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Official Pit Job Search/Employment Thread

Anyone ever negotiate with a start up company? I realize that part of benefit of working at one is getting in on the ground floor when there is lot s of room for growth. Currently I work in state government, have a cushy job but there is a relatively low ceiling. The new position would be lateral at best but with the potential for growth. The catch is that I have a wife and two small kids.

How hard can I negotiate with the new lab? The job could be very rewarding personally and professionally but with a lot less stability.

Thanks.
 
You're also trading job security for job uncertainty.

E: Just saw the part about stability.
 
I mean, you can't really negotiate away the insecurity of a startup gig, can you?
 
Anyone ever negotiate with a start up company? I realize that part of benefit of working at one is getting in on the ground floor when there is lot s of room for growth. Currently I work in state government, have a cushy job but there is a relatively low ceiling. The new position would be lateral at best but with the potential for growth. The catch is that I have a wife and two small kids.

How hard can I negotiate with the new lab? The job could be very rewarding personally and professionally but with a lot less stability.

Thanks.

I would guess the only real opportunity for a lot of negotiation is on the up-side... Amount of equity, milestone bonuses, that sort of thing... If you are going to accept risk, there needs to be a reward if all goes well.
 
Anyone ever negotiate with a start up company? I realize that part of benefit of working at one is getting in on the ground floor when there is lot s of room for growth. Currently I work in state government, have a cushy job but there is a relatively low ceiling. The new position would be lateral at best but with the potential for growth. The catch is that I have a wife and two small kids.

How hard can I negotiate with the new lab? The job could be very rewarding personally and professionally but with a lot less stability.

Thanks.

I may be in this situation soon, it's scary for sure, but potentially so good.
 
I think I am going to stay put. The new company isn't really budging right now but are offering advancement in a few months that would be much more lucrative (however, not guaranteed). Maybe it is the government worker in me, but I can retire from my current job with a pension before my kids graduate from high school. While I think I would love the other job, the financial risk to my family and the initial stress it would cause probably aren't worth it. Five years ago I would be all over it. It sucks getting older and being responsible for other people as well as myself!
 
Graduating in May with a degree in Economics. Any suggestions for me as i dip my toes into the big bad scary workforce? Been a bit of a bitch because so many finance jobs require a decent amount of experience.
 
Graduating in May with a degree in Economics. Any suggestions for me as i dip my toes into the big bad scary workforce? Been a bit of a bitch because so many finance jobs require a decent amount of experience.

Suggestions in terms of what? Where to apply?
Cast your net wide and see what comes up. Know that whatever you end up doing will most likely not be your 'forever' job, and that's ok. If you do have a pretty clear idea of what you'd like to do, apply for things that will give you relevant experience so in 2-3 year (or less) you've got that on your resume and can go for those other 'experience' jobs.

*eta: my strategy is marked by the fact that when i graduated, you were lucky to even get a job period... so I'm a bit more willing to accept what comes and make the most of it. For the sake of kids graduating now, I hope this has changed a bit.
 
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Graduating in May with a degree in Economics. Any suggestions for me as i dip my toes into the big bad scary workforce? Been a bit of a bitch because so many finance jobs require a decent amount of experience.

go travel first
 
Graduating in May with a degree in Economics. Any suggestions for me as i dip my toes into the big bad scary workforce? Been a bit of a bitch because so many finance jobs require a decent amount of experience.

Learn to code.
 
Any tips on making requests for specific office furniture before you even show up for your first day of work? I am really interested in having a stand-up desk for the various health benefits but (1) fear that requesting furniture at a place where you don't have a ton of leverage is a no-go and (2) worry about being that annoying millenial who requests a stand-up desk. FWIW, employees in this company's other offices have stand-ups, but I haven't noticed that anyone in my future office has one.

At the end of the day, though, I'd rather sit and wreck my cardiovascular health/chances of living past 45 than start off on a bad foot with my new employer.
 
Any tips on making requests for specific office furniture before you even show up for your first day of work? I am really interested in having a stand-up desk for the various health benefits but (1) fear that requesting furniture at a place where you don't have a ton of leverage is a no-go and (2) worry about being that annoying millenial who requests a stand-up desk. FWIW, employees in this company's other offices have stand-ups, but I haven't noticed that anyone in my future office has one.

At the end of the day, though, I'd rather sit and wreck my cardiovascular health/chances of living past 45 than start off on a bad foot with my new employer.

uh, yeah. unless you've got legit doctor-ordered needs, don't be That Guy before you even show up.
 
Learn to code.

fuck-dat-shit.jpg
 
what do you want to do?

if you aren't looking start-ups go with the most prestigious/biggest firm/company that will hire you.
 
Any tips on making requests for specific office furniture before you even show up for your first day of work? I am really interested in having a stand-up desk for the various health benefits but (1) fear that requesting furniture at a place where you don't have a ton of leverage is a no-go and (2) worry about being that annoying millenial who requests a stand-up desk. FWIW, employees in this company's other offices have stand-ups, but I haven't noticed that anyone in my future office has one.

At the end of the day, though, I'd rather sit and wreck my cardiovascular health/chances of living past 45 than start off on a bad foot with my new employer.

Yeaaaa I'm going to go ahead and say you should probably start the job and feel things out before you go around requesting specific items of office furniture.
 
meh

depends on the company. it isn't like most hr peeps are in the ear of management calling someone a puss. now if it's a small office i'd want to be on good terms with the office manager for a variety of reasons, so i'd just feel them out.
 
Seriously doubt anyone here is looking for this sort of job, but I'm hiring an organist/music director. Not the point, though. What has blown me away is that in the job description, where I tell people where to send the application, it says "submit cover letter, resume, and references." Of the 7 applications I've received, only 2 came with cover letters. Is this common for people to be so dense?
 
Seriously doubt anyone here is looking for this sort of job, but I'm hiring an organist/music director. Not the point, though. What has blown me away is that in the job description, where I tell people where to send the application, it says "submit cover letter, resume, and references." Of the 7 applications I've received, only 2 came with cover letters. Is this common for people to be so dense?

why would you requiring all that stuff

and are you going to ignore the 5 who didn't submit a cover letter? if not, you have your answer. if you are, id say that's kind of dumb and goes back to the initial question.
 
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why would you requiring all that stuff

and are you going to ignore the 5 who didn't submit a cover letter? if not, you have your answer. if you are, id say that's kind of dumb and goes back to the initial question.

Because we're anticipating 25 or more applications by the time the search is over. I don't give a crap where someone learned to play the organ, which really is all a resume tells me. References are helpful, but I'm not going to start there. The cover letter is where the candidate can express themselves and put a "face" to the resume. It is where they can convey their passion for music, their understanding of how music can transform a congregation, what sort of teacher they might be. Church hires are different than corporate hires, so it's not as simple as "can you tickle the ivories?" but "how can you enhance the ministry of this congregation through music?" No resume will answer that, and in trying to make heads or tails of so many applications, the cover letter allows candidates to distinguish themselves. I'm the HR committee, so having a lot of time isn't a luxury I have while I'm also running the church. The cover letter gives me something to go on, some reason to say "I want to talk to this person further." Furthermore, there really are only a handful of schools that produce quality organists, so the resumes are going to look fairly similar.

Also, if you want a job that requires at least a BA, you should be able to crank out 3 paragraphs for a cover letter. Even if you think it's stupid for me to ask for it, your refusal to do so shows me that either 1) you are incompetent, 2) you are lazy, or 3) you don't really care about this job, you just want any job you can get. I've just been surprised that, so far, so many people aren't doing it. I thought cover letters were standard anyway (even without asking for it).
 
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