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Staying 2-4 years might be perfectly normal. However, when interviewing, companies are usually hoping to hire for the long haul. They want the candidate that will want to stay at the company for many many years into the future. At the same time, the employer doesn't want to commit to keeping the employee that long. It's kind of one sided, because they want the candidate to stay for the long haul, but they employer wants to be able to layoff/fire the employee whenever it best suits the employer.
Not really fair or realistic because it's a one sided "commitment" that really is not a commitment.So you go along with the plan and say that you want a long career there, if asked. In reality, you never know how long you will stay. But saying this in a interview is the wrong answer. Maybe in reality you will stay 2 years or 10 years or 25 years at that company. But you role play in the interview that your plan is to grown your career there. And in truth, sometimes you do.
Not really one-sided, just the way the game is played. It goes without saying that either party can terminate the employment if it isn't going well. But the employer doesn't want to hear a candidate say he will stick around two years then re-evaluate any more than the candidate would want to hear the employer say the job will be secure for two years and then who knows.
Your downfall is you told them you are interested in working for them for a few years, no employer wants to invest into someone for only a few years. Albeit, the offer did have mistakes as well, but ones that could have been overlooked if the company's mission and work load are impressive.
See it as a lesson learned. I messed up worse than this once at a Fortune 100 company. The interview was going extremely well and I was going to meet with the HR representative right before heading back to the airport to catch my flight, I made the mistake of asking what the bennies were before they even offered me the position. That lost me that opportunity, and I have learned ever since.
I don't understand the "dodge a bullet" comments, if the person was giving up a job to take it then it would make sense. If you are unemployed then you aren't losing anything by working there. Nothing prevents you from looking for another job if it's terrible....maybe time but you are getting a paycheck
I won't speak for others, but what I meant when I said it was that the person dodged a bullet by dodging a job that just would've ended up a headache that they would've left sooner than later anyway OR - God forbid - would have been stuck at a lot longer than they wanted.
Interviews aren't just about being hired. You should be sizing up your employer too. What do YOU think of THEM? Trust your gut. And watch what they do, not what they say.
Thank you for your replies, everyone. In hindsight, I obviously shouldn't have answered the way I did when they inquired about my length of stay there. I think that by that time, I had already been quite put off by their initial lowball offer and refusal to give me a proper salary offer in writing. All of the previous places I've worked at had no trouble producing that, and I believed that was pretty standard procedure. I thought that was pretty unprofessional of them and I had begun to get second thoughts about working there. But being unemployed and in a state of panic had clouded my judgement. On one hand, I was happy to have an offer...just not a very good one that I was hoping for. Perhaps those feelings had manifested themselves during the negotiation phase and when they asked me how long I was planning to stay there for, I honestly was unable to give them a good answer. I think if I really wanted to stay for a long time (longer than 2-3 years), I really would've answered differently.
Well, what's done is done. I was getting feelings of doubt of whether I wanted to even stay at all anymore. My gut was telling me that in reality, I didn't really want to work there. In the end, I ended up telling them that indirectly. I'm going to keep searching for the right job and take all of this as a learning experience.
I spoke with Company A today and attempted to negotiate their salary offer, as they sent me a lower offer than I had indicated during my interview. In their job listing, they proposed a range of $2000 to $2,500. I was making around $2150 in my last position, so I was hoping for at least somewhat of a pay jump. During my interview, I indicated that I was okay with taking $2300 to $2500. When they offered me the position, they offered me $2,250. To be honest, I was not happy with this offer and during the interview, all the duties they were asking for was a lot so I believe that it should've been at around $2500 anyways. To me, that was a lowball offer.
I expressed to them that I was happy to take their offer but I wanted to discuss the salary. I told them that as much as I appreciated their offer, it was not that much higher than what I was making at my last job and yet the duties were a lot more. I would be happy to take on the challenge, but obviously, I believed that I was worth more. Therefore, I wanted to see if they were willing to go with $2500. I threw that number out there because I figured they weren't really going to give me that but I was hoping that they would at least meet me halfway. Company A told me that they could offer me $2300 and after 3 months probation, they could increase my pay by 10-15 percent. They asked me if I was okay with this.
I told them that I accepted this offer but asked if I could have their salary proposal in writing. They told me that they could not give it to me in writing. Anyways, I told them that was okay and I would accept their offer anyways. Then out of the blue, Company A asks me how long would I be willing to stay there. I was kind of taken aback by that question but I thought I had conveyed my desire and enthusiasm to work there during my interview. I told him that I would be open to staying for a couple to a few years and hopefully see where it goes from there. And that I hope to grow with the company and help the company grow for a long period of time. He said that he would talk to his boss about finalizing the details and would let me know what I need to bring for my first day of work next week.
THEN, a couple hours later, I get an email from him telling me that they have rescinded their job offer because they doubted how long I was willing to stay at the company. Was my answer not enough? Why did that all of a sudden become an issue after I had tried to negotiate a higher salary? Did they think that I would not be happy in the long term with the salary they were offering me? Somehow, I feel as though if I had not attempted to negotiate and instead, just happily accepted their lowball offer, this wouldn't have happened. Well, now it's back to the job boards, I suppose.
So has anyone had any experience with a company taking back their offer after you try to negotiate? Do you think it's better to not negotiate even when a company lowballs their salary offer?
Another thing -- a lot of people only look at starting salary when they really should be looking at the salary span and also bonuses.
You might accept a position paying $28 an hour instead of one paying $25 an hour but if the one paying $28 an hour skips annual raises fairly often and the one paying $25 an hour consistently gives merit raises and cost of living raises and a $3000 annual bonus then you go with the lower paying jobs. Also look at benefits.
Next time, think twice before you answer. I definitely would not hire you because I'd have to spend resources recruiting and retraining a brand new person again in just two years!
you cannot predict if you will even be around in one year. there are no guarantees in life. and in two years, even the most eligible career minded hiree could bail if he gets better offers. why would he or she stay if he gets something better somewhere else? this makes no sense. you would train someone anyway once that person outgrows the position and finds something better.
you cannot predict if you will even be around in one year. there are no guarantees in life. and in two years, even the most eligible career minded hiree could bail if he gets better offers. why would he or she stay if he gets something better somewhere else? this makes no sense. you would train someone anyway once that person outgrows the position and finds something better.
Yeah but you don't tell a company who is interested that if you get a better job offer in a year, you are leaving.
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