Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Brief, but worth it

Now is the time to switch your high school-ish email address.

No more "swiftygirl72" or "callmeswift" or whatever was cute in 1999.

It takes about 2 seconds to open an email account. I know I have previously posted about getting your own personal email to begin with (not borrowing your girlfriend's email to send out your resume on your behalf). Now it's time to make sure it named something slightly north of professional.

Some personality is fine. Silliness is not.

Friday, June 3, 2011

When in Doubt, Counter

Being offered your first job is exciting, and. . . super stressful.

How do you know it's the right place for you? What exactly are the job duties? How much are they going to pay you? What if everyone who works there is a dork? What if I hate my partner?

All valid concerns. Especially, the "how much are they going to pay you" concern.

The second you hear the actual amount being offered to you, you'll have one of two reactions: total joy or total bummed-out-ness. Hopefully the former, sometimes the latter.

Here's my advice: if you are offered an amount that you just can't swallow, ask for more.

This advice also applies when you've been somewhere a year and you deserve a raise. Ask for it. There is absolutely no harm in declaring your worth (as long as you realize others might not wholeheartedly agree).

My sister got offered a job last week. First thing she tells me is she can't get by on the salary. Mind you, she did NOT say she thinks she deserves more or is worth more or should be making more (all of which may be very true). She said she can't get by on the salary.

It's a great job at an interesting place and she really wanted to work there. Counter them I said. Call them up tell them how excited you are by the opportunity, how great a fit it is for you, AND that you would like to ask for 10K more. Then be quiet. Let them respond. Candidates usually mess up the opportunity by talking too much. Keeping quiet is key.

I can tell you no hiring manager wants to lose a candidate this far in the process. If they truly can, they'll see what they can do. If they can't, they'll say so. No harm, no foul.

She countered, they came up, everyone's happy.