Workplace Trends To Monitor Ahead of the New Year

COVID-19 has reshaped today’s workforce for businesses and employees alike. Pieced together from a research report by Chief Economist and Director of Research at GlassDoor, Andrew Chamberlain, Ph. D, we reveal specific trends for today’s workplace that will continue to develop in 2022 and beyond. Stay cognizant of these emerging trends and discover how they pertain to you:

1. The Hybrid Work-From-Home Model

While 2020 introduced many Americans to their first experience working from home, 2021 introduced the country to the hybrid workplace, combining remote and in-person work to ease employees back into the office. However, this ‘easing’ process does not have an end date in sight and is likely a business model that is here to stay. The career experts at Zenefits explain how a hybrid workplace does not imply in-office work for everyone. It will often open the office to serve as a gathering space for monthly meetings, brainstorming sessions, or employees who need to get out of their house.

86% of workers say they would prefer to continue working from home, at least part-time, as offices reopen. (GlassDoor)

This business model also allows employers to cut costs by eliminating a large portion of their office space and improve overall productivity by eliminating commute time for employees. While there is sure to be a dip in employee connectivity and accessibility, committing to the employee-friendly hybrid business model can reduce employee turnover by up to 17%.

2. Bolstered Salary Expectations

As millions of employees move into new cities at the benefit of their company’s work-from-home policy, they open themselves to thousands of new opportunities from employers that are doing the same. Within this development, employers are strapped to the rising rates of top-performing employees and realize they must conform to remain competitive. For employees, many companies and their executive teams have adjusted not to match a big-city salary (i.e., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) for a remote employee living in a city with a much lower cost of living. However, there is an expectation that they will still meet you somewhere in the middle. Forbes reports an expectation of 115%-120% of the candidate’s local market rate, mutually benefiting both parties involved.

3. Progress, Not Promises on Corporate DEI

The movement for employers to become a more diverse and inclusive culture has always been one full of lots of promises, but with employees and job-seekers now in the driver’s seat, today’s executives are feeling the pressure. Employers can expect action to be required and initiatives to be established to land top talent in today’s job market. According to a recent GlassDoor survey, 76% of today’s job-seekers report a diverse workforce as a critical factor when evaluating job offers.

“It’s critical to understand how different groups look at D&I from their own work experiences, reinforcing the overdue need for all employers to improve when it comes to diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace.” – Carina Cortez, Chief People Officer at GlassDoor

Wrap Up

The pandemic has accelerated the progress of pre-existing trends across several industries and the general workforce, and these three trends are just a few examples. Uncover more trends that are reshaping today’s workplace shared by the team at GlassDoor For Employers here.

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Don’t Ask These Questions During Your Next Job Interview

When you are eager to begin your next journey with a new company, there is not much more exhilarating and nerve-racking than the job interview season. Meeting new potential employers during an interview is an exciting occasion because it acknowledges mutual interest in a likely long-term relationship.

To this point, you have dedicated hours preparing what to say, what to expect, and how to showcase your skills in a manner that convinces your interviewer you are best suited for the job. However, it is essential to remember that the interview is a two-way street, and you will be expected to ask questions. This can be a tricky line to walk as you balance 1) uncovering the unknowns surrounding the job while 2) staying appropriate and professional as not to deter your interviewer.

Your closing questions should not be a deep dive into specific company issues, nor should they be overly basic questions. Don’t tarnish any rapport you’ve built with your interviewer and spoil your shot at the job through incompetence. Here are a few questions you would be best suited to AVOID bringing up during your first-round interviews:

“What Does This Job Entail?”

At this point, you should have a decent understanding of the role you applied for and should avoid this generalized question. Instead, focus on specific aspects of the job, such as your daily responsibilities, who you will manage, or who you will be managed by. Ask about what future goals or projects they have in place and what you should prioritize within the role.

In a broader light, you can inquire about the work culture and work environment you will be joining. 

*Pro-Tip* Look back on the notes you’ve taken throughout the interview and pose a question based on your interviewer’s own words. Seeking further insight on a topic they covered will not only show you are a good listener but reiterates your interest in the job as well.

“What Is The Salary For This Position?”

The subject of salary and bonus potential is not deemed appropriate for you to bring up as the candidate. Leave this topic for the employer to reveal in a second or third-round interview or, to ask you directly: “What are your salary demands?” To answer this question, offer a specific range based on the research you have conducted for the position, location, industry, and experience level. Providing this range will leave room for compromise and negotiation. 

“What Exactly Does Your Company Do?”

Again, posing basic questions like this reveals a lack of preparation and a lack of interest to your interviewer. Either you failed to review the job description thoroughly, or you failed to conduct fundamental research into their website. Both will be seen as a red flag to any hiring manager or recruiter. As a general rule, you should never ask any question that you could have quickly answered for yourself online.

While you are expected to bring a blank notepad to track the information you receive during the interview, there is a similar expectation that you arrive with notes as well. From insight on the company’s mission statement, core values, target audience, provided resources, current challenges, and top competitors, speaking to these topics rather than asking about them will show you did your homework and are invested in making the most of your interview and interviewer’s time.

“What Is Your Policy On PTO & Health Benefits?”

Details surrounding paid vacation, 401k contributions, and provided health benefits can often weigh into your decision-making, but requiring this information early on will have your interviewer questioning your priorities. The more conventional approach is to evaluate these features in a later round of interviews or when weighing multiple job offers. Additionally, your immediate inquiry into paid time off will have employers questioning your commitment. If the details are not already revealed in the job description, it’s safe to assume the benefits will not surpass the industry standard.

“When Will I Be Up For A Promotion?”

While giving the impression that you are eager to grow and take more responsibility is admirable, your interviewer may not be keen to hear you are already looking beyond the job for which you are applying. Basic interview etiquette suggests that you should not be looking ahead to a new salary and job description before you’ve even been offered the job at hand.

Instead, ask your interviewer to define success within the role and provide an example of growth within the company. Turn your focus toward how you can impact the company rather than how it can best serve you. As the candidate being evaluated, you want to show you are ready to work hard and grow within the company rather than quick to pursue the next best opportunity.

Other Questions To Avoid (Which Shouldn’t Need Explaining)

– “Do I need to pass a drug test?”

– “Do your employees get breaks and if so, how long?”

– “Can I do this job from home?”

– “Will I be asked to work weekends or stay late?”

– “Will you be checking my references?”

– “Do you like your job?”

– “Do you have other openings I can apply for?”

Stay tuned for next week when I break down the meaningful, thought-provoking questions you should be asking during your interview.

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Five Steps To Winning Your Salary Negotiation

When you receive the elusive job offer and your onboarding process is set to begin, it can be an exciting time. While you are eager to start, there is still one crucial step remaining: negotiation. At this point, your soon-to-be employer has revealed their hand in believing you are the most qualified and integrable candidate. By trusting in your capabilities and taking these five steps in preparation, you can feel confident landing the salary you want while maintaining your professionalism.

Know Your Worth

Showcase the numbers to prove your value. Don’t counter your first salary offer simply because you planned to counter. Your employer will only take your counter legitimately if you have the research and work expertise to support it. Through resources such as GlassDoor, LinkedIn, or Indeed, you can find averages specific to your industry, location, and position. Use these statistics as leverage to get the figure you want. When you’ve completed extensive research into your market value, you make it difficult for your employer to refute your arguments. 

If possible, reveal your specific salary range first. While some studies show value in offering a precise number because it gives the impression that you’ve completed extensive research in the market, many will contest this theory. Offering a specific range will showcase your research while leaving more room for compromise and negotiation than the outdated approach of locking in one number.

“My salary situation wasn’t right. I made five attempts to fix it, then realized I’d made the same mistake every time: I apologized for asking.” – Mika Brzezinski

Know Your Interviewer

When you are completing contract negotiations with an HR representative, your manager, or the company CEO, it is essential to do your research into the individual. Learn about their work history and how their career path led them to be in front of you. Remember, your potential new employer is not out to get you. If you’ve made it this far, it means they like you. Use preliminary conversations to engage in their interests and ask for stories about their success. In addition to furthering your understanding, you will establish trust along the way.

Remember Your Employer Is Prepared To Negotiate

Similar to how you arrive with a minimum salary expectation, your interviewer likely has a maximum offer prepared. Don’t be afraid to ask for more than the original number given, and be sure to practice having this conversation. Reach out to a mentor or friend you trust who can provide feedback and provide a feel for addressing unexpected questions. Before you even have the opportunity to negotiate a new job offer, write down explicit examples of how your skill-set and background will support your and the company’s success. Are there any relevant certifications or licenses you’ve acquired that are worth emphasizing? Be sure to include them.

Familiarize yourself with the trends. A recent Robert Half study revealed that across all industries, 28% of managers admit to increasing the figure for starting salaries since the pandemic began last March. While you can anticipate some pushback on your demands, your employer is likely anticipating pushback as well. Just remember not to drag out your negotiation if you are not receiving the words you want. If they genuinely cannot match your number, there are other alternatives you can pursue, as I will reveal at a later point.

Don’t Fear The ‘No’

Your employer already offered you the job and now expects you to negotiate, so there is nothing to fear. If you know what you are worth, don’t settle in aligning your demands with the work performance you put out. Within your negotiation, there may be a series of counters until the ultimate final number is reached. At worst, you may hear something along the lines of “I’m sorry, but this is our best and final offer.”

If you do hear a ‘no,’ it is essential to remember it is not a product of inferior job performance. No matter what the outcome may be, you must carry yourself confidently while continuing to show gratitude for the opportunity. Being arrogant or haughty in your demands can generate a sour note for your conversation and future relationship.

Going Beyond The Numbers

In some cases, you may reach a stopping point in how high your employer can offer, but there are enticing alternatives to consider. Increasing your health benefits, 401k offerings, PTO days, equity in the company, or flexible work hours are common examples across negotiation. If money is too critical of a factor, consider requesting your annual performance review and salary restructuring to be made biannual. In leveraging these features, you can find common ground in factors outside of money. If you fall into the favorable circumstance of deliberating multiple job offers, here are 10 steps you can take to manage your decision-making process effectively.

Wrap Up

If you know your value, don’t settle in receiving your demands. When you’ve made it this far, it’s clear the company wants to keep you around. Therefore, offering a few extra thousand dollars or company perks is often nothing to mule over, especially when the alternative is reopening the job search. If you know your priorities, be intentional in disclosing them during negotiation. You may not receive all of your demands, but having them laid out allows your employer to come to terms with your top two or three. In any case, staying honest in conversation is imperative for starting your relationship right while maintaining your integrity.

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Recruiter Reveals No. 1 Mistake Job Seekers Make in Salary Negotiations

How much are you worth?

Don’t act surprised by this question—it is one you have likely contemplated each day when you walk into your place of work. It is also a question you are going to have answer to your human resources department or a recruiter when you are negotiating your salary.

Surprisingly enough, most job seekers do not know the answer to this question when they are put on the spot. Despite numerous resources available at no charge on the internet, job seekers struggle when they are asked this question, and it could be costing them—both financially and reputation wise—when they are seeking a raise or looking to negotiate salary with a new company.

To find out just how common of an occurrence this is, we recently spoke to a member of the recruiting industry who asked to remain anonymous for the sake of the company and candidates he/she works with. This recruiter detailed a recent scenario that he/she says happens all the time for us below.

“Recently, I had an applicant reach out to me about a position I am hiring for. He seemed like a good fit for the company, so I asked what salary range he wanted to be in and he gave me the strangest answer,” stated the recruiter. The recruiter shared from his applicant, “That is a question that I have wondered, as I always leave it up to negotiation. But my criteria would be to live comfortably.”

The expression on the recruiter’s face was priceless when he shared this story with me. He had given the applicant an opportunity to say exactly how much he wanted to earn, instead the applicant gave him nothing to go back to the client with. Frustrated, the recruiter said, “This is something you should write about in your next blog post.”

So, here we are.

When it comes to negotiating salary, it seems job seekers are caught in the “great in between.” On one side of things, they want to make it worth their while if they are leaving a company, but on the other side they do not want to come off as asking for too much and not have a chance to interview and prove to the recruiter/hiring manager their worth.

This presents a problem for job seekers and hiring managers, which is why I have put together three recommendations when it comes to salary negotiations for job seekers this week.

Always know your worth

This seems like it would be common knowledge, but as detailed above most job seekers are not coming to the table with an understanding of how much to ask for. To help out, you need to determine what situation you are in.

This comic perfectly depicts the internal struggle that comes with salary negotiations.

If you are a current employee at a company looking to ask for a raise after a great year and standout performance, most in the industry suggest that companies budget five percent to give their employees as a raise, but actually give them two to three percent unless they ask for more. My suggestion? Do not go too crazy and ask for a 20 percent bump, but asking for 7.5 to 10 percent does not seem unreasonable—especially if your efforts directly correlated to large revenue gains.

On the other side, if you are considering leaving a current job for a new one you need to do a little bit more work. Research the national averages for your industry and then compare them to the region you are working in. If you have to move, factor in moving costs and expenses into your decision as well.

Before you come up with a number, it is also suggested you look at the entire package being offered. If your previous employer offered a 401k and your new employer does not, that needs to be factored in, as well as relocation, profit sharing or any other benefits you were receiving or were not receiving.

Support the sale

An article from the television show “Shark Tank” a few years back broke this down the best way possible. Barbara Corcoran (one of the Sharks) said, “You’ve got to remember that asking for a raise is a sales job. It’s not about if you deserve the raise, really. It’s how well-prepared you are, how you list your responsibilities. You should even have a category called ‘above and beyond’ on responsibilities and make sure the boss knows every little thing you’re doing above and beyond. You know what, you’ve got to sell! It’s about selling.”

While this is specifically geared to those asking for a raise, it has merit toward someone discussing salary with a recruiter or hiring manager. When discussing your asking salary, support it with facts. Show them the criteria you meet for the position they are hiring for, then tell them about how you plan on elevating their company to the next level. Sell yourself!

Be confident in your ask

Going back to the recruiting example above, the inability of the applicant to convey his ask to the recruiter can be interpreted in quite a few ways, one of them being a lack of confidence. If you as an applicant are not confident enough to say “this is how much I want and why I deserve it” when you are asked that question by a hiring manager or recruiter, how are you going to respond in their work setting? What happens when a client asks you to justify the price you are asking for whatever it is you are selling?

These questions and more are going to go through the head of the person who is tasked with recommending you for a job in their company when you are not confident enough to ask for a specific number in your salary discussions. Step up to the plate and be confident.

Final Word

When it comes to salary discussions, many job seekers seem to think providing a number is frowned upon by employers and potential employers. However, that could not be further from the truth.

Knowing your worth, selling yourself properly and having confidence in your salary negotiations approach all go a long way in getting what you feel you deserve. So take the advice above from those in the industry, and prepare yourself to the best of your abilities for your next salary negotiation.

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Is Your Career on the Top Paying Jobs for 2017 List?

Not everyone subscribes to the LinkedIn blog—but those who do are certainly ahead of the curve when it comes to receiving important updates from their team, including a new functionality on LinkedIn you may have not known existed.

If you are not signed up (or you ignore LinkedIn emails), you likely missed an important post on their blog earlier this month. The post was titled “The Highest Paying Jobs in America Based On LinkedIn Salary Data,” and can be viewed in full here.

As you may have guessed, the data is from LinkedIn—but what you likely did not know is they have a whole Salary section on their website now. As someone in tune to the career world, their Salary section is relatively new to me, so I decided to explore.

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When you first go to the page, you are prompted to enter a job title and location to find out how much you can expect to earn. On the next page, you are shown the Median base salary and Median total compensation for position in the area you chose.

What LinkedIn smartly does next—which helps them collect data—is asks you to submit your current salary in a private manner in exchange for free insights from LinkedIn for the next year. There is obviously a chance people could enter incorrect salary information, but it prompts you to say that you cannot change your salary after you hit submit, so it should be pretty accurate.

Once you have submitted your information, you are then taken to a page which lets you know how many LinkedIn members have shared their salary for your field in the last year, and also shows you based on region what others in different locations are making for the same role.

Disappointed to find out you are below the Median salary for your area after doing this? Never fear, LinkedIn has a section directly underneath with open jobs for your position in your area that you can apply for.

Now that you have some background on how LinkedIn gathered the data for their highest paying jobs list, let’s take a look to see if your career field (or one you aspire to be in) made the list!

The Results

It wasn’t surprising to see medical dominate the top of the list, as nine of the Top 10 were found in the medical field.

  1. Cardiologist – $356,000
  2. Radiologist – $355,000
  3. Anesthesiologist – $350,000
  4. Surgeon – $338,000
  5. Medical Director – $230,000
  6. Pathologist – $225,000
  7. Physician (general) – $220,000
  8. Hospitalist – $220,000
  9. Psychiatrist – $218,000
  10. Senior Corporate Counsel – $175,000
  11. Staff Software Engineer – $168,000
  12. Dentist – $165,000
  13. Director of Engineering – $164,000
  14. Tax Director – $161,000
  15. Director of Product Management – $160,000
  16. Patent Attorney – $160,000
  17. Anesthetist – $156,000
  18. Senior Software Engineering Manager – $155,000
  19. Global Marketing Director – $155,000
  20. Podiatrist – $150,000

Our Thoughts

I am sure the majority of us figured doctors and attorneys would dominate this list, but there were a few encouraging surprises on this list as well that could point you in a direction for a possible career switch. Medical careers continue to grow and dominate, but there are other options for job seekers to grow their earning potential.

Staff Software Engineer and Director of Engineering show that not only is the technology field paying well, but that there is upward mobility and growth opportunity for engineers in either field. Overall, it shows the importance of computer and technology and how those currently in the field can upgrade their own career path if they so choose.

Finally, the importance in developing management skills in the business field is important as well. Director of Product Management and Global Marketing Directors cracking the Top 20 at over $150,000 per year should provide some incentive for those who are just starting their business careers at the entry-level salary level.

Final Word

If you are looking to make a move in your career and explore earning more, you should consider creating a career profile and working with one of our Project Coordinators to see if they can help find you a new career opportunity you did not know existed. Our team has been receiving rave reviews, including this one!

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