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Thanks for the thoughtful reply and generous offer of help. The responses I have received indicate (if they mention anything at all) that the team liked me, tho

Thanks for the thoughtful reply and generous offer of help. The responses I have received indicate (if they mention anything at all) that the team liked me, thought I was a professional and friendly person, good at conflict resolution, and so on. As you say, it might just be a smokescreen but I have no conflicting information from anyone I know or previously worked with telling me that I'm not a good teammate. I'll send you a message soon, it would be helpful to get an outside opinion.

manyxcxi 10y ago
All one can do is go by what they say. There is a third option that I've been on both sides of as well: they think you're too expensive and/or you'll be a flight risk. I've had a number of occasions where the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and I just knew I was having a great run only to not get an offer and an explanation via the recruiter (mine or theirs) that they just couldn't afford me. This is a totally valid reason, but I usually make it clear that $X or the general vicinity plus other considerations is the starting point and give them an opportunity to bag out early- so this is an outcome that pisses me off with the caveat that I've had the budget reduced for a position mid-hiring process so I know it's not necessarily BS or intentional time wasting. The one time it happened to me I let them know for real what the reason was and they wound up working for us a year later. Whenever I say someone's too expensive internally it has meant that they don't come armed with the tools I'd expect an $Y per year salary would warrant. Sometimes they're our best candidate and we just "pay and pray", other times my feedback is just that, "We don't value what you bring to the table at the same level you do," and we try to negotiate. The flight risk is the trickier one, rarely will people even hint at this. They're either worried that you're going to be bored quickly (which comes up a lot depending on the role) or that you seem to be chasing money and/or titles. If it's the former I specifically tell them we like them, we want to make an offer, but we're worried that the day to day work may be unfulfilling in the long run based on what they've made us think about them during the interviews. By the way, my anecdotal track record for this is pretty good- these people are usually gone in 18 months, which is just about the time you hit your stride and go on auto-pilot plus a few months to figure out you're really effing bored. I can't recall anyone we've thought this about that stuck around past 30 months. The job hopping and money chasing is what it is. If it's true or not, you can't really unbrand yourself of it when they perceive it. I don't begrudge anyone for doing it, I have never been at the same company (whether for myself or others) for more than 4 years. I think everyone should be looking out for the best interest of their careers and families, your tenure at a company doesn't guarantee a thing, just do your best and be ethical while you're there. Be that as it may, if I've got two generally equivalent candidates and one is perceived to be more likely to stick around, s/he'll get the first offer.
- jakebasile 10y ago
  I have made a point to indicate I am very negotiable with compensation to help my chances, but that doesn't seem to ever come up. The recruiter asks a number, I give a guess based on my experience and my last salary, and it never comes up again. No one seems to take up my offer to negotiate. As to job hopping, I have worked at 3 companies my entire career, each about 2.5 years. I had good reasons to move each time, and I didn't do so lightly or recklessly, but there's nothing I can do to change that. With my experience job hunting, I'd be very happy working at the same place for a long time.

manyxcxi 10y ago

All one can do is go by what they say. There is a third option that I've been on both sides of as well: they think you're too expensive and/or you'll be a flight risk. I've had a number of occasions where the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and I just knew I was having a great run only to not get an offer and an explanation via the recruiter (mine or theirs) that they just couldn't afford me. This is a totally valid reason, but I usually make it clear that $X or the general vicinity plus other considerations is the starting point and give them an opportunity to bag out early- so this is an outcome that pisses me off with the caveat that I've had the budget reduced for a position mid-hiring process so I know it's not necessarily BS or intentional time wasting. The one time it happened to me I let them know for real what the reason was and they wound up working for us a year later. Whenever I say someone's too expensive internally it has meant that they don't come armed with the tools I'd expect an $Y per year salary would warrant. Sometimes they're our best candidate and we just "pay and pray", other times my feedback is just that, "We don't value what you bring to the table at the same level you do," and we try to negotiate. The flight risk is the trickier one, rarely will people even hint at this. They're either worried that you're going to be bored quickly (which comes up a lot depending on the role) or that you seem to be chasing money and/or titles. If it's the former I specifically tell them we like them, we want to make an offer, but we're worried that the day to day work may be unfulfilling in the long run based on what they've made us think about them during the interviews. By the way, my anecdotal track record for this is pretty good- these people are usually gone in 18 months, which is just about the time you hit your stride and go on auto-pilot plus a few months to figure out you're really effing bored. I can't recall anyone we've thought this about that stuck around past 30 months. The job hopping and money chasing is what it is. If it's true or not, you can't really unbrand yourself of it when they perceive it. I don't begrudge anyone for doing it, I have never been at the same company (whether for myself or others) for more than 4 years. I think everyone should be looking out for the best interest of their careers and families, your tenure at a company doesn't guarantee a thing, just do your best and be ethical while you're there. Be that as it may, if I've got two generally equivalent candidates and one is perceived to be more likely to stick around, s/he'll get the first offer.

jakebasile 10y ago
I have made a point to indicate I am very negotiable with compensation to help my chances, but that doesn't seem to ever come up. The recruiter asks a number, I give a guess based on my experience and my last salary, and it never comes up again. No one seems to take up my offer to negotiate. As to job hopping, I have worked at 3 companies my entire career, each about 2.5 years. I had good reasons to move each time, and I didn't do so lightly or recklessly, but there's nothing I can do to change that. With my experience job hunting, I'd be very happy working at the same place for a long time.