After spending many years as an executive coach, I learned a clear lesson. People hate looking for jobs. They hate switching jobs. The process is stressful and painful. Most employees only consider a big job change as a last resort. They wait until the pain of staying is bigger than the pain of walking away.
So, why do employees change jobs? It’s complicated. There is no one size fits all answer. Many people are looking for an opportunity to grow their skills at work. They may feel stuck. But, more than that, they may feel unhappy. They may feel unrecognized. They may even feel mistreated.
In the past, it could be said that money would not be the primary reason to leave a job. Employees were more concerned with their fulfillment. But, after the last five years, more employees are concerned about money – which makes sense. Prices have gone up, from groceries and gas to housing. Interest rates are up. And, pay has been going up.
Your loyal employees have not benefitted from these big jumps in pay. While their bills have gone up, their pay has stayed about the same. Many companies continue to believe that an annual three percent per year raise will maintain the standard of living employees are used to. This is not the case.
As well-meaning as companies may be, tiny raises are just not enough. Younger employees, and parents are hit extra hard. Younger employees are struggling with increasing rents and expenses. Many twenty somethings are being forced to live at home for longer than prior generations. Employees with children are balancing the cost of rising childcare with their flat wages.
This can put both employees and the companies they work for in a difficult situation. The employee is forced to move to potentially less fulfilling job in order to be paid the current market rate.
And, the employer also faces a difficult situation. When the employee leaves, their role is left empty for a period of time. That puts pressure on the remaining employees, to pick up the extra work. Then, the company must find a new, qualified candidate. They must pay an internal recruiter or an external placement firm to find candidates. The company must go through the process of interviewing those candidates. When a candidate is selected, they must be trained. Not surprisingly, the new candidate will likely be paid the current market rate.
So, what is a company to do? First, don’t wait for your best employees to leave. If you know they are underpaid, so do they. Just because they don’t bring it up doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of the going rate. Keep an open door policy for conversations around compensation. And, when someone brings it up, be willing to have honest conversations. And, advocate for them. In the long term, it may very well save you time and money. It could even help you to retain great talent.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in iTunes or Stitcher.
It’s no longer socially acceptable for a company to ask an interview candidate how much money they currently make. It’s also not terribly good to ask the candidate how much they want to make. These days, the standard is to share the pay range for the role. Then, the candidate can decide whether or not the range is acceptable.
In the past, recruiters would argue that asking questions like these made sense. They wanted to know if the candidate was “within their budget” for a particular role. In reality, if the candidate provided a salary number at the low end of the range, they would be paid on the low end of that range. And, they might not ever know it.
Fortunately, many states across the U.S. have agreed that this practice is not okay. It’s not fair. And, it allows pay disparities to continue, and to grow. In other words, if you are currently underpaid, and your future salary is based on your current salary, you will continue to be under paid in the future. If a company pays a fair market rate, then you have a better chance of making what your skillset is truly worth.
Unfortunately, not all recruiters have gotten this message. When a recruiter shares that they have been working as a recruiter for over thirty years, you can bet there’s a decent chance they aren’t playing by the current rules. They will continue to ask questions they should not.
Unfortunately, as a candidate, there’s not much you can do about this issue. If a recruiter asks your salary and you don’t provide it, you’ll likely be eliminated from consideration. You’ll be perceived as difficult, because you aren’t willing to go along with this outdated line of questioning.
The good news is, you can decide not to work with a particular recruiter. You can decide you won’t participate when something like this occurs. There are many recruiters who will care about the candidate experience, and who are willing to follow the laws and this current way of interviewing candidates.
In addition to questions that a company is not allowed to ask, there is a question that candidates are allowed to ask. In certain states, it’s the law. A candidate can ask the company what the pay range is for a certain position. The company should be willing to provide the range. This gives the opportunity for the candidate to share with the company whether or not the range provided is one they are interested to pursue.
Sadly, this is another area where some recruiters are trying to do their own thing. When asked for the range, it is not uncommon for the recruiter to respond with, “My company hasn’t set a range for this role. We’re trying to see what the market will bear.” As you can imagine, this is most not likely accurate and is an antiquated way of interviewing candidates.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in iTunes or Stitcher.
There’s a riddle hidden at the end of job interviews. As a candidate, you show up to an interviewing believing you’ll be talking about fit. And, you do – at first.
You go through your work background. You give your elevator pitch. You explain why you want the job, why you’re looking for a job, and what would make you a great candidate. You cover the basics.
If things go well during the interview, you assume you’ll go to the next round. But, before you do, there’s usually a riddle standing between you and interview number two.
You must correctly guess the answer to the question, “How much money do you want?”
To the company, this is a simple question. They have a budget and they need to know if you fit in it. The problem is, different companies pay different amounts for the same job. I am beginning to think that many companies aren’t aware of this fact. Or, they assume the job seeker is tied to a specific dollar figure.
There are layers of problems to giving a salary number. You don’t know what the annual bonus is going to be yet. The target bonus could be zero percent or 45 percent of the base salary. You don’t know yet what the 401K match might be. You don’t know if there are other perks, like stock. You also may not know yet how big the job is. These things should all factor into your estimation of how much a job may pay.
The other issue is this. Many job seekers aren’t tied to a specific salary – especially not twenty minutes into learning about the job. Many job seekers are looking for overall fit. And, they might accept less at an organization they really love, or for a job that has a different set of responsibilities.
Guessing a salary is like throwing a dart with a blindfold on. If you work in a field with a narrow salary range, you might hit the bullseye. But, in many industries, a pay band can be as much as $100K wide. If you happen to guess too low or too high, the company will very often eliminate you. They will assume that you are not a match if you don’t guess within a few thousand dollars of their target.
If you’re a candidate, be prepared. Do as much research as you can ahead of time, so you’ll be prepared to make your best guess. You can also ask the company if they’re willing to share the pay range with you (after they ask your requirements). They will sometimes do this.
If you’re a company, consider adding your pay range to the job description. Consider being up front about it. Ask the candidate if they’re comfortable with the pay range. It’s a much better hiring tactic than asking the candidate to guess a riddle they are unlikely to solve.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in iTunes or Stitcher.
Have you ever been asked, “How much do you make?” in a job interview? This question usually shows up during the first phone call.
You’ve applied online. The HR manager calls you. The conversation seems normal at first. They ask, “Why did you apply for this job?” and “Tell me about yourself.” The all of the sudden, bam! “How much do you make?” Or, they may try, “How much have you made in the past?”
These questions are tough, and they have more of an influence on your future than you may think. Whether you’re currently underpaid or overpaid, answering this question wrong can completely eliminate you from consideration. And, answering too low can also put you at a disadvantage.
A number of states and cities have started to reduce or eliminate this question altogether. In 2017, Delaware and New York City banned employers from asking about salary history. In January 2018, California banned questions around a candidate’s pay history. In July 2018, Massachusetts will join suit. In 2019, Oregon will ban employers from asking. New Orleans and Pittsburgh are also implementing this rule on city agencies.
It may not be clear right away what’s wrong with this question. Many companies think of it as finding out if the person fits into their budget.
But, the problem is this. If someone has ever been underpaid for any reason, including discrimination or just an unfortunate circumstance, that person will likely always be underpaid going forward. Asking the question, “How much do you make?” ensures that your future salary is based on your current salary.
But, what if you’re switching between industries and one pays much higher salaries? What if you’re switching between a higher education job and a corporate job? What if you’re moving from an inexpensive city in the middle of the country, to a pricey city on the coast?
Once you’re behind in salary negotiations, you will likely always be behind. Unless you’re protected by a rule that bans the question completely. Banning it puts the responsibility back onto the company to decide what a particular role is worth to them. It forces the company to pay employees more fairly, based on the work they produce – rather than their negotiation abilities.
If you find yourself being asked this question, do your homework. Before you’re asked how much you make, know the response you want to give. The less you need the job, the riskier you can be with your answer. I often advise job seekers to ask the company if they would feel comfortable to share their pay range with you. This allows the company to share their salary instead. Alternatively, you can offer your target range. But, base this range on data. Scour websites like Glassdoor.com for as much salary information as you can find about your job.
Pushing back on this question helps guarantee that everyone will be paid more fairly going forward.
Angela Copeland, a career coach and founder of Copeland Coaching, can be reached at copelandcoaching.com.
I hope you’re having a great week! I’m writing with an update. My recent tutorial about how to use LinkedIn’s new referral feature was well received. If you missed the LinkedIn referral tutorial, you can find it on YouTube here.
Because it went over so well, I wanted to share another tutorial for you. In this tutorial, I’m going to share with you — how to use the Glassdoor “Know Your Worth Tool.”
The Glassdoor.com Know Your Worth Tool helps you to estimate your current market value — where you live, for your job, and for the amount of experience you have. It helps you to know if you’re being paid fairly, and if not, what alternatives might exist for you in your area.
I hope you enjoy this how to use the Glassdoor “Know Your Worth Tool” tutorial!
After spending many years as an executive coach, I learned a clear lesson. People hate looking for jobs. They hate switching jobs. The process is stressful and painful. Most employees only consider a big job change as a last resort. They wait until the pain of staying is bigger than the pain of walking away.
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