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Here's how you should see it. Before you quit, if you received this offer...would you have accepted it? You probably wouldn't because you thought you can make comp pay but lets say you know you can't...would you have accepted it?
Is the extra income you were making worth the stress?
You hated that job. You basically said "F this" and left.
Work, maybe in a year or two you can get a raise. Theres nothing worst than working at a place you hate. And in your heart, the pay wasn't good enough for you do deal with it. For example, if you were making $60 an hour...you likely would have shut up and accepted whatever because of the pay.
One of the most sensible posts in this thread, and 100% right on.
I let my ego get the best of me, and totally lost track of why this is a good thing . . and hardly a bad thing. I should be grateful (and I now am).
I let my ego get the best of me, and totally lost track of why this is a good thing . . and hardly a bad thing. I should be grateful (and I now am).
This is a great thing. You are back in your field, earning money, and are a lot more attractive to future employers. Some employers won't even look at applications from those who are out of work.
Unfortunately, the only way for these practices to stop, or at least ease up, is if people stop taking the low balled jobs.
However, people like you, me, and countless others need any paycheck and take the job. Thereby reinforcing g that the pay is "acceptable" because the company finds someone to work for that low pay.
Only until they get a very high turnover, to the point where it's addressed, will they change their practices (assuming the company can afford it).
So, if you don't want to add to it, then tell them they're low balling you and don't take the job.
This is economics 101. The market will bear what we allow.
I didn't read through everything but wanted to point something out that I've seen when looking for a job.
I have over 13 years of increasing experience in my line of work (nothing special, I'm an admin assistant). At my last job, I was topped out on the pay scale. I knew people making more than me and less than me. Executive Assistants usually made more than me.
Regardless that i moved out of the state, what I learned is this...even with increased experience, I would still have to start at the BOTTOM of my range of experience. Which meant, instant pay cut (about $15k less than what I was making). One bad thing about staying in one place too long. Anyhow, I tried to go for EA positions (figuring more pay), but honestly, pay in this field is all over the place. So, even with my experience, and all my extra talents that come with my experience, I still had to take a hefty $22k pay cut.
Like you, I took what I could. And I think that is the problem. Employers are paying some very low wages because someone will take it. Especially for the "requirements" they're looking for. Even when I look at jobs looking for 5-8 years experience, with knowing everything under the sun, they still want to only pay about $25k less than what I was making at my last job. I even saw salaries drop the longer I was unemployed. Crazy.
Unfortunately, you left your crappy job at a bad time. Employers can pay little because someone, like you, will take it because they NEED an income. ANY income. And the more people take the low pay, well, the "average" is going to drop....and there you have it. Lower paying jobs. So, most likely, you probably won't find anything paying you what you were getting. Maybe on the low end of your range, but not the high end.
I understand some companies can't afford to pay more, but those that can, and don't, well, I don't feel sorry for them when they get a high rate of turnover.
Just my two cents. I knew I'd have to take a pay cut. I didn't think it would be $22k's worth. Oh, and that was the "lower end" of the cut.
Employers often promote from within, then back fill the entry level positions with new hires. They aren't going to pay someone their real worth for doing an entry level job. The same thing happened to me as you when I moved out of state. I had 10 years of experience and had to go back to square 1. It sucked and it bothered me for a long while but I'm pretty much over it. It isn't hard to figure out why this happens.
I didn't read through everything but wanted to point something out that I've seen when looking for a job.
I have over 13 years of increasing experience in my line of work (nothing special, I'm an admin assistant). At my last job, I was topped out on the pay scale. I knew people making more than me and less than me. Executive Assistants usually made more than me.
Regardless that i moved out of the state, what I learned is this...even with increased experience, I would still have to start at the BOTTOM of my range of experience. Which meant, instant pay cut (about $15k less than what I was making). One bad thing about staying in one place too long. Anyhow, I tried to go for EA positions (figuring more pay), but honestly, pay in this field is all over the place. So, even with my experience, and all my extra talents that come with my experience, I still had to take a hefty $22k pay cut.
Like you, I took what I could. And I think that is the problem. Employers are paying some very low wages because someone will take it. Especially for the "requirements" they're looking for. Even when I look at jobs looking for 5-8 years experience, with knowing everything under the sun, they still want to only pay about $25k less than what I was making at my last job. I even saw salaries drop the longer I was unemployed. Crazy.
Unfortunately, you left your crappy job at a bad time. Employers can pay little because someone, like you, will take it because they NEED an income. ANY income. And the more people take the low pay, well, the "average" is going to drop....and there you have it. Lower paying jobs. So, most likely, you probably won't find anything paying you what you were getting. Maybe on the low end of your range, but not the high end.
I understand some companies can't afford to pay more, but those that can, and don't, well, I don't feel sorry for them when they get a high rate of turnover.
Just my two cents. I knew I'd have to take a pay cut. I didn't think it would be $22k's worth. Oh, and that was the "lower end" of the cut.
I understand. The offers that I have been getting are just under 30k, when I used to make 45k. It wouldn't be so bad if I had a spouse to lean on, but I have no one and it's getting bleaker by the day. What I cannot understand is how companies actually expect people to live on these little salaries; it just does not make sense.
Employers often promote from within, then back fill the entry level positions with new hires. They aren't going to pay someone their real worth for doing an entry level job. The same thing happened to me as you when I moved out of state. I had 10 years of experience and had to go back to square 1. It sucked and it bothered me for a long while but I'm pretty much over it. It isn't hard to figure out why this happens.
I get entry level jobs, but in my situation, these are not entry level jobs. I also understand dropping back down to the lower end of the range, for the experience you have. But many companirs are asking for lots of experience at entry level pay.
I understand. The offers that I have been getting are just under 30k, when I used to make 45k. It wouldn't be so bad if I had a spouse to lean on, but I have no one and it's getting bleaker by the day. What I cannot understand is how companies actually expect people to live on these little salaries; it just does not make sense.
Wish I knew. I work in HR as a temp. If I wasn't a temp I'd ask my boss. I'd feel weird asking as a temp. Maybe if I get the job, I'll ask. Hopefully I'll get more than what I'm making now.
I understand. The offers that I have been getting are just under 30k, when I used to make 45k. It wouldn't be so bad if I had a spouse to lean on, but I have no one and it's getting bleaker by the day. What I cannot understand is how companies actually expect people to live on these little salaries; it just does not make sense.
Because they don't care, as long as the executives are making big bucks. They don't care if you have to sleep in your car, or use food stamps to buy food. They don't care.
I am a CT Technologist and have been for 10 years. 2 years previous experience in X-Ray so a total of 12 years experience. My last job in CT I was paid 35 dollars an hour. The last job I had was in a higher tier field of imaging, and it paid 43 dollars.
All of this said . . . I left my job of 5 years because of terrible working conditions. I had a manager who was the most vicious I've had in my career. Psychologically I could not handle working for her anymore. It was quite honestly ruining my life. We had 4 people leave in one year under this manager (in a very small department), and she is currently in 3 lawsuits with 3 former employees, two of which were brought against her and one which she brought against a former employee to try to get his unemployment benefits taken away. I'm only stating these facts so you know that it was NOT a normal or healthy working environment.
So I made the decision to leave. No job. No backup plan. I just had to go. I cashed out half of my retirement, and I already had 20,000 in the bank anyway. My friend agreed to let me stay with him for a while, and I started actively looking for work about 4 months ago.
I lasted 7 months at one of my previous jobs. There was a 23 year old guy who's father was a partner in our parent company, so he wasn't getting fired. He'd accuse others of doing non-work things when he was doing it himself (wearing jeans, playing games on his iPhone, using the internet to do browse non-work sites), he'd yammer on and on about his girlfriend, and pretty much never shut up. I wasn't the only one who felt this way. EVERYONE avoided him as much as possible. I ended up getting laid off, with my attitude towards him part of the reason. I would've left anyways... it was that awful. Being unemployed was bad, but not having to deal with him anymore was quite delightful. However, that incident continued to **** me off as to this day (I'm a lot over it now than ever). There's usually one awful person at each job. This was true with me. However, this time, this awful person was someone I needed to interact with. Live and learn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lsquallhart
In those 4 months I've had 5 interviews and no job offers. I think I have applied for about 75 jobs overall I would say. THere's not a lot of work in my field at the moment.
I was finally offered a position with a hospital, but their initial offer was 32 dollars an hour. This is 3 dollars less than I was making 7 years ago. Not only that . . . it's WITHOUT benefits. So that makes it WAYYYY less than I was making 7 years ago. I wrote a very nice letter responding with a counter offer, and I asked for more money because of my experience level, my previous payment history, and because it was an unbenefitted position that I would hope to see that in my salary.
Their response?
"We have to take our other employees into consideration, and you are being paid in line with them. We cannot offer you anymore than 32 an hour. We do not pay premiums for non benefit employees. We need to know by tomorrow."
This is pretty much going to bite them back in the ass. Many folks I've heard and dealt with in my field (IT) try to lowball salary, as naturally, it's a tough economy, and they need to remain competitive. However, they do know that if they go too low, new employees will just jump ship for a higher position when they can. They need to make it worthwhile for good hires to stay. Given the usual deal, you'll be more busy working, but at least you get better prospects while working.
[quote=Lsquallhart;33744151]So why am I writing this little mini blog here?
Well. I'm unemployed. I HAVE to take this job. And to be honest . . . it's not the MONEY that's bothering me. It's my ego. 110% my own inflated ego. I feel like such an idiot that I wrote a letter for a counter offer. They must think I am stupid for even THINKING I could ask for more when I haven't been working for over 6 months in this job market.
The other issue for me is . . . I kind of resent them. I feel like they are low balling me just because they can, and I dont think they're investing in a good employee. I feel like I'm starting out on the wrong foot with a chip on my shoulder.
So what's going to happen is I'm going to take this job . . . keep applying . . . and then I'll find another job with better pay. And that's that. Is this the new job market? Do employers understand that this doesn't work? The fact that I'm getting paid 11 dollars less than I was 6 months ago . . . and 3 dollars less than I did 7 years ago in the same exact field with no benefits is just . . . coming as a complete shock.[/q]I'm in a position where I'm interviewing for a job that's less pay than before. I had no clue... the phone screener actually brought that up as the main concern (the other being my commute, but I told him I can rough it out and move when my lease is up). Otherwise, he and some of the hiring managers he's talked to say I'm a great fit for this position. To me, I do want the job and get working again (I'm still on unemployment, but it'll run out before ya know it), but they do some stuff that's VERY interesting, and since this is more of a junior role, there would be training, which to me, is worth its weight in gold. In a sense, I'm getting paid to go back to school. I don't think I could've been more clear that salary isn't my only consideration. I just need to get through the usual obstacles of the interviews.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lsquallhart
So now . . . I have to write my acceptance . . .and I dont even know how to say it. I just feel like such a worthless addition to the work force. Like my existence means nothing and I am just a number to put in a box.
I'm sure there's a lot of people here who cannot find work. I should be jumping for joy that I found a job . . . but its very bittersweet.
Any responses you have . . any personal stories . . . and any idea for how to swallow my pride and tell them I accept this offer . . . without looking like a complete fool for trying to get what I thought was a "fair" wage are appreciated. Heck, go ahead and lambaste me for being unappreciative that I've been offered a job and I'm crying like a baby. Just feel like I need to talk to someone about it, and this is the only place I can think of.
There is no perfect job. Sometimes, they're far from perfect. Just treat this more as a means than an end. Good luck, and try to celebrate at least this step.
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