The Water Cooler

crh225

17:21

Hello anyone here?

I have an interview this Tuesday and would like some advice

jmort253

17:40

@crh225 Congrats on the interview.

crh225

hey hey. Thanks!

jmort253

So what can we do for you, @crh225?

crh225

It is my first time working with a recruiting agency, and they specialize in programmers. The position has a very wide salary range 40-80k, and the recruiter asked to see my current checkstub. Everything I read on the first 16 pages of google said I shouldnt give it to him

Im afraid it will nullify my chances for getting the position

jmort253

4

Q: Can recruiters/employers find out how much your salary was in previous work?

When I go for an interview I'm usually asked what my current salary is. Can the interviewer check this? Why are they asking?

hiring-process

We do have a question here that's "sort of" similar.

It doesn't directly answer your question, but it provides information as to why they might be asking.

The top answer isn't backed up, so I'm not sure how accurate that information is. IMHO, I would try to answer with a range, but it would also depend on how desperate I was for a job.

Back when I was first looking, I would have given the interviewers whatever they wanted, "Just pleeease hire me!"

But if I had options, then I'd be more likely to negotiate and perhaps say a range.

crh225

me too. I have an awesome job, and I am only looking to get this job because of the type of work they do.

What is the most "successful" question I could ask an interviewer to make them want me to work for them? I realize its a strange question, but maybe you have heard some good questions. I have been reading google also, I just wanted to ask a real person.

jmort253

17:53

40

A: Why do recruiters ask how much is your current pay?

They do that for several reasons: Market research. Knowing what a certain position pays, across a large number of people that hold that title gives them an idea of what the realistic range of salaries for that position is. It gives them an idea of when either an employer or candidate have unrea...

There's also this answer, and it's on a question that seems really similar to your situation.

I can see how not disclosing the information could negatively affect you too... if you say, "I'm making X, and would like to make Y", then it gives the recruiter a better scale of what you'd likely settle for and what you'd likely be qualified for.

Not having that information might make it harder for them to gauge what jobs you'd like/wouldn't like.

@crh225 that reminds me of those dating gurus around the Internet that would say some magic word, and suddenly men and women are dropping at their feet. :D)

crh225

hahaha

jmort253

I don't think there is any magical formula. IMHO, the best you can do is do your research on the company. Learn as much as you can, and then as you're meeting w/them you'll likely to have interesting questions.

Going back to the dating analogy, they say people like to talk about themselves, so if you ask good questions about, for instance, (assuming you're a dev), how their build process works, then that shows you're interested and thinking about these things.

crh225

Thanks. Im in a pickle cause I have the best benefits in my state, and I would be going to an awesome job with no benefits. I need all the fuel for them to offer the top part of the range. I am aware that my skills get me there

jmort253

I think the key is to be engaging. Show that you're someone who can think and work independently.

crh225

I have some questions written down: Are theses off putting?

Can you describe what my career path will look like?
What is the turnover rate company-wide and for this and similar positions?
Would you describe your salary review and performance review processes?

jmort253

17:59

Might be worth mentioning that to the recruiter. That way it's included in your range.

I think those are great questions.

The first shows you're interested in growing, and growing with that company.

The second shows you're interested in maybe sticking around longer.

crh225

The beauty of linkedin is that I can see a few people only worked there a few months, so stability is important to me.

jmort253

And the third, I think that also does the same.

crh225

How about this one: What are my shortcomings for this particular position?

jmort253

@crh225 this is just my opinion, but if I were the interviewer I'd turn that around on you... what do you think your shortcomings are, and how will those affect your work?

crh225

My shortcomings are that I am impatient...

jmort253

18:02

That seems like a way for them to sneak in the "What is your greatest weakness?" question but without it being scripted.

Which is good, IMHO, I think the more conversational the interview is, the better....

crh225

I was going to open up with the answers to typical interview questions

Is it ok to ask about vacation time? Mainly because I am getting married in a month and already have time off at my current company

jmort253

@crh225 Definitely. I would mention that, so they can either hire you around that, or make plans for it after you're hired.

It could be a show stopper too, but it's best to mention it early and be open and honest.

In fact, I'd want to know that you as a candidate are a planner.

Not some impulsive person who is just gonna vanish lol.

crh225

How do I find out specific benefits, such as co-pay for insurance and time-off? I read on forbes not to ask in initial interview.

jmort253

14

Q: How should I negotiate for better benefits (more vacation) instead of more pay?

A few years ago I had a job in which I received four weeks of vacation annually. Unfortunately, that position was defunded. When I took my next position, the new employer would only give me two weeks of vacation; when I said I'd rather have at least one more week of vacation they gave me a larg...

job-change negotiation benefits

This seems loosely related, @crh225

21

A: Can hire benefits vary by manager

When accepting a new job it is important to realize that everything is negotiable. This is true of everything from salary, vacation time, sick time, and other perks like a company car, or smartphone. Some things are much easier to get depending on the position. The phone and car are pretty eas...

There are 27 other questions tagged "benefits": workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/benefits

I guess it depends on what's most important to you. If you, for instance, have a dependent with a medical condition, and health insurance is a show stopper, then I personally think you should mention it, based on these two answers.

If they are things that are not super critical, then I would think it would be okay to not bring them up.

crh225

@jmort253 have you ever worked in hr or recruiting?

jmort253

18:14

@crh225 Nope.

I'm a software engineer specializing in web development.

We do have people on this site who do work in HR/Recruiting.

crh225

@jmort253 I am as well

jmort253

@crh225 Well hopefully this helps. There's a wealth of knowledge on this site. I'm pleasantly surprised every time someone asks for help and we can reference this vast database of questions and answers.

crh225

What is your biggest skill/technology that has helped you get to where you are/want to be?

jmort253

The best search tip I have is to use Google.com and just put "workplace" in the search bar, along with other keywords.

@crh225 I've been at the same job now for over 7 years, and when I started I had just finished college, so I'm not sure how I can answer that.

What helped me is that I didn't want to settle. I worked really hard at studying interview and technical questions so that I would pass muster.

They were looking for Java developers when I was first looking, so the night before I studied some basic interview questions on Java.

I had never used Java professionally and only used it once for my senior project, but I was able to answer almost all of the Java questions correctly.

crh225

@jmort253 What motivates you to stay in the same company?

jmort253

18:21

Apparently, they had a string of candidates who showed up in sweats and who couldn't answer basic Java questions.

I rated myself a 3 out of 10 in Java and nailed all the questions, while others rated themselves 8 out of 10 and couldn't tell the difference between default and protected.

@crh225 The people.

I work with really great people.

When you see the two owners of your company walking around the neighborhood picking up trash during their "walking meetings" it really tells you something about the people you're working for.

The grass is always greener on the other side, but I feel like where I am the grass is pretty green.... another saying that comes to mind is that the pain of not changing must be greater than the pain of change.

I'm working on really interesting stuff (to me anyway) and our environment is always changing.... we just moved our office downtown, so there's a ton of energy in our environment right now.

I also have a strong say in what and how I do my work, and that's really important to me.

crh225

do they let you work remote?

jmort253

We started working remote in January, 3 days remote, 2 days in office.

We're building software to help companies go remote, and we have a call center with employees who work full time remotely, so it's something we have experience with hands on.

The new office is actually built around that idea... it's more like a co-working space for people to come in and work. The idea is that we can work anywhere....

crh225

WOW! Is the company software I can share with my boss?

jmort253

@crh225 Not yet. We're still working on it.

But there are similar products out there like slack.com

sqwiggle.com

crh225

I feel like with the name slack, my boss would roll his eyes (I do apologize if this is your company)

jmort253

18:30

No, Slack and Sqwiggle would be loose competitors.

And funny you say that, because when we were talking about marketing strategies (why I love my job! I don't just wear a dev hat!) we wondered what kind of people that name might attract....

crh225

start-ups

jmort253

@crh225 I worked part time for a startup. The owner put in a lot of time and energy. She wasn't a slacker. I feel like the image startups convey is that of people who work tirelessly to meet a goal.... could be too much propaganda like the Silicon Valley TV show lol.

But I did think designers....

(Not that designers are slackers; the ones I work with do really great, amazing work, but they're also a bit more laid back and casual)

crh225

@jmort253 i watched season 1, then i lost hbo

jmort253

It's like the image of relaxation and minimalism are all part of what makes a great designer... I think many of them take their inspiration from Apple.

crh225

@jmort253 to me, with bootstrap, the entire internet is going to minimalism. Even Apple updated their site to look like bootstrap

jmort253

18:38

I like Bootstrap. It's a friend to developers.

I can make stuff that looks at least halfway decent, even though I'm not a designer.

crh225

I like it because I learn something new everyday, and it takes care of all responsiveness

jmort253

@crh225 The responsiveness is important. We have a site that doesn't fit too well on mobile sites, and we were thinking using something like Bootstrap helps make it so you don't have to think about it as much.

Reminds me of when our company started using jQuery so we wouldn't have to keep checking to see if our code broke in IE7...

Things can still break, but I think there's not as much mess to clean up.

when using a nice library or framework.

crh225

I liked working on internal sites, so when someone said it does work on ie7, I could refer them to the company standard

jmort253

@crh225 When I hear "internal" I kinda cringe :)

I've worked on some stuff before that was never intended to be in the hands of a real customer, and it just felt kinda dirty....

- “The best user experiences are enchanting. They help the user enter an alternate reality, whether it’s the world of making music, writing, sharing photos, coding, or managing a project.” – Kathy Sierra

This is what inspires me.

crh225

My internal sites look more awesome than the companies external site.

jmort253

18:44

@crh225 Nice

crh225

because they outsourced it

enderland

@jmort253 for web of apps? for apps it's opportunity :D

@crh225 that's rare if it worked out well then :P

jmort253

@enderland Not going to go there. One of the best developers I've ever had the pleasure of working with worked in our Chennai office.

I learned a ton from working with him, and he inspired me to spend more time working on personal hacking projects to expand my skillset.

enderland

O, for sure, but... a lot of people have really bad experiences with corporate outsourcing...

jmort253

We also made some positive changes in our office, and together, we convinced our boss to try Python and move away from Java.

crh225

18:46

so now, instead of outsourcing work, we are "insourcing" them for eleven month contracts

jmort253

Of course, "outsourcing" and what we do are totally different things... our office in India is a part of our company.

enderland

also don't give the recruiter your paystub

jmort253

Just like how Oded is in the UK working for Stack Exchange and how balpha lives and works in Germany but isn't an outsourced resource.

crh225

@enderland I havent yet. I was going to mark everything with numbers out and just leave my name and company name. I decided that wasnt the best idea

enderland

are you in the US?

crh225

18:50

I am

enderland

k. so giving the recruiter that is going to be hard not to do, but a good idea

if you are a software dev who is competent you are worth a lot of money to potential companies

crh225

so should they pay at the top of their budget?

enderland

that's another question, but unknown

40k-80k is a huge range

depending on where you live too affects that

crh225

My problem is for me to leave my current job, it has to be near the top

enderland

Ah, that's both a bummer and awesome :)

Stack Exchange

22:24

0

Q: Are the tags used for types of termination fit for purporse

I noticed that some questions are using a tag layoff for circumstances where they are referring to some one being fired or being made redundant and not a layoff in the technical sense. Formally a layoff has a specific meaning in hr terms (and in some places legal differences) ie you might lay of...

discussion

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