Until a candidate has accepted an offer, most hiring authorities feel absolutely no moral obligation to that candidate. Hiring authorities, just like anyone else, fear rejection. It’s not uncommon for an employer to make an offer then become scared when the candidate asks for a delay and so offer the job to the next candidate…. without even telling the first candidate.

Get it in writing

Contrary to what most people think, a signed offer letter, except in very rare instances, is not a legally binding implied contract. Candidates often think that because they have signed and accepted an offer letter, they have some sort of legal right to the job. So you know, most states are employment-at-will states, which means that the employer or the candidate can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for just about any reason – except that the employee cannot be terminated for an illegal reason like race or age discrimination.

Unless there is a clear or implied long-term promise of employment, the candidate has practically no legal recourse if the job doesn’t materialize – even if the offer is spelled out in writing. Even with the clear long-term promise, the candidate must still document hefty damages to justify an action in law.

There are, however, two major reasons that you should be sure to get a written offer with as much detail as possible. The first reason is that at least 30 percent of the time it will be different, in some way, from what you have discussed with the hiring authority. These usually are not major mistakes and often result from inadvertent mistakes by the H.R. Department or administrative staffer whose job it is to write letters. Sometimes things get lost in translation.

The second reason you want to get an offer in writing is to be sure that your paychecks reflect your agreement – including benefits and benefit deductions. It is not uncommon for an earnings agreement, whether verbal or written, to be handled by a number of people before it is entered into the payroll system. These are normally just human errors, but the shock of something like this doesn’t make the start of a new job any easier. You don’t want any surprises, so have as much detail in the offer letter as is reasonable.

Set a starting date

Most people think that this is an easy thing to do once you accepted a job, but as I’ve mentioned before “it isn’t over ‘til your butt is in the chair,” – even then it might not be over. You’ll want as little time to go by as possible between the time you accept the job and when you actually start the job. Why? Because strange things do happen.

When you have accepted the offer, you should try to get to the new job as soon as possible. It is rare to have something happen to the job between the time of accepting the offer and actually starting the job, but it can and does happen. I have seen companies sold, head counts for new hires frozen, changes in management, and all kinds of other things that may alter the status of the situation just before the candidate shows up for work.

I recommend that if the starting date is more than two weeks away, you try to take the hiring authority to lunch during that period, or make some other effort to keep yourself in his consciousness.

The post Tip #54 Accepting an Offer appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

Salary negotiations are always difficult no matter what level of position you are seeking. Until you reach the 20 year experience level, in one particular profession, you are never going to be quite sure exactly what you are worth. Even then, studies show that money is the fourth or fifth “motivator” for professionals.

As a relatively inexperienced person, with a new degree, keep in mind that you really don’t have a lot of bargaining power. You don’t have a lot of “performance” to leverage. You are selling your “potential” as a professional based on very little experience.

If you have graduated, with an engineering degree, cum laude from MIT, you know what you are worth in the market. Even if you have a new degree in engineering or technology and decent grades from even a less than top 10 university, you have a pretty good idea of what your starting salary might be. If companies and industry have been recruiting (i.e. really hiring) from your school, you have a good bench mark for what your starting earnings might be.

But for the rest of us mortals, knowing what to ask for salary-wise, in your first job, is very difficult. After you have had a number of interviews in the particular part of the country you wish to work and in a number of different professions or industries, you are going to have a pretty good idea about what your skills and market value are.

Do lots of research. The web offers many comparative salary formulas and surveys. However, employers don’t read those things. In fact, very few people really know how the research used for these surveys is done. There is often a vast difference between what some Human Resources Manager puts down on the survey sent to him or her by the state university and what the company really pays. I have known investment banking firms to publish starting salaries when they hadn’t hired anyone in two years. So, don’t put all of your faith in the most recent survey you have read or found on the web. They can mislead you.

Whatever you do don’t go into an interview and, when asked about the salary you desire, say something stupid like, “Well, the last salary survey I read stated that I should receive $XXXX to start.” Or, something like, “The University Placement office told me I should be getting $XXXX to start.” A smart employer will tell you to go let the University Placement office hire you. When asked about salary, you have to state, “At this point, I am more concerned about the job, the company and what I am going to learn. I’m sure whoever hires me is going to make a fair offer.”

Here are some valuable tips:

• Remember that 69% of the companies in the U.S. have less than 100 people in them. The hiring authorities, owners and managers don’t read salary surveys.

• Benefits should be part of your consideration. But keep in mind that you are not likely to be at this job more than 2.5 to 3 years. Employers will often make a big deal about the fact that their benefits are an additional 30% of an employee’s salary earnings. That is the way a “traditionalist” and/or “boomer” might think. Of course, you need to know what the benefits are, but it is not likely that the benefits of a company are going to make a difference in which job you take.

• The experience you are going to get in your first job is more important than the initial money you will earn. Not that you shouldn’t consider the money you will earn, but it should take a back seat to the experience you will gain, kind of company, culture of company, etc.

• None of us has any intrinsic “worth.” No matter where we start, we still have to prove ourselves. If you are grossly overpaid or slightly underpaid both you and your employer will know it real quickly. If you are grossly overpaid and don’t perform, you will be fired. If you are underpaid and perform, the competition will come after you within two to three years or you will catch on that you are underpaid and change jobs.

• You are going to “take home” 28% less than your gross pay.

• Good news…The Department of Labor says that college graduate hiring is increasing 13% this year over last and will continue to increase over the next few years. Technology grads are getting the highest pay, up 4% to 6% over last year.

• Size of company, the industry/profession they are in and location will all have a significant impact on the starting salaries. Don’t expect a bank in New York, one in St. Louis, one in Omaha, and one in Bozeman to pay the same.

• Do your homework. No one can tell you what percentage of your decision should be made regarding money. It is a personal decision. Don’t rely on anyone but yourself.

• Save specific salary or earnings discussion until the very end of the interviewing process.

Remember, the better you sell yourself, the better the monetary offer will be. The more and better reasons you give an employer to hire you, the more reasons he or she will give you to go to work there…and money is one of them. The outcome has to be a win/win deal for both of you. Practice, practice, practice selling yourself and interviewing well!

The post Tip #53 So, You Want How Much Money? Oh My! appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

With that in mind, other than the intangible, “I’m smarter than most, I’ll work harder than most, with more passion, commitment…etc.,” you don’t really have a strong position from which to negotiate. Don’t let the job offer go to your head. You need the best job you can find so that you will gain experience that can be leveraged in a future job negotiation. So, do your best at negotiating, don’t get greedy, know your limits, and accept a good offer.

The second key is a tactical approach to negotiating. It requires that you simply ask the question, “Is that the best you can do?” When you get down to the final offer, and you know everything there is to know about the opportunity, you look the hiring authority in the eye and say, “Is that the best you can do?”This is a “we are all in this together, but I would like a better deal” type of statement. It doesn’t threaten or push the hiring authority into a corner. It simply asks if that is the best they can do. Practice this before the final interviews. It is one of the best tools you will have.

The third key is to recognize and remember that this is your first formal job opportunity. The odds are really great that you will only be in this job and, most likely, this company for a year or two. The days of life-long employment with one company are history.

You should accept every job thinking, “where can I leverage this experience two or three years from now?” (Note – you are probably going to change careers 7 or 10 times!)

This is a very hard question to answer because, as I have described, companies change their complexion every two to three years. You probably can’t advance your career as an accountant if you start with a sales job. However, after interviewing with a number of companies, you will get some idea of where the experience can take you.

I discuss mentors in another portion of this site, but it isn’t a bad idea to discuss a job offer or opportunity with people you are close to – i.e. parents or relatives, people with whom you have interviewed that took a liking to you, or any knowledgeable person in business you respect. Even though you may get a number of different opinions, you are still the one who has to show up every day at work. You are the one who has to live with the decision. So, don’t be afraid to make a commitment. Life, after all, is a wonderful risk!

You risk making a mistake with your job decision. That is part of life. But the world won’t end. And, if you make a mistake and learn from it, you will be better for it. Fortunately, the job market is the best it has been for almost ten years and it appears that it will be strong for some time. You will be able to reinstate your search if you have to.

The post Tip #50 Negotiating For New Professionals appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

Whatever you do, don’t burn any bridges by being aloof, condescending, or egotistical. Be very graceful and recognize that you may need an offer from this organization somewhere down the line.

If you really want to keep the door open for the future, try this:

After turning down an offer, send the hiring authority in nice note thanking the person for his or her time and effort along with a small gift – maybe $10 gift certificate to Starbucks, or a book you know they would like. Any small gift, that the person will remember you by, works. This gesture alleviates the irritation that the hiring authority might have over your rejection of the job, and it reinforces the personal relationship that you established during the interview.

Getting an offer you might take

Begin by knowing everything there is to know about the opportunity. Get the offer and evaluate it. If you are fortunate enough to be able to compare one offer with another, do it quickly. Another bit of advice: never compare an offer in hand with one that you might get in the near future. The bird in hand is always more valuable than one in the bush.

However, if you do have a job offer in hand, it is advisable to call any other organization that may be considering you. Tell them you have an offer and that you would like to hear from them by a certain time. You have to put a time limit on this. You don’t have much choice, but you might ask the company that has given you an offer for a day or so to think about it. Do not tell a hiring authority that you have another offer when you don’t.

Most hiring authorities won’t believe you have another opportunity by default; they will consider it a bluff. However, if it is real, that truth somehow comes across in your voice.

Getting an offer you would like to accept

This is really easy to do. Once you get the offer, tell the hiring authority that you would like to discuss the offer with him face-to-face. The only word of caution I would offer is that you do not shut down your pursuit of any other opportunities until you are sure of the offer and your acceptance of it. Even then, I would be sure to keep my options open for a short period, just in case things fall through.

I’ve experienced numerous instances over the years of candidates being told they would receive an offer and the job never materialized. So, when an organization tells you that it would like to make you an offer, set a face-to-face meeting to go over the details of the offer, but don’t tell any other organization that you are interviewingwith that you are inthe process of accepting an offer until you have it.

The post Tip #48 How to Refuse an Offer appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

Over the years, I developed a 10-question formula to help people decide if an opportunity was good for them. These are simple questions with basic “yes” or “no” answers.

I have edited the questions to apply to a college graduate seeking their first professional job.

1. Do I like the nature of the work that I will have to perform?

2. Can I do the job? Is there a good balance of risk/challenge to the job?

3. Am I going to be in a learning environment with good mentors?

4. Is there a reasonable progression from the position that I’m excepting within the firm?

5. Is the chemistry with my prospective peers/managers appropriate?

6. Is the opportunity for growth in line with my personal goals?

7. Is the location or territory appropriate?

8. Is their philosophy of doing business compatible with my personal philosophy?

9. Will all of my abilities be pushed and challenged?

10. Is it likely that this experience will advance my future goals?

My rule of thumb is:

If you can answer “yes” to eight of the 10 questions, that’s about as good as you’re going to get. If you can answer “yes” to five to seven of these questions, the opportunity may very well be a reasonable one, but you need to think about what kind of compromises you might have to make. If you answered “yes” to less than five of the questions, the opportunity is probably a questionable one.

The purpose of this approach is to make you think. It is mostly a quantitative exercise and does not take into account the qualitative aspects of how you feel about the entire situation. There’s no way I can speculate about that for anyone. I will tell you that if you have, say, six ‘yes’ answers in this exercise, and you don’t feel emotionally attracted to the opportunity, you should not take the job because you probably will not be very successful. If you have a total of 5 ‘yes’ answers to the survey and you feel tremendously passionate and enthusiastic about the opportunity, plus you have a “failure is not an option” attitude about the situation, you may very well be able to be successful.

Another way to evaluate an offer is the “Ben Franklin” approach, which means to simply balance the pros and cons. If you have ten to twelve reasons why you ought to accept the job and only two or three reasons why you shouldn’t, the decision is fairly obvious. The idea is to make you think about every aspect of the position.

Forcing yourself to write down the pros and cons is also great catharsis. Talking it out with a peer, or even better, a mentor, is also of value. Hearing yourself talk about what you think and feel about an opportunity will clarify your perspective.

At the end of the game realize that there’s always risk in taking a new job. Do the best you can to analyze all the factors that are involved. Then, follow your gut.

The post Tip #47 Making Your Decision appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

Most of the people who write books about finding jobs talk about qualifying your opportunities before you really get to the end of the interviewing process. I don’t agree with that concept at all! The reason is very simple: almost everything about a job opportunity can change between an initial search for a candidate and the final offer and acceptance. Sell yourself and communicate what you can do for the company to the point that you are the one the organization wants to hire. Then you can talk about what the company can do for you.

The time to qualify

Until receiving the job offer, the interview process is pretty much a one-way street. Qualifying questions are not, in my opinion, the same things that you might negotiate after receiving the offer. Negotiations center on those aspects of the offer that have inherent flexibility such as benefits, title, base pay, bonuses, commissions and so forth. Things like a working environment, employees, peers, subordinates, and supervisors, territory, and so forth are not negotiable 99% of the time. After receiving the offer is the time to ask about the details of the job so you know exactly what you’re getting into.

How to qualify the opportunity

Keep it simple. Once you offered the position, explain that you would like to have a meeting with the hiring authority to clarify all the questions you have before you start negotiating.

When you meet with the hiring authority, he or she might think that you are ready to accept the job and that you want to talk about specifics such as title, money, etc. However, say something like this instead:“Mr. /Ms. (hiring authority), I’m really excited about this opportunity however, I still have a number of questions about the position itself. Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, I’d like to find out….” Be prepared with a list of questions about the opportunity that were either unclear or which you haven’t had a chance to ask before.

It is likely that a hiring authority will have covered many of these in the interviewing process, however now is the time to get clarification. Do not hesitate to ask for detailed answers. Also, do not hesitate to ask for an audience with anyone else whom you feel can answer your questions. It is not out of line for you to ask to talk to peers or even other managers in the organization. You need to have a clear understanding of everything about the job before you consider accepting their offer.

Caution: do not string this out for more than one or two days at the most. If you come across as hesitant about the opportunity, it’s too easy for the hiring authority to move on to the second candidate. Be interested and proactive, but do it quickly. The purpose is not to over analyze; it’s to have a clear understanding of the position.

Before accepting a job offer, you must ask yourself, “Do I understand clearly everything I need to know about this job?” There should be no loose ends or unanswered questions. Sit down and write everything you think you know about the job. Write down any questions that are not clear to you. Then start asking those questions.

The post Tip #46 What and When to Negotiate appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

The milestones in the job search process I recommend, in 21 words, are:

• Get interviews with many organizations

• Perform well on those interviews

• Secure a job offer

• Negotiate its terms

• Begin your new job

My simple process is focused on answering one simple question. Every hiring manager is going to ask in his or her own words, “What can you do for me that the other people I’m interviewing cannot?”

All of your job search activities have the goal of you answering that question persuasively. Writing a resume, phoning for an interview, working through a “screening” interview, and practicing your interviewing skills, are all designed to put you in front of that hiring manager and prepare you to answer that question. Your follow-up communications are intended to secure your opportunity to answer that question again for other decision influencers. Even as you negotiate the job offer, the employer is still seeking to confirm by your actions that your answer to that question was accurate.

The process is simple, the work is hard, and success can be yours – if you learn to answer that question correctly, and better than anyone else does. If so, you will have multiple job offers. If not, you will very likely have to settle for a job that is less than you think you deserve. It’s that simple.

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