Re: FWD: How Do You NOT Mention Salary First?

[Melonie Holliman <melonie -dot- holliman -at- TXEXMTA4 -dot- AMD -dot- COM>]

Howdy,

I discovered that I can play the "salary" game and spend tons
on time interviewing for jobs which will never pay anywhere
near what I require; or I can, at least, give a ball park
(on the high side) and weed out those employers who pay
ridiculously low salaries. Every time I have gone through
the interview process without discussing money at the
outset, I have wasted my time. There are times I have
pushed a company to pay more than they usually do
because they want me. That will work if we are both in
the same region of pay. However, if they are offering $35,000
and I expect to make $55,000, I will NOT get hired no
matter how much they want me.

Around here, tech writers are paid a very wide range of
salaries. I have had employers call up wanting huge
amounts of experience yet paying student wages.
75% of the jobs will not pay as much as I expect to make.
That is a lot of fruitless interviews.

Being a contractor, I deal mostly with agencies. They usually
ask me my rate in the first 5 minutes of the conversation. If
I don't tell them, they don't waste their time playing games.
If my rate is too high, they will always tell me what rate the
job will pay and give me the chance to lower my rate. The
few times they did not volunteer the rate, I have asked. They
always answer.

I could probably get a little higher rate if I really pushed it.
It just isn't worth the "game" to me. My serenity is worth
quite a bit of money. And to be honest, I am so terrible at
the game that I am more likely to loose the job than get
more money.

Melonie R. Holliman
Technical Writer
CPD Marketing
Advanced Micro Devices

> -----Original Message-----
> From: K. Toast Conger [SMTP:ktoast -at- WOLFENET -dot- COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 1999 1:03 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: FWD: How Do You NOT Mention Salary First?
>
> Suggested responses:
>
> * I know what is a fair salary and I expect you'll offer me the
> appropriate
> amount when the time comes.
>
> * Are you currently offering me the job?
>
> * I am prepared to discuss my skills and abilities and what contributions
> I
> can make to your organization at this meeting... we can discuss salary at
> an
> appropriate time.
>
>

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