3 ms·

"I always volunteer to work for free prior to getting hired." This sounds like a perfect way to devalue yourself to any potential employer.

by st3v3r 11y ago

p4wnc6 11y ago
But offering to do a short working internship, which is paid at a competitive rate that would translate to the salary you are seeking, is reasonable. That way you are compensated for the effort you provide to assist the hiring company in figuring out if they want to work with you, and if so, at what price they are willing to agree to it.
- st3v3r 11y ago
  It can be, but that gets pretty close to contract-to-hire, which is rife for abuse from the company.
  - p4wnc6 11y ago
    When I say short, I mean 1 week, maybe 2 weeks tops. Few places that want the scammy sort of contract-to-hire are going to bother with someone who expects to be paid their regular wage for a one-to-two-week time period. Anything longer than 2 weeks, and I'd expect full benefits, possibly a signing bonus, and I would speak at length before hand to get specifics on exactly how I will be evaluated and which criteria will be used for determining if a permanent offer will be made. This scares away most crappy companies and acts as a good filter to find good employers.
iandanforth 11y ago
I'll respond to a few points here: 1. I've never had a problem getting the salary that I wanted and have had a steadily increasing market-rate developer salary at each job. 2. I've only ever managed to actually work for free once, the other times they insisted on paying a base hourly, intern wage. 3. If you go in thinking this is where you want to work, but are wrong because it's "impossible to understand the company and how it operates from outside," it's much less of a hassle to leave during a trial period. Finally I think there is a lot of posturing around negotiating positions and "strength." That's bs. If you're looking to get the highest salary you can, fine, but if you're looking for a job that you love I can only relate that this technique has worked again and again for me and no theoretical critiques of negotiating strategy can change that.

"I always volunteer to work for free prior to getting hired." This sounds like a perfect way to devalue yourself to any potential employer.

by st3v3r 11y ago

"I always volunteer to work for free prior to getting hired." This sounds like a perfect way to devalue yourself to any potential employer.

p4wnc6 11y ago

But offering to do a short working internship, which is paid at a competitive rate that would translate to the salary you are seeking, is reasonable. That way you are compensated for the effort you provide to assist the hiring company in figuring out if they want to work with you, and if so, at what price they are willing to agree to it.

st3v3r 11y ago
It can be, but that gets pretty close to contract-to-hire, which is rife for abuse from the company.
- p4wnc6 11y ago
  When I say short, I mean 1 week, maybe 2 weeks tops. Few places that want the scammy sort of contract-to-hire are going to bother with someone who expects to be paid their regular wage for a one-to-two-week time period. Anything longer than 2 weeks, and I'd expect full benefits, possibly a signing bonus, and I would speak at length before hand to get specifics on exactly how I will be evaluated and which criteria will be used for determining if a permanent offer will be made. This scares away most crappy companies and acts as a good filter to find good employers.

iandanforth 11y ago

I'll respond to a few points here: 1. I've never had a problem getting the salary that I wanted and have had a steadily increasing market-rate developer salary at each job. 2. I've only ever managed to actually work for free once, the other times they insisted on paying a base hourly, intern wage. 3. If you go in thinking this is where you want to work, but are wrong because it's "impossible to understand the company and how it operates from outside," it's much less of a hassle to leave during a trial period. Finally I think there is a lot of posturing around negotiating positions and "strength." That's bs. If you're looking to get the highest salary you can, fine, but if you're looking for a job that you love I can only relate that this technique has worked again and again for me and no theoretical critiques of negotiating strategy can change that.