Salary Negotiations, & Getting Back In

First, a bit of good news. I'm no longer underemployed. After nearly 14 months I finally found a job perfectly suited for me, and the next step in my illustrious career in broadcast journalism. It was the strangest twist of fate that brought me to this position, as I suppose fate is often to blame for such glorious outcomes. Back in late April, I interview for a position for which I was, admittedly, completely underqualified. But my interviewer said he would pass my resume along to the stations News Director, "just in case" something ever came up. To my surprise, about two weeks later I got a call from the News Director. He had a News Producer position coming up and wanted to know if I was interested. Absolutely! An interview, a try-out, some painful waiting, and finally an offer. And with the offer came the part I had been dreading the most, the salary negotiation. I mean, honestly, I've been on unemployment for over a year, anything would be an improvement, right? But then again, I don't want to sell myself short. With other jobs I've had in the past the salary was put out on the table pretty early on in the process, there was no guessing involved. Not this time. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but I also knew, I've been wrong before.
In this article, Low-Ball Salary Offers: Should You Take It or Leave It? Harvard Kennedy School associate professor Hannah Riley Bowles says "job seekers who receive a low offer should compare that offer to what they can get elsewhere in the current market, rather than what they could have received before the recession began."
Let me recap... job seekers should compare a low offer to what they can get elsewhere. Excuse me Ms. Bowles, but are you not aware that this is not a buyers market? There are hundreds, if not thousands of applicants vying for each job. If you won't work for what the employer is offering, the next person in line probably will. I don't think we're in a position to pick and choose, no matter what we think we're worth. Do I think I'm worth more than I'm making? Absolutely! But I'm looking ahead (and looking back, and thanking God I'm no longer unemployed). I see this position as a stepping stone to the next, and so on. When you've been out of the job market for any length of time, the goal is to get back in. It's easier to find a job when you have a job, as the saying goes.

Overdressed and Tenacious!

First, I was labeled "overqualified." Now, I've been deemed, "overdressed." Yes, that was one of many things my most recent interviewer said about me. I'm going to let that one slide however, because he also said he could tell I am "tenacious" and "eager to work." Tenacious? I like it! Overdressed? It was a job interview. I was wearing black pants with a black jacket and blue shirt. What was I supposed to wear? I've always heard that you should dress above the position your interviewing for. I've worked in enough newsrooms to know that jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops are the standard daily attire. But again, this was an interview. Okay, now I'm going to let that comment slide.

The bigger story here, and perhaps a lesson learned, is in how I came about the interview in the first place. I had submitted my resume several weeks ago via the stations corporate website. I hadn't heard anything, but noticed the position was still posted. So, I called the station, found out who the hiring manager was and put in a call to him, cutting out the middle-man, so to speak. I didn't reach the hiring manager, but I left an unforgettable voice mail. I got tongue tied trying to spit out the phrase, "promotions producer position," and to save face I injected a little humor. Voila! I got a call back the next morning and an interview that afternoon. This is why I don't like submitting my resume through a corporate website; it turns out my resume never made it to the hiring managers desk. There is plenty of great advice out there about how to keep your resume from falling into a proverbial black hole, but the truth is, even if you follow all of the rules and play the game your resume may still end up in Area 51.

Make no mistake, your best bet is to get the name of the hiring manager and send your resume directly to that person, whether by email or snail mail. And always follow up. Never leave the ball in the employers court, especially if it's a job you really want. Be tenacious!

Desperation... There seems to be a lot of it going around.

I sat out today to write about something that happened to me last week. It has to do with my job search. But as I sat here, pecking away at the keyboard, a story on CNN captured my attention. And yes, for those of you wondering, I do watch the news 24 hours a day! But, I digress. CNN was covering a story in Queens, New York, where hundreds of people showed up to apply for 100 elevator mechanic positions. Nothing unusual about that. In this time of great recession, it's not uncommon to have hundreds, or even thousands of applicants for every one job. What was different about this? Those hoping to pick up an application today, started showing up last Friday. It's been dubbed "Camp Desperation" by the New York Post. A line of tents stretching for blocks. Can you imagine, camping out for three days and then interviewing for a job? If not an interview, at the very least, meeting with someone who decides whether or not you're going to survive to the next round? As if the interview process isn't hard enough, had three days worth of stink on top of it!

Then, I was reading another blog about the change in unemployment numbers. As I sifted through the comments I came across a new phrase, that to be honest, scares me to death. "Desperately Unemployed." I read that, and I asked myself, what does it mean to be "desperately unemployed?" Is that a situation worse than any I've thought of? David E. Ross, whom I referred to in a prior blog, defines desperately unemployed as someone "less talented and thus less able to be choosy." Less talented than whom? "Less talented" is subjective. There will always be someone more talented, and someone less talented. An applicant with more experience and an applicant with less experience. "Less able to be choosy," now that's a statement I can identify with. I always thought having my bachelor's degree would be the key to opening any door. I was wrong. Especially since that degree is in such a niche field as broadcast journalism. Potential employers outside "the industry" see me as overqualified, as was the case with the copy writing position. Or I'm seen as unqualified, having very narrowed abilities. With that being said, less able to be choosy might not be such a bad thing. Right now, I'm not all that interested in leaving journalism. Journalism was my career choice for a reason. I'm not quite ready to dump all of that. Not yet, anyway. I guess that means I haven't joined the ranks of the "desperately unemployed."

Underemployment

If living through The Greatest Depression has taught me anything, it's how to be underemployed. Underemployed; A word, barely uttered before, now a common household word. You can't talk about unemployment, without also mentioning those who are underemployed.

Underemployment can mean different things to different people. Dictionary.com defines the undermployed as;
1. employed at a job that does not fully use one's skills or abilities.
2. employed only part-time when one is available for full-time work.
3. not utilized fully.

I met a fellow journalist a couple of years ago who was in-between jobs, and he considered himself, underemployed. I didn't fully understand the concept, until now. Just the other day I told my friend Dan Davis, "You can take the man out of the newsroom, but you can't take the newsroom out of the man." Or in my case, woman. It's true. A journalist, like me, who truly loves their craft, is never off duty, or for that matter, unemployed. We may not have a newsroom to call home, and a steady paycheck, but our ears are always to the ground and our radar is always up. We are always looking for the next story, big or small. Since losing his job a year ago, Dan has remained so loyal, not only to his love of news, but to his viewers. He now produces the wildly popular Dan's Segment out of Studio G (aka, his garage).

When I joined the ranks of the underemployed journalist, Facebook became my newsroom and my friends, my audience. I am writer, editor, producer, and news director. When I'm in "news mode" my status updates read like news briefs. I find news on the Internet and add it to my rundown, or in Facebook terms, the aptly named news feed. I determine my ratings based on viewer feedback; comments made about my status or a story I've shared. A few days after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas, I posted something, to which one of my friends responded, "I had not heard about this." That's when I know I'm making an impact; bringing information to people who may not otherwise get it. I'm a news junkie. Seeking out the news is what I do. Finding the best stories and bringing them to everyone else is what I enjoy. Lucky for me, Facebook and blogging provide me with an opportunity to do that. All the while I'm underemployed.

"You're Overqualified." Compliment or Criticism?

I mentioned in a recent post how a potential employer referred to me as being "overqualified" for a position I had interviewed for. That statement was the springboard for this blog. Today I came across this article written by David E. Ross. He offers advice about how to respond when told you're overqualified by a prospective employer. It's a little dated, but I found the information to be relevant, and quite humorous.

Rewind<= (Part I)

It's May 2002. My son, then 9 years old, was as the end of six months of recovering from being hit by car. My brother-in-law, Dan, was getting ready to graduate from San Jose State. I had a decent job with Tulare County Health and Human Services. But it was basically a dead-end job. I looked around one day and realized, many of my co-workers had been there their entire adult lives, working at these dead-end jobs. This wasn't a place that fostered careers; it fostered paychecks. No one that I worked with particularly liked their jobs. And why would they? It was routine and boring. Mundane. The same-ole' same ole', day after day after miserable day. Have I made my point?

So, I asked myself, "Self, in five, or 10, or God forbid, even 20 years from now, is this where you want to be?" And myself answered, "NO!"

Just before we made the trip to San Jose I was talking to my dad about Dan's upcoming graduation. Dad said, "I sure would like to see you graduate from college some day." [A side note: both of my sisters have their college educations.] I responded to Dad with something along the lines of, "yea, yea, me too," not taking his 'wish' very much to heart.

Then, graduation day arrived. It's a beautiful, sunny day and commencement is being held outdoors at the stadium. We're sitting in the end zone, close to the field. It's rather exciting and I'm taking in all of the hustle and bustle, the comings and goings of the many graduates. Suddenly, a woman from the field approaches the end zone. She is in her cap and gown. A man and a small child rush down from where they are sitting to meet her. The woman, I'm guessing, is in her thirties. And from their interaction, I determined it's her husband and daughter she's talking to. And folks, I've gotta tell ya, that's when it all came together. It was like being hit over the head with a two-by-four. I wanted to be that woman. I wanted to go back to school.

Temporary Job! IDK?

Last week the Christian Science Monitor published an article about the downfalls of the unemployed taking temporary or part-time jobs. This creates an entirely new class of workers, not unlike the working poor, called the underemployed. What this also does, is further destroys a persons lifestyle. Folks who have already taken huge pay cuts, sometimes as much as two-thirds, are finding their unemployment benefits cut even more after taking a temporary or part-time job.

I find myself among these ranks. Twelve months unemployed. Do I consider looking for work with a temp agency? After reading the CSM article it certainly makes one think twice. I can't afford another cut in my unemployment benefits when the temporary job ends. My benefits are a mere one-third of what I earned when I was working. In fact, my benefits amount to less than minimum wage. I admit, a job that pays state, or even federal minimum wage is starting to look pretty good. But a temporary or part-time gig? Not so fast! What are the repercussions going to be?