Between the Trapezes
Help for when you’re between two career certainties
|
|
July 2021
Last week, a client asked me if I was busy with other clients. They were trying to gauge what the job search market is like right now.
The short answer is Yes. Even during this summer, many smart candidates are making sure they are ready for a job search. Some are more aggressive about being ready than others but there IS a general sense of "I want to be ready". That means new-for-2021 resume, a sparkling LinkedIn profile, updated how-to-best-do-networking, and interview prep. And, of course, treating the job search like the project that it is. They are not waiting for September.
Are you ready? Many of us in this field are busy, but to move your process along, find a coach who is a good match and work with them to GET ready. Your competition is doing just that.
Want to know more of the latest? Read on.
Joanne
____________________
|
Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin - on Lake Michigan |
|
Resume expert who hopes you never need to actually use your resume. "The Resume Queen"®
LinkedIn profile creator if you want yours to be an employer magnet.
Networking guru who coaches you in elegant (not needy, gimme gimme) networking, finding hidden leads.
Interview prep that puts you at ease matching what they need and describing why they need you.
BA, MS, IJCDC
Photos in this Between the Trapezes courtesy of Shutterstock.com
unless it's flowers or memes, which are by Joanne
Your Career Is The Treasury of Your Life ©
|
Are you a NEW or recent college grad, in job search, and are stalled?
Contact Joanne (email is at the bottom of this page). She wants to hear from you first (parents, we will talk later!), so that YOU and she can talk about what is working and not working in your job search. It will actually be a fun conversation! (New: TikTok resumes!)
|
|
|
|
Some salary negotiation tips from my Interview Prep session with clients include:
Have the right attitude
- Negotiating is NORMAL, expected
- There’s no right or wrong way to negotiate
-
It is best if everyone “wins”
First: what is YOUR value?
What do you do so well that people want to pay you to do it?
V = Your value to an employer, is one or more of these:
- Money made or saved, and/or
- Time “made” or saved, and/or
- Problems solved
Next: DO YOUR RESEARCH
What are salaries today in your field? Use O*Net (http://onetonline.org), Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com, Payscale.com, Careerjournal.com, rhi.com (accounting and IT), and Google “[job title] salary surveys” to find your specific category.
Job Offer Evaluation:
Things to consider in the job (not only salary):
- Responsibilities – What will you actually be expected to do?
- Resources – Will you have a budget? Staff? Technology?
- Authority – What decisions can you make, $-wise? Staff decisions? Which initiatives, goals?
- Performance – How will you be measured, and in what time frames? What are the goals?
- Culture – Is this a fit for you?
Some things you can negotiate for, aside from salary:
- The job and its details (title, scope)
- Starting date
- Vacations
- Decision-making role
- Resources, budget
- Reporting relationships
- Relocation costs
- Insurance and 401K benefits
- Health insurance levels
- Employment contracts
- Comp time
- Stock options, profit sharing
- Bonuses
- Tuition and other coursework
- Club memberships
- Travel
- Trade association dues
- Termination: Outplacement services, buyout packages
Once an offer is made, you can:
- Refuse it and not take the job
- You can counteroffer
- You can accept with conditions (ask for a performance review sooner, ask for more vacation, etc.)
Some do's and dont's for negotiating successfully:
-
Do not reveal your salary requirement TOO EARLY or you may lose your leverage; ALWAYS be sure to discuss your value and what you have to offer, first, clarifying your value in their minds, or all they will be thinking about is your stated $ figure.
-
If they push you for a number, OR ask about your current or most recent salary (do not reveal this!), turn it around: Ask what their range is for the position: “What have you budgeted for this role?”
- Do not embellish your most recent income: the new company may ask for your W-2 or last year’s tax return, especially for sales jobs
- Avoid accepting an offer on the spot, but also don’t drag it out or they will interpret it as lost interest or that they are being “played”
- Once the company has made some concessions, don’t keep going after more, or you could be seen as greedy and lose the offer
- Always stay positive: about the job, about the company, about what you’ll be able to do for them
- Get the offer in writing and respond in writing
- Make sure everything is sewn up (background check, drug tests, etc.) before giving notice on your current job or contract
-
Start the job before cutting off other options. As tempting as it may feel to make the grand announcement about your new job to friends and on LinkedIn, see what it’s really like there first before closing out other possibilities.
___________________________________________________
Need help getting interviews,
meaning a stronger resume?
This Zoom session will help you:
|
|
Did someone forward this to you, and you now want to subscribe? Thank you!
Want to share this newsletter?
Click your favorite social share site, here, or do a simple forward to a friend. Thanks!
|
|
This month’s Tip from Joanne:
In interviews, don’t forget to SMILE
In interviews, whether they’re in person, via Zoom, or over the phone, it’s vital that you relate how your achievements show you can meet the interviewer’s needs. All participants in the interview ask and answer questions making sure there is a two-way fit.
But they also want to know the human they’re talking to. Small talk can tell them a lot, just as their comments about internal dynamics can tell you, the candidate, what’s really going on in the department.
But another outgoing sign that you’re a regular, real, nice human being is for you to smile occasionally. That may sound odd to bring up, but too often, candidates are so deeply serious in an interview that they never smile, never show they are human. I see this in interview prep sessions and the result is the candidate comes across as dour and unfriendly.
So when you’re practicing, smile at times that it’s natural for you to do so: A smile goes a long way!
|
|
Thought of the Month
Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up -- because they're looking for ideas.
Paula Poundstone, Comedian
|
|
Joanne Meehl Career Services LLC | 612.440.6765 (new) | Joanne@TheJobSearchQueen.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
