Things they forgot to mention in the interview 27

[tz101]

How many have been the victim of lack of full disclosure by their organization in the interviewing process? Seems like things have gone from bad to worse in this area for me over the past couple decades. Everything from springing overly restrictive non-disclosure agreements on the day of orientation, to not telling me that seven day work weeks were the expected norm. Any tales to tell?

 

[tz101]

You don't want to work in Indiana. My current position made me wait a year to enroll in 401K, and it took 18 months before the first payroll deduction to 401K. Had to demand a week vacation available immediately in my offer letter, and the president balked at that.

 

[RVAmeche]

You didn't get any vacation time originally?

 

[SteelPE]

The last interview I went to I was offered the job and went into salary negotiations. They asked what I would like for compensation, I said I would like to know what the benefits are (heath insurance, 401k match, time off etc). They said they covered that in the interview, I said they didn't and if they could email me the information I could let them know what I would want in terms of a salary.

They called me back 1 day later and told me they didn't want me to work for them anymore.

Also, during the interview with this company (who was a very large construction company in the food processing industry with projects all over the world) I had asked why their headquarters were in a burned out old mill city in the middle of nowhere thousands of miles away from their projects (I asked the question tactfully). Their answer was that they could get professional labor cheaper than if they moved their company 100 miles to the east where there was ample talent at a more expensive cost.

buh-bye.

 

[SuperSalad]

SteelPE, their reaction in your first story seems so bizarre. Your request and approach seems perfectly reasonable and I wish I had taken it myself during my last job search. I was content with the salary offer assuming the benefits were on par with what I had at the time. Knowing what I know now, I would've asked for more money up front as the benefits were a bit more of a step down than I had expected.

Andrew H.

http://www.MotoTribology.com

 

[tz101]

They called me back 1 day later and told me they didn't want me to work for them anymore.

No skin off your back. Much the better off for avoiding that scam outfit.

 

[IRstuff]

Some companies just have that sort of attitude; when I graduated from college, I got an offer letter from a TLA-named company, but there was no starting salary. So I called, and they said, "We don't tell you the salary until you accept the job." WTF? So I declined, and they asked what my other offers looked like, and I told them, and they said, "Oh, we wouldn't have offered that much in any case."

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[SteelPE]

No skin of my back and no skin off theirs. I have kept track of them over the years (like a psycho ex girlfriend). They have now expanded to 3 other locations and maybe 1 foreign location. The impression I received from the company was long hours and little pay and a general unhappiness with the people who worked there (well, except for the executives who were extremely happy)

That was 8 years ago, right before I lost my job (writing was on the wall that the company was going out of business.... and did). I had no other options other than trying to go it alone. To date (which isn't saying much over one of the longest economic expansions on record) I have been better off going out on my own then I would have been working for them. Had we come to some sort of terms I don't know what I would have done.

SteelPE, their reaction in your first story seems so bizarre. Your request and approach seems perfectly reasonable and I wish I had taken it myself during my last job search. I was content with the salary offer assuming the benefits were on par with what I had at the time. Knowing what I know now, I would've asked for more money up front as the benefits were a bit more of a step down than I had expected.

That's one thing I learned at my old job.... perks are nice and can end up with a huge $ in the end. I was one of very few who paid form my own car and gas to and from work. I had to pay 50% of my ever eroding health insurance and there was no 401K match (there was profit sharing.... but when there was no profit, there was no sharing) and I paid for my own cellphone.

Currently my wife works for a company that pays 90% of health insurance. That benefit has be a game changer for our family and has allowed us enormous flexibility.... every time her boss offers her a small raise I feel like she shouldn't take it just so we can keep that simple benefit.

 

[tz101]

Like SteelPE, I always inquire about all benefits before deciding on a salary to give to a prospective employer. If a move will be involved, I also let them know I will be doing some cost of living calculations also before providing them a number. Cover your bases up front, because once they have you, they have you.

 

[SandCounter]

Get a tour of the office. I went from a great, spacious private office to a tiny cube where people, I kid you not, would walk through as a short cut and bump my chair every time. It didn't even cross my mind I was in for such a downgrade. It took 3 years of being obnoxiously loud on the phone to get my own office again.

 

[tygerdawg]

I've been primarily in Advanced Manufacturing, not design functions. After a long career of being lied to, I would now know to ask them to detail explicitly by what metrics my performance will be judged, by whom, and by what formula this relates to any future pay raises or bonus. Bad or vague answers makes ear-splitting klaxon horns go off in my head now.

Seeing the phrase Other duties as assigned also makes them klaxon horns go off.

If some yahoo makes vague promises of some future promotion or other such enticement: make them put it in writing or walk away.

You and the hiring manager should engage in a blunt conversation with the outcome of developing acceptable ranges and limits of working hours per week. And have it written into the offer.

Finally, again after that long career resulting in lots of battle scars, I have concluded that most Managers......aren't, and shouldn't be. Nothing that is said during job negotiations has any merit. Only the written word will survive the inevitable conflict and debate.



TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[mfgenggear]

I am glad I am retired now.
before my retirement every one but me were giving additional duties. and given no additional pay raise for it.
I refused and chose to retire early , my has the industry has changed, more work, long hours, less pay.
more responsibilities.
my early years I was on salary, bennies were excellent, Eye Care, Health care, 401 K , excellent Vacation
as the years pass, eye care went away, health care degraded, no bonuses. for every one.

 

[tz101]

I have concluded that most Managers......aren't, and shouldn't be.

Ding, ding, ding! The root of most of the nonsense mentioned so far.

 

[SteelPE]

I am glad I am retired now.
before my retirement every one but me were giving additional duties. and given no additional pay raise for it.
I refused and chose to retire early , my has the industry has changed, more work, long hours, less pay.
more responsibilities.
my early years I was on salary, bennies were excellent, Eye Care, Health care, 401 K , excellent Vacation
as the years pass, eye care went away, health care degraded, no bonuses. for every one.

You can more than likely blame the bean counters for that, and most of the problems listed above.... and most to the economic problems in general. They are obviously a very important part of business, but when the bean counters begin to rule, ultimately the workers suffer.

I had a buddy of mine, a bean counter... and a business owner, ask me in confusion why a he was being sued by a civil engineer over a $4k unpaid bill when he had promised to pay and in fact, had already paid a portion of his bill. I tried to explain to him that the civil engineer had completed his contract and deserved to be paid and that it wasn't the engineers fault that the bean counter over extended himself and couldn't pay his bill.

The bean counter insisted that we were all d***s.

The bean counter didn't get what I was trying to explain to him.

 

[IRstuff]

That was because he was a d***s and a d**k, not because he was a bean counter. We're aren't born bean counters, but some of us are born d***s and d**ks, or close to it. Bean counting is simply a tool used by d***s' and d**ks

Likely, he was also a spectrum psychopath.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[tz101]

I am glad I am retired now.

I am counting down the days. No way would I recommend my son or daughter to go into engineering or manufacturing fields these days. Medicine, law, or finance would be the only career fields I would recommend.

 

[RVAmeche]

Meh, medicine is still overcrowded and therefore very very competitive as well.

Skyrocketing student debt, mortgage issues, and ever-extending car loans may make the finance market tricky in the next few years, similar to 2008.

 

[moon161]

Also, during the interview with this company (who was a very large construction company in the food processing industry with projects all over the world) I had asked why their headquarters were in a burned out old mill city in the middle of nowhere thousands of miles away from their projects (I asked the question tactfully).

Sounds almost like Buffalo.

 

[SteelPE]

Not Buffalo, but that part of the country.

 

[IRstuff]

If you're a specialist, medicine isn't too bad, but family practice is a grind.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[3DDave]

Many degree areas are not guarantees. I've seen lawyers suing law schools because the number of usable positions as lawyers is far smaller than the number graduating each year.

Some of the trades look promising - plumbing for example. It's not a surprise how grateful people are to have a non-functioning toilet repaired or replaced.

For a while a compounding pharmacist was a great job, but that may also be going away.