New Paralegal Opporunity - Lowball Offer?

[reader]

A. It is a buyers market...meaning employers have upper hand.

B. If they know your salary....that was a rookie mistake. Your current employer will never give a salary. At best a range. So you told them what you are making. Always punch it up. You are negotiating from the moment you enter the interview and you showed card early.

 

You are looking at 15k more in salary/benefits.

 

I kept hearing that it's a employers market so I was wondering when was it a job seeker's market? The 70's?

[mhowe]

I can't remember the last time...of course, in certain industries the perspective employees have an upper hand...engineering, parts of IT. But for most...not so much.

[avman]

Avman..I quadrupled my salary in a few years this way. I really only needed to do it a couple of times.

 

It's one thing to negotiate and stand firm for a larger salary. Thats totally fine. Or if they don't ask your previous salary then don't offer it. Or state you'd rather not divulge that information. Whatever tactic you'd like to use is just fine.

 

But outright lying to an employer is a whole other story. It's unethical. And if I found out someone I hired had done it they would be immediately terminated. Our company has walked people out after they had been on the job for a few weeks because their background check revealed they had indeed lied during the interview.

[avman]

I kept hearing that it's a employers market so I was wondering when was it a job seeker's market? The 70's?

 

It depends on your skillset and the demand. If there's a lot of people looking for work with your skillset then the employers have the upper hand. If you are the only game in town then you get to call the shots.

[GinNJuice]

It's one thing to negotiate and stand firm for a larger salary. Thats totally fine. Or if they don't ask your previous salary then don't offer it. Or state you'd rather not divulge that information. Whatever tactic you'd like to use is just fine.

 

But outright lying to an employer is a whole other story. It's unethical. And if I found out someone I hired had done it they would be immediately terminated. Our company has walked people out after they had been on the job for a few weeks because their background check revealed they had indeed lied during the interview.

 

People always like to beat their chest, and drone on about what they would do if...

 

Fact of the matter is most places rarely check beyond whether you worked somewhere or not. It's expensive to do so. If it's not a FINRA check or gov't clearance, you're probably fine.

Unethical? We are talking about Corporate America..it's no holds barred, smash and grab, take the money and run. The company certainly has no loyalty to you, only suckers play by their rules, and are typically the one's complaining about not getting paid enough.

[reader]

People always like to beat their chest, and drone on about what they would do if...

 

Fact of the matter is most places rarely check beyond whether you worked somewhere or not. It's expensive to do so. If it's not a FINRA check or gov't clearance, you're probably fine.

Unethical? We are talking about Corporate America..it's no holds barred, smash and grab, take the money and run. The company certainly has no loyalty to you, only suckers play by their rules, and are typically the one's complaining about not getting paid enough.

 

It's expensive to do employment verification?

[mhowe]

No. It is the cost of doing business and the corporation protecting itself and employees.

All major companies do it....previous poster is incorrect.

[GinNJuice]

Firms that do commercial background checks, typically have tiered service levels. Unless the company is dealing in financial services or another industry heavily regulated by the government, they will typically purchase first tier services, which would include a general criminal conviction, education, and employment checks. Other services like credit check, arrest records, salary history can be purchased for more money. It can get expensive when you're talking thousands of applicants, many of whom fail the check. It is the cost of doing business though, I agree with you there.

 

I'll also agree that most major companies do employment checks, but that will typically consist of just calling references and asking a few general questions. Sometimes they will ask questions about your technical ability or projects you worked on, but usually they just ask if how you were to work with, and if you'd be hired back. Also, when going through a staffing company, the background checks are extremely lax.

 

I'm 28, making $180K, so my advice has worked for me. One thing's for sure, you won't see any posts on here from me complaining of lowball offers.

[avman]

People always like to beat their chest, and drone on about what they would do if...

 

Fact of the matter is most places rarely check beyond whether you worked somewhere or not. It's expensive to do so. If it's not a FINRA check or gov't clearance, you're probably fine.

Unethical? We are talking about Corporate America..it's no holds barred, smash and grab, take the money and run. The company certainly has no loyalty to you, only suckers play by their rules, and are typically the one's complaining about not getting paid enough.

 

Well since you have no idea who I am or how many people I've hired lets leave the personal attacks out of it shall we?

 

Corporations have put these background checks into place BECAUSE the candidates lie, cheat, and steal. It's always interesting when I hear people joke about how they pulled one over on the company. Those people are usually the first to scream foul when they get fired or "laid off for economic reasons".

 

OP take the risks you think you are comfortable with. Just understand what happens if you get caught. I'm certainly not going to advocate unethical behavior. Companies that behave in an unethical manner got that way by hiring unethical employees.

[GinNJuice]

Avman, who you are and how many people you've hired are irrelevant. The relevant question, is how many times have you caught someone lying about salary? Go ahead, make up a number.

 

I did get fired from my first career job, for showing up hours late multiple times within a couple weeks, only to get a job paying 15K more, a week and a half later, who did not care when I showed up. No crying foul here, I'll certainly take responsibility for my actions. Typically when I leave a position, they ask me to work remotely for them though, hence my current dual income.

 

I'm not joking about pulling one over on anyone. Companies are happy to pay me what they do, and there hasn't been a need for deception for a long time.