet: If you miss an agreed-upon deadline, employers are perfectly within their rights to withdraw their offer. No matter what, remain polite and professional throughout the process; be assertive, but not aggressive.

How do you find out the going rate for your position in advance of the negotiation process? Talk to people in the field. While it’s rude to directly ask someone about his salary, it’s perfectly fine to inquire about the range for a specific position.

There are also all kinds of websites where you can find out the average pay for your position. Many industry magazines do annual salary roundups, and the U.S. Department of Labor publishes average salaries for a range of jobs. Remember, though, that the value of a stated salary varies
greatly depending on the location—$30,000 does not go as far in Chicago as it would in a rural area of the Midwest, for example.

Keep in mind, too, that your base salary is not what you actually take home. Taxes will be taken out and health insurance and retirement contributions deducted. On the other hand, you’ve also got to consider benefits, which are often worth at least twenty-five percent of your base salary, some-times as much as forty percent. One company’s slightly higher salary might be outweighed by another company’s superior health and dental coverage.

In some industries—even highly competitive industries
requiring advanced degrees—entry-level salaries are quite low. You don’t want to take a job you can’t live on, so figure out in advance what’s doable for you.

First, calculate what you spend or are likely to spend annually. Include basic monthly expenses (food, rent, utilities, clothing, transportation, medical, phone, Internet connection); recurrent annual expenses from minor (haircuts) to major (insurance and taxes); and luxuries (cable television, eating out, entertainment, travel, gifts, splurges). Ideally, you should also be trying to save at least ten percent of your salary, so factor that in, too. Once you come up with a figure, you can back into a salary range. Depending on the cost of living in your town or city and the starting salary in a given industry, you may find that you need to get a roommate or cut back on entertainment unless you’re willing to take on freelance or other work.

Whether you’re dealing with a mom-and-pop shop or a huge global firm, you shouldn’t accept a job without asking some questions. If possible, get the answers in writing. (If you’re going to be required to sign a contract, see pages 184–185.)

Some of the following negotiation points are industry-specific—not all will apply to every job or company. Some are standard boilerplate, and some are creative takes on the negotiation process. Look them over and decide which ones you care about; only you can know what’s important to you. Of course, you’ll also want to consider the job itself. How desirable is it? You may be willing to take a little less cash up front if you feel the employer, colleagues, and office environment are a great fit. Consider:

What your starting salary will be.

What your exact title will be.

How much vacation you will start with. When does that change?