Missing It

Pay is a tricky issue. Some places even want you to put in an expected salary in an online application. I hate that.

I always try to avoid asking about pay directly upfront while trying to find out as much as I can.

When I was hiring people, I was not bothered if people tried to get an idea about pay. But if that's like the first thing you ask or you ask as though the job is already yours, that may not come across well.

 

So, it was about the money, at least somewhat. Otherwise, why would you care about unpaid hours if you're doing what you love?

I really like to travel and visit interesting new places. You could even say I love it. Therefore, I couldn't care less that I don't get paid to do it.

 

The way I've always heard it is the first one who mentions a dollar figure loses.

 

I always appreciated when they at least gave a range ($25-30K, for instance) on the job listing, or after you made your first inquiry.

These days, that probably gets you this: We pay your rent in a company-owned building, and you can buy food with scrip at a company-owned store. Oh, you want cash after that?!?!?!!

 

This is why I despise newspapers and the 10 a.m. meeting leaders. The business model is simply obscene. It's crap on the little guy/girl; make them work 60 and get paid for 40 and the managers and middle managers who frankly are not even needed get 200,000 a year minimum. Very very strange business model. And the CEOs and think tankers ... it's not like the y have any answers. Hire me for 200,000. I can cut positions as well as the next person.

 

There's a guy in our city who has made a rich living/larceny off of being this Rasputin-like character who charms our blue blood businesses, first as a freelance and then gets a gig full-time with the company where he is practically on the masthead.

He had a blog long ago about managing people and that got him hired with us. His secret apparently was on every critical email, he would cc all of the report that you report to.

In the heart of the recession, that was just delightful.

He had damn near 75 of us reporting to a guy with no journalism training or business training who made us switch all of our email domains from a highly-known brand in the market to a WordPress-based domain. For the next seven months, we had to explain that we were legitimate reporters to people who already didn't know us. Our email addresses looked like amateur bloggers. We were denied credentials for a BCS bowl game initially because of it.

Seven months later, he and the company parted ways.

Since then, he's wormed his way into Red Cross, an energy company, the city itself and is now on the board of a hospital. Every place, it's a mutual parting after he wrecks their culture.

Man... I gotta get a gig like that.

 

Yes in this day and age the workplace is very strange. You said it. Some people "worm" their way in. They know how to speak the "team" lingo and infiltrate the minds of HR idiots and get hired. Like you said, they cost the company amazing amounts of money and get fired after a year or so but make a lot of money in the process. It's beyond believe what kind of employees HR departments and higher ups value and how they piss on the people who truly are doing a great job. Damn the USA is in trouble in terms of the working place.