• I literally need an adult (Please help!)
    27 replies, posted
So, I was just hired at a professional work place creating customer orders, designing graphics, creating website, etc. I am basically handling 70,000+ customer accounts and working as a marketer. I always do the worst at interviews and have been to at least 15-20 since September. I finally got hired on the spot today and they asked me the horrible question of, "what would you like to be paid!?" I can never gauge this correctly. Its so on the spot for me and I hate talking about money period but I undersold myself and I said 13hr. This job is only 2 days out of the week and its an hour away from where I live. the hours are 10 to 5... They offered me 14 instead after i said 13. I feel like I really fucked myself over with this. I start tomorrow morning and I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to ask them for higher pay? Its almost not worth it to do this if I am only being paid 14 an hour for a 20 hour work week thats an hour away... I was thinking maybe after my first day, 10 minutes before we leave, I say something along the lines of: "i understand that i asked for 13 an hour and you offered to pay me 14, but im always a little nervous about being asked what Id like to be paid and I let my nerves of wanting to get this job get the best of me. I feel with all the work I will be doing as well as the travel costs, I feel more comfortable being paid at least 20 an hour. Especially since I will only be here 2 days out of the week. Or should i say that but instead of an exact amount, say "the highest salary you can offer at this time."??? If anyone has any suggestions about this, please help. Thank you
Well, If they offered 14 instead of 13 i'm gonna guess you did go low. Is this your primary job? Ask the manager about wages. Just be sure to be very nice about it, I personally wouldn't specify a higher number just ask if there's a higher wage you could get. Considering it's 2 days a week and 7 hours of work, that's not a whole lot. With that, just know if you aren't making enough that I would suggest finding another job. It seems like you're doing a pretty high level job. 14 an hour is almost minimum wage in most places so take that as you will. I worked at a ski resort and I made minimum wage for 8 hours a day. Hour drive each way. In the end, It wasn't worth it for me (high stress and a lot of the money was spent on gas) so I had to leave that.
The best way I've found to save face on failed wage negotiations or accepting a lower pay than I'm worth, is to phrase the need for more money as a performance incentive raise after a set period of time. I approached my current boss on hire and said, "you know for the job I do, for the education I have, you should have never been able to hire me at the wage you did, but I'm willing to take the position." He knew this and after a few weeks I approached him again, "hey so, I'll be very upfront about it, I want a raise. You don't have to give it to me now, but after 90 days or 6 months, or whenever you're able to justify my good work ethic and results to the corporate suits, I expect a raise or at least a very good reason for not getting one." You may not have the grounds to be so upfront about it like that, but if you ask for a performance based pay raise in the near future, it'll look much better on you than if you just say, "yeah I don't know shit about wage negotiation, etc."
imo you should hang in there for a while. It’s always a tricky question to put forward, but you want to give them a good reason to increase your rate. Many entry level jobs have a 3 month probationary period (at least they do here), so eg what you could say 3 months down the line is that you’ve been very reliable, that your productivity has increased by so much since you started, and while your $14 per hour rate reflected your need for growth and training during that period of getting the ropes of the job, you feel that it doesn’t reflect your worth to the company now that you know that you’re doing.
You could find someone else in the building and ask how much they make doing the same job. There's a lot of factors here as well, dependent on the state you're in ($14/hr is higher than every state's minimum wage, but is lower than the average at about $25/hr) and whether or not this job is sustainable for you in the long run. Considering your work responsibilities, and with no knowledge of the specifics. I would say that asking for $20-21 an hour would be reasonable, jobs of a similar description on average pay this amount. Here's the problem with that, they may just give you the boot and try to get someone else less knowledgeable to pay them less for the same type of work. If you have to, you may need to nudge it up slightly to the $16-$18 range. Do a bit of math and ensure that you aren't pushing yourself into the red by staying at $14. Get a feel for the way things work around there, you've got to be sure you aren't getting screwed.
Isn't this generally considered ill advise unless both parties are on very good terms?
Depends on the workplace culture tbh.
Hey you found a job, great! Is it predominantly a Russian workplace? You could bring some shots on the table and say you wanna talk business.
Check glassdoor.com. It should give you a better idea of what amount you should ask for. Then just say you checked online and that you actually should be getting paid X amount.
I think it's a good idea to gauge whether or not you're getting properly compensated. I don't understand how or why this would be an issue, if you have been working at the same job doing the same work you should be making sure you're being paid fairly. Time spent at the company as well as with your coworkers will be something you'd have to gauge on a case by case basis. Then again, I work in a place with very open pay charts, I pretty much know how much everyone makes dependent on their positions. Personally I think it's strange that people are so secretive about money in general, then again paranoia can set in. If money concerns you enough, I don't think it's strange to ensure you aren't being underpaid. Here's an Adam Ruins Everything segment on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xH7eGFuSYI
You'd be getting 14 no matter what you said
Thank you everyone for your input, feedback and advice. Today was my first day and overall, I feel like the cons outweigh the pros. The workflow TO work isnt too bad but the gas/uber is expensive to and from. I didnt get home until 2 hours after my work day because the telecommute back to my city is normally HELL. My workday there was a little shocking. They were both very friendly to me but one of the managers was disgusting towards me right after I got there and spoke to them about the travel and costs. I just ripped the band-aid off since it was already the subject of conversation and asked what was the highest wage they were willing to pay me besides 14 since it was only 2 days out of the week and the costs of travel is insane. She immediately said they couldnt give me anymore than what was offered and said they didnt know how I work/my work. The nice manager was teaching me everything about the programs they used, what they wanted and told me to do a few tasks. At this point I was very nervous because there is no one else there except these 2 people (about 50+ in age) so i dont have co-workers. The guy told me to do something very specific and I did it. He saw it and he loved it. The woman started screaming and yelling and saying it was ugly and childish and I told her I did what was asked of me. This was the entire day. She kept saying she wanted one thing and then I would do it and she would hate it and screamed at me to change it. Then she would tirade about how she should teach herself to do it and it was just a very stressful thing. I've worked with clients in the past who werent happy with their graphics but they wouldnt act this way. She would hover over me when I was working on their program site and questioning me and Im sitting there thinking, "This is my FIRST DAY. RELAX." i could feel the tension from the man towards her too.. Then their neighbor came over to check me out I guess??? And like at the end of the day, she came again and the 2 women went outside to gossip about me I think? I talked to the man about what happened and how I felt like she hated me and he told me thats just how she is and that she likes me because otherwise, she would fire me. Getting back home was a fucking mission and I just dont like work environments like that. Theres only him and the lady in this small business store. I will go back on Friday (and I am going to take it upon myself to make a bunch of images on my own just for the hell of it to show her I know what the fuck I'm doing) I am just not into this. It is NOT worth my sanity, time and money..
Sounds like you should demand a much higher pay under threat of leaving. If they end up paying you enough that it's worth it, it's a win. If they don't, then you don't have to work there anymore - a win.
I straight out the gate asked right when I walked in this morning and she said that was the cut-off. Which is kind of funny seeing as in the middle of the day during her constant bitching, she goes, "We have clients who pay A L O T of MONEY for these pRodUcTss!" and the guy was bragging about how they made a million dollars last quarter. I'm over it.
That job really doesn't sound worth it to be honest. Having to deal with the howler monkey manager alone makes the job not worth it, much less the less than optimal pay, the terrible commute, and the lack of co-workers.
Say "Pay me more, or I leave" right to their face and if they say no, do not hesitate to walk out immediately. The stress is not worth it.
I'd just fucking leave at that point lol. If I was told, "nah we can't pay you more" and then they bragged about shit like that I'd have left regardless of them paying me more.
I learned the hard way my last job that its better to just leave a toxic work place even if you are comfortable and think things will get better. They dont.
Sounds like the lady isafraid of you replacing her. Use that as leverage.
No payment plan set up yet is a huge red flag.
It all depends on if this is the profession you are trying to get into or if you have previous work experience in this field but I would suggest you don't quit. Especially since you said you've been looking since September and this was the 1st place to offer you an interview. Even if you hate it and the pay isn't great, its still work experience that you can add to your resume which is way more valuable then the pay. If you really do hate the job that much, start looking for a new job but don't quit. Once you find another job , it will give you more leverage in your current job to get increased pay as well help you with getting a higher starting salary if you decided to switch .Not to mention you can add that your currently working in the specific profession , which can give you a better chance of getting another job interview.
I am in a similar position, albeit for different reasons. The "dont quit" thing is always weirding me out a bit, because big part of the reason I want to move is the company sending me on jobs where I work 10 to 12 hours a days as a Geophysicist in the field on a WEEKS notice. Bye bye private life. And this makes it incredibly difficult to even attend job interviews.
The money situation is going to kill me. I plan to go back today and see what happens but at the end of the day, I will tell them how I feel about this situation. I NEED a full time job. Thats what I was looking for. The fact that this is ONLY 2 days out of the week and the telecommute will cost me a lot of time and money is a no-go Plus the crazy yelling and screaming
Life is too damn short to work shit jobs like that.
My exact thoughts. Ive worked plenty of shit jobs and Im about to be grown-grown next year and this aint it.
I just wanted to inform everyone that after I quit, I got another job 2/3 days later. Full time, 9am to 6pm 10 minutes away from my home. I start tomorrow.
At least you're having no problems finding jobs, I am a worthless lazy neet and I could care less.
Honestly, I've been very lucky after my initial job let me go. I had an interview that same week they let me go. The only reason why I didnt get it was because the managers husband ended up in critical condition ($20 an hr, full time job with benefits doing basic work and room for fast raises. Its been a months ordeal. I finally met with the lady who does the hiring at her home because she felt bad that this happened and she told me she wish she could train me but doesnt have the ability to do so but told me to keep in touch.) Usually, I would have 0 luck and would have no work for about 6 months to maybe even 2 years which is depressing. I am very grateful and thankful that I've atleast tried as hard as I can to not be out of work for that long. Just apply to everything, even if you think you wont get it. Worse case scenario is they say no. They do whatever you can. If its something you dont have experience in, look at tutorials online and learn as you go -- fake it till you make it. My friends brother knew nothing about Javascript and was hired to do that. Months later and acting like he knew what he was doing as well as teaching himself along the way, he's making 5/6 figures. Its crazy.. Just do your best
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