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I work as a manager at a Barnes & Noble. It's a college store so there are many different departments - mine is general books (as opposed to textbooks, the cafe, or general merchandise). I am okay with my job - I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I make just enough to get by (32-33K), but to be fair I get to spend way too much time dicking around online and doing whatever I want. There's not a whole lot of actual work involved. So it's a fair tradeoff. It's also enabled me to be just comfortable enough that I haven't sought a job that actually challenges me and pays me more - though I should mention I really have no clue what I actually want to do, and that question has plagued me for years.
Last month our cafe manager quit with no notice. He wasn't exactly a strong leader so the cafe needs some structure, but the workers there are generally decent. My boss just offered me a $6K raise to take the job, but I'm not sure if I want to take it. My girlfriend and I are moving in together at the end of June, at which point I was planning on taking a job in Philly (right now I live/work about 35 mins away from the city), which would give me the chance for a better job with better pay. My goal salary is around $40K.
Pros: An extra $400ish/mo after taxes. Work will keep me busy. I am still completely free to find and take a better job after I move to Philly. Having a higher salary now will give me more leverage in negotiating salary for a new job. Could pay down my debts much more quickly. If I don't find a new job right away, hey at least I'm getting paid more than I would be otherwise. I might dislike the job enough to jump-start my planned new job search.
Cons: I'd actually have to do work now - it's a busier position because I'm expected to be in the cafe almost all the time, instead of in my office pretending to do officework. I'd be moving from books (best department in store for my interests) to cafe. Slightly less than the target salary increase I'm looking for. It would be bad form to leave the position after a couple months, so I'd be commuting for at least a bit before finding a new job. I'm still in retail, which I decidedly don't want to be. I might continue to be "comfortable" and not seek out a new position.
I would appreciate y'allses input, exploratory questions, what you think you would do in this situation, etc.
I think Philly passed a law that Philly employers can't ask about your previous job's income. So go with whatever one will give you the skill set or perceived skill set to get the job you want in the city.
Just about every interview I've been on this year all the company/recruiter says is that they had no negative feedback. What can I be doing to improve my interviews?
Just about every interview I've been on this year all the company/recruiter says is that they had no negative feedback. What can I be doing to improve my interviews?
What kind of jobs are you applying for? How far are you making it in the hiring process?
Just about every interview I've been on this year all the company/recruiter says is that they had no negative feedback. What can I be doing to improve my interviews?
What kind of jobs are you applying for? How far are you making it in the hiring process?
Various. Some sales, some call center/corporate customer service. I'm making to basically the last round on almost all jobs I hear back from.
Post by actually @fortyfive33 now on Sept 1, 2018 14:31:02 GMT -5
Well, I'm a senior in college now. Shit.
I'm beginning to do more solid...stuff, like reporting for an NPR member station and freelancing, but I can't shake the feeling it's not good enough.
I'm also starting to look for actual jobs now, which is daunting. I'm pretty much limited to major cities with good public trans at this point (that is unless I can turn one of my classes into a job in CoMo, at which point I'll stay until I can pay off my student debt).
I've been looking at LA (I know I know), the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Seattle, Miami and Atlanta thus far.
I'm beginning to do more solid...stuff, like reporting for an NPR member station and freelancing, but I can't shake the feeling it's not good enough.
I'm also starting to look for actual jobs now, which is daunting. I'm pretty much limited to major cities with good public trans at this point (that is unless I can turn one of my classes into a job in CoMo, at which point I'll stay until I can pay off my student debt).
I've been looking at LA (I know I know), the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Seattle, Miami and Atlanta thus far.
I'm beginning to do more solid...stuff, like reporting for an NPR member station and freelancing, but I can't shake the feeling it's not good enough.
I'm also starting to look for actual jobs now, which is daunting. I'm pretty much limited to major cities with good public trans at this point (that is unless I can turn one of my classes into a job in CoMo, at which point I'll stay until I can pay off my student debt).
I've been looking at LA (I know I know), the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Seattle, Miami and Atlanta thus far.
This is to say I'm pretty much fucked.
Welcome to working in media! I've felt like that the better part of a decade as do plenty of my colleagues. The good news is it means you're aware of what's going on around you.
At your age the most important thing you can do is get clips. You want a portfolio that shows employers you're competent and comfortable doing the work. The more diverse your work is the better but that's another issue. I think working at an NPR station and doing other freelance stuff is a tremendous start. Way more than what I was doing at the end of college.
If you have any questions or want some advice shoot me a PM. I live in Atlanta too so I can answer questions about transit and stuff.
Don't forget to look in NY. They have some media jobs there.
I'm beginning to do more solid...stuff, like reporting for an NPR member station and freelancing, but I can't shake the feeling it's not good enough.
I'm also starting to look for actual jobs now, which is daunting. I'm pretty much limited to major cities with good public trans at this point (that is unless I can turn one of my classes into a job in CoMo, at which point I'll stay until I can pay off my student debt).
I've been looking at LA (I know I know), the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Seattle, Miami and Atlanta thus far.
This is to say I'm pretty much fucked.
Welcome to working in media! I've felt like that the better part of a decade as do plenty of my colleagues. The good news is it means you're aware of what's going on around you.
At your age the most important thing you can do is get clips. You want a portfolio that shows employers you're competent and comfortable doing the work. The more diverse your work is the better but that's another issue. I think working at an NPR station and doing other freelance stuff is a tremendous start. Way more than what I was doing at the end of college.
If you have any questions or want some advice shoot me a PM. I live in Atlanta too so I can answer questions about transit and stuff.
Don't forget to look in NY. They have some media jobs there.
My reservation about NY (and SF and LA, similarly) is how expensive it is.
I've done written, video and audio work thus far but I haven't done a ton of video work for a while because my multimedia specialization is in radio.
Welcome to working in media! I've felt like that the better part of a decade as do plenty of my colleagues. The good news is it means you're aware of what's going on around you.
At your age the most important thing you can do is get clips. You want a portfolio that shows employers you're competent and comfortable doing the work. The more diverse your work is the better but that's another issue. I think working at an NPR station and doing other freelance stuff is a tremendous start. Way more than what I was doing at the end of college.
If you have any questions or want some advice shoot me a PM. I live in Atlanta too so I can answer questions about transit and stuff.
Don't forget to look in NY. They have some media jobs there.
My reservation about NY (and SF and LA, similarly) is how expensive it is.
I've done written, video and audio work thus far but I haven't done a ton of video work for a while because my multimedia specialization is in radio.
Yea you'll live in a closet in NY right out of school. The good news there is so. many. people. start their careers in NY. You'll have the chance to move up quickly because there's a wealth of opportunity there. And there's a good chance you'd wind up in NY at some point anyway if you want to stay in news.
If it makes you feel better, I'd never done any broadcast work before I started interning at CNN. All my experience was in print. If you have the experience with video storytelling and some basic programs like Premier then you are in good shape. Most entry level jobs in this field teach you how to work at the company you get into.
Just some general advice... look for people willing to mentor you in whatever field you work in. My mentor at CNN basically had my produce docs alongside him as much as possible and I learned SO much about how to do this just from being his shadow.
Hey just a quick question. Anyone have any tips for job fairs? Trying to get a cse summer internship at osu’s fair tomorrow. I’ll be making my resume tonight but does anyone have some general tips? I’m hoping that the fact I’m not a socially awkward engineer will help me.
Hey just a quick question. Anyone have any tips for job fairs? Trying to get a cse summer internship at osu’s fair tomorrow. I’ll be making my resume tonight but does anyone have some general tips? I’m hoping that the fact I’m not a socially awkward engineer will help me.
Every company is different, some will actually engage in good dialogue, others will give you some info and then tell you to apply online. Hopefully you have a list of companies that will be there, so I'd recommend doing looking that over and looking at what type of positions they have available. Come up with some basic questions about the company/position that show you did your homework. Try and come up with a short intro on yourself that includes any relevant experience and interests. If you're lacking in experience (btw not a big deal, you're looking for an internship), go for classwork/projects/etc. If you get business cards, send a follow-up/thank you note and try to remind the recruiter about your conversation, again highlighting your background. Best advice is to try and stand out as much as possible these recruiters are talking to hundreds of kids just like you all day.
Hey just a quick question. Anyone have any tips for job fairs? Trying to get a cse summer internship at osu’s fair tomorrow. I’ll be making my resume tonight but does anyone have some general tips? I’m hoping that the fact I’m not a socially awkward engineer will help me.
Every company is different, some will actually engage in good dialogue, others will give you some info and then tell you to apply online. Hopefully you have a list of companies that will be there, so I'd recommend doing looking that over and looking at what type of positions they have available. Come up with some basic questions about the company/position that show you did your homework. Try and come up with a short intro on yourself that includes any relevant experience and interests. If you're lacking in experience (btw not a big deal, you're looking for an internship), go for classwork/projects/etc. If you get business cards, send a follow-up/thank you note and try to remind the recruiter about your conversation, again highlighting your background. Best advice is to try and stand out as much as possible these recruiters are talking to hundreds of kids just like you all day.
Appreciate the advice! I definitely am doing my homework and picking which company’s to talk to. I’m lacking in experience but I have some passion projects that I’m told recruiters like to see. Hopefully all goes well tomorrow!
I need some help with my new portfolio website. I want somebody to tear it apart and help it not suck.
I'm not into graphic design outside of the festival posters, but I would change the main colors and font. Something simple like Times New Roman or Georgia will give a good sense of professionalism and maybe change the title to "Chris Olszewski: Journalist & Radio Personality". For the colors, anything more toned down would work, like a navy blue? If you used a template for the site, I would change it to something less spread out. It works for a mobile site but there's just a lot of dead space at the top imo. The more empty spaces you have on the front page, the less of an impression you make. If you decide to keep the tiles at the bottom, add a picture for the resume. Even just two people shaking hands would work. Looking at the other pages, I think this page is kind of useless. You could make your "Hello There" page the front.
I think the contact page is fine, but maybe list the top task bar "Home (Hello There), Work, Resume, Contact". Renaming Hello There to "Introduction" would also work. Adding your email address might be a good idea too if someone wishes to send you a file or something.
The Hello There page, again should probably replace the home page, suffers from the same dead space issue. Your picture could be on the left, while the writing is on the right in a different and smaller font that doesn't require the user to scroll.
Some edits to the writing I would make: Hello, my name is Chris Olszewski. I use my voice to tell other people's stories and I write works of my own.
I am a student at the Missouri School of Journalism with a focus in Convergence Radio Reporting and Producing. While most of my work focuses on audio, I have a variety of work that includes video, social and written content as well.
I have a medical file a foot thick (and that was just my pediatric files). My disabilities are wide-ranging and affect every aspect of my life, including my reporting. I have cerebral palsy and epilepsy among others. My goal, as a reporter, is to make those little (okay, big) quirks worth it to everyone I meet.
The resume page is solid but I change the font and color to a black Georgia or Times New Roman so it is easier to read.
The "Work" doesn't need that top banner and just needs the two choices "Written Work" and "Radio Work". Also, add an image for "radio work".
For wrriten work, the same stuff applies. Change the landscape of the site to make it more compact and maybe make the images smaller, so the text is next to them.
Radio work is good for the most part, but again just change fonts, make sure spacing between paragraphs is even and rearrange the page to take up more of the dead space.
I need some help with my new portfolio website. I want somebody to tear it apart and help it not suck.
I'm not into graphic design outside of the festival posters, but I would change the main colors and font. Something simple like Times New Roman or Georgia will give a good sense of professionalism and maybe change the title to "Chris Olszewski: Journalist & Radio Personality". For the colors, anything more toned down would work, like a navy blue? If you used a template for the site, I would change it to something less spread out. It works for a mobile site but there's just a lot of dead space at the top imo. The more empty spaces you have on the front page, the less of an impression you make. If you decide to keep the tiles at the bottom, add a picture for the resume. Even just two people shaking hands would work. Looking at the other pages, I think this page is kind of useless. You could make your "Hello There" page the front.
I think the contact page is fine, but maybe list the top task bar "Home (Hello There), Work, Resume, Contact". Renaming Hello There to "Introduction" would also work. Adding your email address might be a good idea too if someone wishes to send you a file or something.
The Hello There page, again should probably replace the home page, suffers from the same dead space issue. Your picture could be on the left, while the writing is on the right in a different and smaller font that doesn't require the user to scroll.
Some edits to the writing I would make: Hello, my name is Chris Olszewski. I use my voice to tell other people's stories and I write works of my own.
I am a student at the Missouri School of Journalism with a focus in Convergence Radio Reporting and Producing. While most of my work focuses on audio, I have a variety of work that includes video, social and written content as well.
I have a medical file a foot thick (and that was just my pediatric files). My disabilities are wide-ranging and affect every aspect of my life, including my reporting. I have cerebral palsy and epilepsy among others. My goal, as a reporter, is to make those little (okay, big) quirks worth it to everyone I meet.
The resume page is solid but I change the font and color to a black Georgia or Times New Roman so it is easier to read.
The "Work" doesn't need that top banner and just needs the two choices "Written Work" and "Radio Work". Also, add an image for "radio work".
For wrriten work, the same stuff applies. Change the landscape of the site to make it more compact and maybe make the images smaller, so the text is next to them.
Radio work is good for the most part, but again just change fonts, make sure spacing between paragraphs is even and rearrange the page to take up more of the dead space.
Hope this helped!
Yeah I tried to make things a little more compact but the theme I'm using doesn't allow for that I think. Adobe has one with the navigation on the side and coloring that's a little more spartan so I may change to that one.
Post by Jake Jortles on Nov 15, 2018 10:59:31 GMT -5
So I did something pretty wild about 20 minutes ago and asked for a 25% raise from my boss. I didn't get laughed out of the room, but she did say it would be a miracle for her to be able to make it happen. Would like to get someone's opinion on this story. Was I dumb for shooting this high? Going to spoiler all of this personal information. I don't care if people know exactly what I make, but using the spoiler feels appropriate for some reason. Here is the full context.
In January 2016, I accepted an unpaid corporate partnerships internship with the Jacksonville Jaguars after graduating with two Masters Degrees from UCF (MBA and Masters in Sports Business Management).
Upon completion of the internship, I was able to convince the powers that be to create a new Account Coordinator position for me within the Corporate Partnerships department. This was pretty unheard of at the time, but I laid out an extremely compelling case. Throughout my internship, I consistently found ways to add new positive wrinkles to the department. I introduced analytics to our year-end recaps, taught myself photoshop so I could back up our one, overworked designer, created a partner survey that proved helpful information, etc. This pitch that I gave my bosses to create this new position is one of my proudest moments. All of this epicness resulted in a $10.00/hour job (plus as much OT as I wanted) that I was happy with. The organization provides us with substantial perks such as free breakfast, lunch, Ubers... I was able to scrape by.
After a year, I was able to convince my boss to get me from $10 to $12.50. The trend of me finding new ways to add value during my internship continued once I was a coordinator, and I was able to lay out another strong case.
Two months later, I got lucky. In the heat of the busiest time of the year, one of the Partnership Sales Reps quit. One of the Account Managers (activation of partnerships, next vertical move for me), had desires of moving to the sales side. Since we were in busy season, we knew that our department needed that sales role filled quickly. We came together to devise a pitch to our bosses. The Account Manager moves over to Sales, and I, the Account Coordinator, can move up to take over the Account Manager's duties. It was a gamble for them to trust me to take on an Account Manager role as green as I was, but they did. They accepted our plan, and I was given a $40,000 salary. I took on the largest book of business of all 5 Account Managers, and to sweeten the deal for my bosses, I told them I would continue to do everything I was doing as an Account Coordinator so they didn't need to back fill that role.
I am now flourishing in the Account Manager role in my second season. The $40,000 salary that I make was a massive raise at the time, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of the trust my boss has had in me. However, the four other Account Managers make between 50-55. Two of those Managers have been working here for a couple months and have maybe 75% the responsibility that I have. My boss is budgeting for next year now, and I thought it was in bounds for me to ask to be paid $50,000 after April. Just so whoever is reading this knows, I went in with total respect and recalled all of the times she took a chance on me and how much I've appreciated her for that. But when it got down to the theme of my pitch, I was basically saying that I want to be compensated the way that she would compensate someone if she replaced me (didn't speak so bluntly). And I said, If I can't be valued at 50k in April, I would like to know what I can do / how I can improve to get there in the future.
After a lot of pleasantries, she basically said 50 is a pipe dream. 25% just can't happen, but she will put my best foot forward in trying to make it happen. She threw around numbers that might be more possible, like 5%... $42,000. Even 10% would be $44,000. Mayyyybe that is the best case scenario.
I made sure to remind her that I'm not asking out of a lack of appreciation, but I wanted to know, in hindsight, if there was any way for me to be paid the way they pay people who are hired from the outside.Could I have negotiated when they gave me the bump to 40 a year and a half ago? She said no, there wasn't. She said it is the sad reality that staying with one team in this industry results in a lower pay. She has been with the team for 10+ years and has been promoted from Intern to Vice President of Partnership Activations during that time, but her pay is nowhere near the pay of other Vice Presidents who came to the team from somewhere else.
I'm not extremely bummed out. I'm not looking to jump ship, but I do plan to sharpen my resume and keep an eye out. I love my boss - she has basically allowed my career to take shape and is great to work for. This job has basically been a dream come true. I can call out almost as much as I want. I'm making 55k per year after bonuses (15k standard across the Account Managers if we hit two goals) which is more than enough for me to be self sufficient. But I'm disappointed in this "sad reality." Wouldn't you want to encourage people to stay with the organization? This reality encourages the exact opposite.
Even though my personal situation is great and I love my job, I thought I saw a logical route to an even better situation. Did I get greedy based on all they have done for me in the past? Was I reasonable in my request, but you understand why they declined? Or was I reasonable and you think that it is unfair that I will continue to be paid 15k less than people doing the same job as me? If anyone was willing to read all of that, I appreciate any feedback you might have.
So I did something pretty wild about 20 minutes ago and asked for a 25% raise from my boss. I didn't get laughed out of the room, but she did say it would be a miracle for her to be able to make it happen. Would like to get someone's opinion on this story. Was I dumb for shooting this high? Going to spoiler all of this personal information. I don't care if people know exactly what I make, but using the spoiler feels appropriate for some reason. Here is the full context.
In January 2016, I accepted an unpaid corporate partnerships internship with the Jacksonville Jaguars after graduating with two Masters Degrees from UCF (MBA and Masters in Sports Business Management).
Upon completion of the internship, I was able to convince the powers that be to create a new Account Coordinator position for me within the Corporate Partnerships department. This was pretty unheard of at the time, but I laid out an extremely compelling case. Throughout my internship, I consistently found ways to add new positive wrinkles to the department. I introduced analytics to our year-end recaps, taught myself photoshop so I could back up our one, overworked designer, created a partner survey that proved helpful information, etc. This pitch that I gave my bosses to create this new position is one of my proudest moments. All of this epicness resulted in a $10.00/hour job (plus as much OT as I wanted) that I was happy with. The organization provides us with substantial perks such as free breakfast, lunch, Ubers... I was able to scrape by.
After a year, I was able to convince my boss to get me from $10 to $12.50. The trend of me finding new ways to add value during my internship continued once I was a coordinator, and I was able to lay out another strong case.
Two months later, I got lucky. In the heat of the busiest time of the year, one of the Partnership Sales Reps quit. One of the Account Managers (activation of partnerships, next vertical move for me), had desires of moving to the sales side. Since we were in busy season, we knew that our department needed that sales role filled quickly. We came together to devise a pitch to our bosses. The Account Manager moves over to Sales, and I, the Account Coordinator, can move up to take over the Account Manager's duties. It was a gamble for them to trust me to take on an Account Manager role as green as I was, but they did. They accepted our plan, and I was given a $40,000 salary. I took on the largest book of business of all 5 Account Managers, and to sweeten the deal for my bosses, I told them I would continue to do everything I was doing as an Account Coordinator so they didn't need to back fill that role.
I am now flourishing in the Account Manager role in my second season. The $40,000 salary that I make was a massive raise at the time, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of the trust my boss has had in me. However, the four other Account Managers make between 50-55. Two of those Managers have been working here for a couple months and have maybe 75% the responsibility that I have. My boss is budgeting for next year now, and I thought it was in bounds for me to ask to be paid $50,000 after April. Just so whoever is reading this knows, I went in with total respect and recalled all of the times she took a chance on me and how much I've appreciated her for that. But when it got down to the theme of my pitch, I was basically saying that I want to be compensated the way that she would compensate someone if she replaced me (didn't speak so bluntly). And I said, If I can't be valued at 50k in April, I would like to know what I can do / how I can improve to get there in the future.
After a lot of pleasantries, she basically said 50 is a pipe dream. 25% just can't happen, but she will put my best foot forward in trying to make it happen. She threw around numbers that might be more possible, like 5%... $42,000. Even 10% would be $44,000. Mayyyybe that is the best case scenario.
I made sure to remind her that I'm not asking out of a lack of appreciation, but I wanted to know, in hindsight, if there was any way for me to be paid the way they pay people who are hired from the outside.Could I have negotiated when they gave me the bump to 40 a year and a half ago? She said no, there wasn't. She said it is the sad reality that staying with one team in this industry results in a lower pay. She has been with the team for 10+ years and has been promoted from Intern to Vice President of Partnership Activations during that time, but her pay is nowhere near the pay of other Vice Presidents who came to the team from somewhere else.
I'm not extremely bummed out. I'm not looking to jump ship, but I do plan to sharpen my resume and keep an eye out. I love my boss - she has basically allowed my career to take shape and is great to work for. This job has basically been a dream come true. I can call out almost as much as I want. I'm making 55k per year after bonuses (15k standard across the Account Managers if we hit two goals) which is more than enough for me to be self sufficient. But I'm disappointed in this "sad reality." Wouldn't you want to encourage people to stay with the organization? This reality encourages the exact opposite.
Even though my personal situation is great and I love my job, I thought I saw a logical route to an even better situation. Did I get greedy based on all they have done for me in the past? Was I reasonable in my request, but you understand why they declined? Or was I reasonable and you think that it is unfair that I will continue to be paid 15k less than people doing the same job as me? If anyone was willing to read all of that, I appreciate any feedback you might have.
I don't think you were being unreasonable at all. I am in a similar position myself, where I am going to be asking for a similar raise/promotion soon (our year-end evaluations were in October). From what I have gathered from reading online and talking to friends/mentors, the general strategy these days to improve your pay are to switch companies, rather than move vertically, because of situations like yours. It seems like total bullshiz, but that really seems to be the norm these days. You basically have extra responsibilities that were grandfathered into your personal position that similar colleagues don't have, but they get paid more because they came in at a higher level on the pay scale. Personally, I would have included relinquishing some of those additional responsibilities if they couldn't meet my salary demands. It kinda sucks, but you gotta look out for yourself because your boss ultimately probably doesn't when it comes to the bottom line. And if the experience of your boss, who has been there a decade and is underpaid compared to her peers, I would say that doesn't necessarily bode well for you long-term.
So I did something pretty wild about 20 minutes ago and asked for a 25% raise from my boss. I didn't get laughed out of the room, but she did say it would be a miracle for her to be able to make it happen. Would like to get someone's opinion on this story. Was I dumb for shooting this high? Going to spoiler all of this personal information. I don't care if people know exactly what I make, but using the spoiler feels appropriate for some reason. Here is the full context.
In January 2016, I accepted an unpaid corporate partnerships internship with the Jacksonville Jaguars after graduating with two Masters Degrees from UCF (MBA and Masters in Sports Business Management).
Upon completion of the internship, I was able to convince the powers that be to create a new Account Coordinator position for me within the Corporate Partnerships department. This was pretty unheard of at the time, but I laid out an extremely compelling case. Throughout my internship, I consistently found ways to add new positive wrinkles to the department. I introduced analytics to our year-end recaps, taught myself photoshop so I could back up our one, overworked designer, created a partner survey that proved helpful information, etc. This pitch that I gave my bosses to create this new position is one of my proudest moments. All of this epicness resulted in a $10.00/hour job (plus as much OT as I wanted) that I was happy with. The organization provides us with substantial perks such as free breakfast, lunch, Ubers... I was able to scrape by.
After a year, I was able to convince my boss to get me from $10 to $12.50. The trend of me finding new ways to add value during my internship continued once I was a coordinator, and I was able to lay out another strong case.
Two months later, I got lucky. In the heat of the busiest time of the year, one of the Partnership Sales Reps quit. One of the Account Managers (activation of partnerships, next vertical move for me), had desires of moving to the sales side. Since we were in busy season, we knew that our department needed that sales role filled quickly. We came together to devise a pitch to our bosses. The Account Manager moves over to Sales, and I, the Account Coordinator, can move up to take over the Account Manager's duties. It was a gamble for them to trust me to take on an Account Manager role as green as I was, but they did. They accepted our plan, and I was given a $40,000 salary. I took on the largest book of business of all 5 Account Managers, and to sweeten the deal for my bosses, I told them I would continue to do everything I was doing as an Account Coordinator so they didn't need to back fill that role.
I am now flourishing in the Account Manager role in my second season. The $40,000 salary that I make was a massive raise at the time, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of the trust my boss has had in me. However, the four other Account Managers make between 50-55. Two of those Managers have been working here for a couple months and have maybe 75% the responsibility that I have. My boss is budgeting for next year now, and I thought it was in bounds for me to ask to be paid $50,000 after April. Just so whoever is reading this knows, I went in with total respect and recalled all of the times she took a chance on me and how much I've appreciated her for that. But when it got down to the theme of my pitch, I was basically saying that I want to be compensated the way that she would compensate someone if she replaced me (didn't speak so bluntly). And I said, If I can't be valued at 50k in April, I would like to know what I can do / how I can improve to get there in the future.
After a lot of pleasantries, she basically said 50 is a pipe dream. 25% just can't happen, but she will put my best foot forward in trying to make it happen. She threw around numbers that might be more possible, like 5%... $42,000. Even 10% would be $44,000. Mayyyybe that is the best case scenario.
I made sure to remind her that I'm not asking out of a lack of appreciation, but I wanted to know, in hindsight, if there was any way for me to be paid the way they pay people who are hired from the outside.Could I have negotiated when they gave me the bump to 40 a year and a half ago? She said no, there wasn't. She said it is the sad reality that staying with one team in this industry results in a lower pay. She has been with the team for 10+ years and has been promoted from Intern to Vice President of Partnership Activations during that time, but her pay is nowhere near the pay of other Vice Presidents who came to the team from somewhere else.
I'm not extremely bummed out. I'm not looking to jump ship, but I do plan to sharpen my resume and keep an eye out. I love my boss - she has basically allowed my career to take shape and is great to work for. This job has basically been a dream come true. I can call out almost as much as I want. I'm making 55k per year after bonuses (15k standard across the Account Managers if we hit two goals) which is more than enough for me to be self sufficient. But I'm disappointed in this "sad reality." Wouldn't you want to encourage people to stay with the organization? This reality encourages the exact opposite.
Even though my personal situation is great and I love my job, I thought I saw a logical route to an even better situation. Did I get greedy based on all they have done for me in the past? Was I reasonable in my request, but you understand why they declined? Or was I reasonable and you think that it is unfair that I will continue to be paid 15k less than people doing the same job as me? If anyone was willing to read all of that, I appreciate any feedback you might have.
I don't think you were being unreasonable at all. I am in a similar position myself, where I am going to be asking for a similar raise/promotion soon (our year-end evaluations were in October). From what I have gathered from reading online and talking to friends/mentors, the general strategy these days to improve your pay are to switch companies, rather than move vertically, because of situations like yours. It seems like total bullshiz, but that really seems to be the norm these days. You basically have extra responsibilities that were grandfathered into your personal position that similar colleagues don't have, but they get paid more because they came in at a higher level on the pay scale. Personally, I would have included relinquishing some of those additional responsibilities if they couldn't meet my salary demands. It kinda sucks, but you gotta look out for yourself because your boss ultimately probably doesn't when it comes to the bottom line. And if the experience of your boss, who has been there a decade and is underpaid compared to her peers, I would say that doesn't necessarily bode well for you long-term.
Thanks a bunch for your response. A completely ironic side story is that they are considering creating a new position of a "Traffic Coordinator" that will be taking away some of our side responsibilities beyond managing accounts. The ironic part is that I am currently doing 8/10 things that we have listed as responsibilities for this new position.
It is a positive because I would be able to lose some of those grunt work responsibilities, which you mentioned would have been a good additional angle for me to take. But its ironic because this position could cost them anywhere between 30-40. Shit, give me the other 2 responsibilities and the 10 I asked for and call it a day. Go ahead and save yourself 20K.
So, if your request goes the way that mine did, would you consider leaving sooner than you expected? Do you like your current job as much as I like mine? I'm troubled because I really want to stay and I don't know if the grass would be greener even with an extra 15k somewhere else. Comfort of the known vs. excitement of the unknown kind of thing.
I don't think you were being unreasonable at all. I am in a similar position myself, where I am going to be asking for a similar raise/promotion soon (our year-end evaluations were in October). From what I have gathered from reading online and talking to friends/mentors, the general strategy these days to improve your pay are to switch companies, rather than move vertically, because of situations like yours. It seems like total bullshiz, but that really seems to be the norm these days. You basically have extra responsibilities that were grandfathered into your personal position that similar colleagues don't have, but they get paid more because they came in at a higher level on the pay scale. Personally, I would have included relinquishing some of those additional responsibilities if they couldn't meet my salary demands. It kinda sucks, but you gotta look out for yourself because your boss ultimately probably doesn't when it comes to the bottom line. And if the experience of your boss, who has been there a decade and is underpaid compared to her peers, I would say that doesn't necessarily bode well for you long-term.
Thanks a bunch for your response. A completely ironic side story is that they are considering creating a new position of a "Traffic Coordinator" that will be taking away some of our side responsibilities beyond managing accounts. The ironic part is that I am currently doing 8/10 things that we have listed as responsibilities for this new position.
It is a positive because I would be able to lose some of those grunt work responsibilities, which you mentioned would have been a good additional angle for me to take. But its ironic because this position could cost them anywhere between 30-40. Shit, give me the other 2 responsibilities and the 10 I asked for and call it a day. Go ahead and save yourself 20K.
So, if your request goes the way that mine did, would you consider leaving sooner than you expected? Do you like your current job as much as I like mine? I'm troubled because I really want to stay and I don't know if the grass would be greener even with an extra 15k somewhere else. Comfort of the known vs. excitement of the unknown kind of thing.
I would suggest you come up with a proposal to take over all the responsibilites of that position, and include a raise for you to cover it. Write out the proposal via memo or something, show them numbers how you could save them money, even with a raise, and that the additional responsibilities wouldn't hinder your current productivity. Plus they wouldn't need to train someone, spend time/$ on the hiring process, HR stuff, etc. Plus it makes you look good that you are working to save them some dough.
As for my situation, I doubt I would leave. I sorta educated myself into a corner (Neuroengineering PhD) so there aren't many jobs in my city that I could leave for. My wife still has another year and a half (cross my fingers) left before she finishes her PhD, so we are kinda stuck in this location. I actually don't really like my job all that much; I don't hate it - it's a good position that will help me in my future career prospects, but it isn't ideally what I am interested in. So really I'm just biding my time here until we can both move to an area with more opportunities. I do Alzheimer's research, which is neuroscience but not at all what I did for grad school. I worked doing patent law for about a year before I started here, and they couldn't meet my salary requirements initially bc I lacked the Alzheimer's background, but said after the first year we could revisit it based on my work. I think I should all right, but unfortunately if they say no, I'll probably just have to accept it.
Thanks a bunch for your response. A completely ironic side story is that they are considering creating a new position of a "Traffic Coordinator" that will be taking away some of our side responsibilities beyond managing accounts. The ironic part is that I am currently doing 8/10 things that we have listed as responsibilities for this new position.
It is a positive because I would be able to lose some of those grunt work responsibilities, which you mentioned would have been a good additional angle for me to take. But its ironic because this position could cost them anywhere between 30-40. Shit, give me the other 2 responsibilities and the 10 I asked for and call it a day. Go ahead and save yourself 20K.
So, if your request goes the way that mine did, would you consider leaving sooner than you expected? Do you like your current job as much as I like mine? I'm troubled because I really want to stay and I don't know if the grass would be greener even with an extra 15k somewhere else. Comfort of the known vs. excitement of the unknown kind of thing.
I would suggest you come up with a proposal to take over all the responsibilites of that position, and include a raise for you to cover it. Write out the proposal via memo or something, show them numbers how you could save them money, even with a raise, and that the additional responsibilities wouldn't hinder your current productivity. Plus they wouldn't need to train someone, spend time/$ on the hiring process, HR stuff, etc. Plus it makes you look good that you are working to save them some dough.
As for my situation, I doubt I would leave. I sorta educated myself into a corner (Neuroengineering PhD) so there aren't many jobs in my city that I could leave for. My wife still has another year and a half (cross my fingers) left before she finishes her PhD, so we are kinda stuck in this location. I actually don't really like my job all that much; I don't hate it - it's a good position that will help me in my future career prospects, but it isn't ideally what I am interested in. So really I'm just biding my time here until we can both move to an area with more opportunities. I do Alzheimer's research, which is neuroscience but not at all what I did for grad school. I worked doing patent law for about a year before I started here, and they couldn't meet my salary requirements initially bc I lacked the Alzheimer's background, but said after the first year we could revisit it based on my work. I think I should all right, but unfortunately if they say no, I'll probably just have to accept it.
Thanks again for the advice. Hoping your situation works out with the raise. Definitely in different positions since I'm single and ready to move on the drop of a dime, but once your wife graduates, it sounds like the possibilities for you both will improve significantly (not that you are in a bad spot now).
Post by actually @fortyfive33 now on Dec 27, 2018 22:45:04 GMT -5
I'm going to be at a career fair put on by the Bulls January 4. 20 sports and sports-adjacent orgs will be there (think White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bucks et al.). Stadium, Reinsdorf's new TV channel, will be there as well.
I'm going to be at a career fair put on by the Bulls January 4. 20 sports and sports-adjacent orgs will be there (think White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bucks et al.). Stadium, Reinsdorf's new TV channel, will be there as well.
What do I do? This is my first career fair.
Shams might be there, he's got a deal with them right? Find out how to best get scoops.
I'm going to be at a career fair put on by the Bulls January 4. 20 sports and sports-adjacent orgs will be there (think White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, Bucks et al.). Stadium, Reinsdorf's new TV channel, will be there as well.
What do I do? This is my first career fair.
Shams might be there, he's got a deal with them right? Find out how to best get scoops.
They'll have panels before the fair itself, so Shams might be there. The only person they've announced so far is Chuck Swirsky. If Shams is I'm definitely going to try and introduce myself though.
How do fairs even work? Do I hand out resumes and shit? Am I fucking up by not having business cards?
You don't need to offer all those things, but it wouldn't hurt to have them if anyone asked.
I'll definitely have resumes. Portfolios are a bit harder because I do so much outside of writing, but I'll make sure to include my portfolio website on the resumes.
Also, my most recent sports writing was about the 2K League soooooo I don't know how some orgs will take it. The Bucks would probably like that though, given they have a team.
I’m engineering but for our career fair it’s pretty much just networking with recruiters. Wear something nice (hopefully whoever is putting on the fair has something about dress code on their website), hand a resume to every recruiter you talk to, and have a simple introduction memorized to get conversation going. I was a little nervous going into my first one last semester, but after you talk to a couple companies it’s easy. Pro tip: “warm up” with a couple companies you don’t necessarily care about so you’re in the zone when you talk to those you want to work for.
And don’t underestimate the power of your resume. Don’t just print it on normal printer paper, especially if you have colour or icons or any other kind of graphic on it. Get a good quality card stock type paper for your resume to hand out. It may cost a bit more to print it, but they’ll feel the difference in quality and the text, colour & graphics will look a lot nicer on it.
And yes, bring a folder of your resumes and be prepared to hand them out to anyone you speak with. Even if you’re not particularly interested in working with them. Bc you never know what doors will open through the unlikeliest of places, especially if this is the field you want to be in, be ready for any and all contacts.
Edit to add: just be yourself. Relax and let your personality show. In career fairs like this everyone has the same basically the same experience level, so your personality and interests will set you a part. Recruiters in these situations are looking at your experience, but also how you’d fit with their company and team. So just remember that you and everyone they’re talking to are students, so it’s just as important to shine in other ways. Obviously your experience is important and you should emphasize what you’ve done, but don’t think that’s the end all be all to what they’re looking at. So just be conversational, joke when appropriate, laugh, etc.
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