I'm glad the issue of "average pay" was brought up. Starting salaries can be quite low. I've seen under twenty thousand, and the issue of spending a ton of your own cash to fund "mandated curriculum" that the school districts can't or won't pay for is real. When you are making under twenty thousand, those expenditures really hurt.
Add to that nearly everyone on the planet assuming they can interrupt you when you are at work early on unpaid time, not even being able to pee when you need to, standing in line on your only bathroom break of the day to return a parent's phone call . . . the list goes on.
Now, if you work for a school district that has separate instructors for the extra classes like art, music and PE, and actually pays for a reasonable amount of supplies (I don't mind dishing out for glitter and pom poms if it's a special project I really want to do), then yes it is a bit more fair. Especially if the district pays decently and you are a few years in on the salary scale. Personally, the only schools I ever worked for where this was true were overseas where my lower salary was tax free. Now THAT felt a bit more fair. I totally feel for the person who mentioned having to pay for photocopies. I've had to do that before too. Older students can take notes off the board, but try doing that for more than a mini list with first graders. Not fun.
All that being said, I always enjoyed the students and do miss seeing their completed projects and academic growth. I've started a little project to help teachers get their job done on a budget. http://lessonmag.com/ There's also a link there to a curriculum site, which we are in the middle of revamping. Feel free to take advantage of any of the free articles there.
Like you, I am a work at home mom and writer, and I really appreciate the job resources you mentioned here. Workstir.com looks particularly intriguing to me. Thanks very much for this helpful information.
I for one am glad Linsey wrote this piece. I have purchased a few bamboo pieces and was considering buying some others, thinking I would be doing the helpful thing. Who knew?
Employers are good at lying about who they are too. They will misconstrue what is included in a job role, why a previous employee left, what the company culture is like etc.
Like others said your interviewing them too. If you feel they are not being totally honest or just telling you what they think you want to hear it is a good sign that you should walk.
I interviewed with a company several years ago and everyone that I talked to during the interview process asked me "if I had any constraints that would prevent me from business travel". Since this was a 100% office job, they clearly wanted to know if I had kids or personal committments that would keep me from working round the clock. I took the job, but only worked there 6 months, it wasn't a great fit for me, but it was during a previous time when jobs were scarce. And, in the 6months that I worked there, I never travelled even a single day out of the office.
This is so true... knowing a peer's salary can only lead to trouble... you'll either feel superior or jilted.
I completely agree that you can only control you own salary. But I'd take that one more step and say that you can have even more control over your disposible income.
If you eliminate debt from your life and build a pattern and system of living on less than you make and spending wisely you'll be better off even if your salary isn't tops.
I'd rather know what I'm more financially secure than the guy making twice my salary than anything else... because they comfort and gratitude springs from the inside.
Thanks, Linsey! Sometimes we get so focused on buying and the production end of our stuff that we forget to consider the entire lifespan of the product. I am trying to avoid buying new rayon (including rayon made from bamboo) because of the burden it places on the local environment, and because of the hype and greenwashing by some retailers. I will buy vintage clothing made from rayon, and I love-love-love lyocell (also marketed as Tencel). Most of all, I don't buy anything I can't wear for a long, long time, and I am careful about how I launder it.
Two points. First, interviewing is a two way street. Most people seem to forget this. The individual is interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing the individual. Being asked illegal questions should be a big red flag. Such questions present a danger to the individual. What else, of a questionable nature, would be asked or demanded. That being said, #3 above makes a good point. Many interviewers are not trained or educated in the requirements involved in interviewing. I've had to interview people for several companies, but I've received had no training in interviewing. As an engineer, interviewing others is not a normal part of our education. On the other hand, if the interviewer is in H.R. or management and asking questionable questions, then consider carefully the organization and the commitment to law abiding behavior as well as ethics or morals.
Quick things - work notice, vacation, debt free, immediate family, 100,000 in 2k each cash cards to give out as, make my day, gifts to random strangers - people stranded on side of road, amazing wait staff, just random acts of kindness.
Next I would set up an independent research and development company to invest in independent software developers, to create better versions of their software. Idea is to identify software that through hopefully dollar and design assistance would take it to the next level, and then release as freeware. Research all completion, create optimal version with better UI and features. Couple of one’s considered: Ubook (ultimate eBook reader), Rocketdock, program launcher, VLC, multimedia viewer.
Nothing is inherently wrong, but all I am sure could benefit from more focused time devoted to them to improve UI, ad features, develop to next level.
Overall idea is optimized software, great interfaces. Take people and groups working on shoestring and part time and get them the finances to take their ideas to the next level.
Particular area I would like to work on is touch enabled friendly software. I would also like to develop netbook focused software, update older software and optimize for netbook usage.
1. Don't tell anyone about it. Not even my children.
2. Live the way I am and keep working for a year.
3. If any financial planners or advisors come out of the woodwork, tell them I don't know what they are talking about and act dumb. I'm kinda good at that....
4. Think a lot about it.
5. Pay all the taxes that go with it. I'd take the lump sum distribution. Get my budget ready.
6. Investigate and donate to women's shelters.
7. Investigate and donate to animal shelters.
8. Sell my house and move into a much smaller, quieter place, perhaps out in the country where I can have some animals.
9. Never tell anyone I meet that I am a millionnaire.
10. Quit my job after a year.
11. Live in peace and die with dignity.
And, I wouldn't pay off anyone else's debt. Until those people figure out and exercise their own muscles in regard to money, it would be like giving a drunk a drink and you'd might as well just flush the money down a toilet.
I was once interviewing with an attorney for a clerical position at his office of 2 attorney's and another secretary.
I was asked if I was going to have more kids. The implication was that he didn't want someone out of the office for doctor's appointments.
I shrugged it off, after all, what was I going to do, SUE him?
I got the job.
A year later, when it came time for cost of living wage, he told me his wife was pregnant with their 5th child and he needed a new roof on his house. His house was a mansion. I lived in a trailer.
Normally you want to be really careful about lying on a job interview.
Although most employment in the US is "at will" (meaning that they can fire you for any reason, or no reason at all), there are a few prohibited reasons--race, religion, etc. If a company wants to fire you for a prohibited reason (trying to organize a union, let's say), they will, of course, try to trump up a legit reason--but that's complex. If they just made up some reason--coming in late or poor quality of work--then they'd have to fake up the documentation for that, or else they could lose in court when you sued for wrongful dismissal.
One easy out for them is lying in your job application materials. If they can find any false statements in your application or resume, that's a safe reason to dismiss you--even if the real reason is illegal.
I'd say, though, that false answers to the illegal questions are safe, as long as you don't put the answer in writing. (It's okay if they document it in their own notes.) To use a false answer as an excuse to fire you, they'd first have to admit that they asked you an illegal question, and then they'd have to admit that they used illegal criteria to make the hiring decision.
So, if you're pretty sure that you know what answer they're looking for, I think it's perfectly safe to lie when answering this sort of question.
Of course, a job that you need to lie to get is probably not forward progress on a long-term career.
A notorious one when being interviewed by a church is for the church reps to ask you how your wife sees your ministry and even how she sees herself being involved in your ministry. This lends itself to looking for a two-for-one, and I've seen churches discriminate on the basis of whose wife they thought would be more involved and that's the minister they hire!
We've talked about it in a dreamy sort of way. Though we never play the lottery. I'd give it away to good causes (things we already have a heart for) as that much cash in a lump makes me very uncomfortable. My DH would put it towards retirement, the kids' college and work the rest of his life at his present job for nothing, as he loves it. Obviously we'd have to compromise.
I'm not sure where this falls. But here's a rather round about, quirky, way of matching personalities to a job, as a resume actually lists qualifications. Have the job seeker hand write their application out and get an expert to do a personality analysis from the handwriting. A cousin's husband in pro sports used this method to weed out the "me first" and dangerously agressive players from the 300 or so wanting the job. I've also heard of personality tests being used to find matches in close knit working situations. Apart from actual skills, this seems to be the most important thing at a job.
Being sensitive to the needs of a company is not a bad thing either. A newly married friend was asked if she intended to have children soon. The company had lost two previous employees for that particular position. They had been trained at company expense only to leave in a year. A big financial hit for a small outfit. So as another poster mentioned, address the reasons behind the questions.
Is it truly illegal to *ask* these questions around the mentioned statuses (parentage, age, etc.)?
I don't believe it is...it's just illegal to discriminate against the person based on the attributes.
So even if they don't directly or indirectly ask certain questions, and if you think that they may hold your actual status against you, then be even more careful of your answers to unrelated questions, especially the "tell me about yourself" opener...
I agree with the earlier poster who mentioned that discrimination may be based on the believe of how you will fit with the company, its culture/environment, and their believe in how it will affect your commitment to the job; of course, it could also be a prejudice of the interviewer against (or for!) certain status that causes their using your status in their hiring decision.
Just don't get your ire up immediately if they seem to ask a "illegal" question...the could just be a badly trained interviewer.
I would consider having some role-playing interviews with colleagues and have them work in some questions of this direct and round-about nature for you to practice deflecting with the approach they have a legitimate concern (to them) and your return of the topic back to your qualifications...
If you think they are concerned with your commitment (perhaps for parents, or health status), then tell war stories of long days/nights, weekend duty, work from home, etc.
If it's more of an race, religious, or orientation centered "issue" for them...good luck! That's almost impossible to deal with overcoming prejudice in an interview...
I come from New Zealand. We have without boast some of the purist water in the world. We have huge mountains that are a stones throw away and it gives us beautiful clean water with no additives. Yet people still buy water by the crateload.
It's redicious. I read one bottle that said it was processed in Kaiapoi which is about a 15 minute drive north of us... Wonder where there water comes from? No doubt the same as ours.
Where I work, it's way more important to find someone who is a personality fit. We have lots of people who have kids, but they're adults with kids. Sometimes we get superparents - ALL THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS THEIR KIDS. Ugh.
It tends to alienate our younger crowd fast, then the regular parents, until they get upset and feel like an outcast. It's happened four times, and the last time I tried explaining to the person that if he just talked about world events, or even offensive topics like politics or religion he'd feel more included, but he told me point blank "My only interest is my kids." So, if I can't ask it, how to I let my applicant know what kinda crowd we are so they don't hate working for us?
"We all have interests outside of children... and don't think potty training is a great lunch topic. How d'you feel about that?"
Amazing just how dumb or self absorbed some folks can be.... as I'm in the job market it's good to know that I'm not really 'competing' against all of my competition.
There are many factors that play into this discussion. Nebraska, for example, has relatively low average pay ($39,000), coming in at 30th for the entire country -- Keep in mind that average includes tenured teachers who have been there for 20 years or more. The starting pay is between 25K and 29K. When you factor in that many schools also require teachers to take on extra activities (class sponsorship, athletics coaching, elective classes), this can put the burden fairly high for a new graduate.
On the other hand, a school with greater pay and excellent benefits can put you in an excellent position to earn more.
Ill take a 370z plz
I'm glad the issue of "average pay" was brought up. Starting salaries can be quite low. I've seen under twenty thousand, and the issue of spending a ton of your own cash to fund "mandated curriculum" that the school districts can't or won't pay for is real. When you are making under twenty thousand, those expenditures really hurt.
Add to that nearly everyone on the planet assuming they can interrupt you when you are at work early on unpaid time, not even being able to pee when you need to, standing in line on your only bathroom break of the day to return a parent's phone call . . . the list goes on.
Now, if you work for a school district that has separate instructors for the extra classes like art, music and PE, and actually pays for a reasonable amount of supplies (I don't mind dishing out for glitter and pom poms if it's a special project I really want to do), then yes it is a bit more fair. Especially if the district pays decently and you are a few years in on the salary scale. Personally, the only schools I ever worked for where this was true were overseas where my lower salary was tax free. Now THAT felt a bit more fair. I totally feel for the person who mentioned having to pay for photocopies. I've had to do that before too. Older students can take notes off the board, but try doing that for more than a mini list with first graders. Not fun.
All that being said, I always enjoyed the students and do miss seeing their completed projects and academic growth. I've started a little project to help teachers get their job done on a budget. http://lessonmag.com/ There's also a link there to a curriculum site, which we are in the middle of revamping. Feel free to take advantage of any of the free articles there.
Good timing! Wonderful and useful article. I've been drinking a lot of warm milk/honey (creates tryptophan) to help get to sleep.
Like you, I am a work at home mom and writer, and I really appreciate the job resources you mentioned here. Workstir.com looks particularly intriguing to me. Thanks very much for this helpful information.
I for one am glad Linsey wrote this piece. I have purchased a few bamboo pieces and was considering buying some others, thinking I would be doing the helpful thing. Who knew?
Employers are good at lying about who they are too. They will misconstrue what is included in a job role, why a previous employee left, what the company culture is like etc.
Like others said your interviewing them too. If you feel they are not being totally honest or just telling you what they think you want to hear it is a good sign that you should walk.
I interviewed with a company several years ago and everyone that I talked to during the interview process asked me "if I had any constraints that would prevent me from business travel". Since this was a 100% office job, they clearly wanted to know if I had kids or personal committments that would keep me from working round the clock. I took the job, but only worked there 6 months, it wasn't a great fit for me, but it was during a previous time when jobs were scarce. And, in the 6months that I worked there, I never travelled even a single day out of the office.
This is so true... knowing a peer's salary can only lead to trouble... you'll either feel superior or jilted.
I completely agree that you can only control you own salary. But I'd take that one more step and say that you can have even more control over your disposible income.
If you eliminate debt from your life and build a pattern and system of living on less than you make and spending wisely you'll be better off even if your salary isn't tops.
I'd rather know what I'm more financially secure than the guy making twice my salary than anything else... because they comfort and gratitude springs from the inside.
Great topic... thanks for sharing
Dave
Thanks, Linsey! Sometimes we get so focused on buying and the production end of our stuff that we forget to consider the entire lifespan of the product. I am trying to avoid buying new rayon (including rayon made from bamboo) because of the burden it places on the local environment, and because of the hype and greenwashing by some retailers. I will buy vintage clothing made from rayon, and I love-love-love lyocell (also marketed as Tencel). Most of all, I don't buy anything I can't wear for a long, long time, and I am careful about how I launder it.
Two points. First, interviewing is a two way street. Most people seem to forget this. The individual is interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing the individual. Being asked illegal questions should be a big red flag. Such questions present a danger to the individual. What else, of a questionable nature, would be asked or demanded. That being said, #3 above makes a good point. Many interviewers are not trained or educated in the requirements involved in interviewing. I've had to interview people for several companies, but I've received had no training in interviewing. As an engineer, interviewing others is not a normal part of our education. On the other hand, if the interviewer is in H.R. or management and asking questionable questions, then consider carefully the organization and the commitment to law abiding behavior as well as ethics or morals.
hey you,you think you know everything about scamming just wait untill you become a victim through me.FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Quick things - work notice, vacation, debt free, immediate family, 100,000 in 2k each cash cards to give out as, make my day, gifts to random strangers - people stranded on side of road, amazing wait staff, just random acts of kindness.
Next I would set up an independent research and development company to invest in independent software developers, to create better versions of their software. Idea is to identify software that through hopefully dollar and design assistance would take it to the next level, and then release as freeware. Research all completion, create optimal version with better UI and features. Couple of one’s considered: Ubook (ultimate eBook reader), Rocketdock, program launcher, VLC, multimedia viewer.
Nothing is inherently wrong, but all I am sure could benefit from more focused time devoted to them to improve UI, ad features, develop to next level.
Overall idea is optimized software, great interfaces. Take people and groups working on shoestring and part time and get them the finances to take their ideas to the next level.
Particular area I would like to work on is touch enabled friendly software. I would also like to develop netbook focused software, update older software and optimize for netbook usage.
Just my two cents
1. Don't tell anyone about it. Not even my children.
2. Live the way I am and keep working for a year.
3. If any financial planners or advisors come out of the woodwork, tell them I don't know what they are talking about and act dumb. I'm kinda good at that....
4. Think a lot about it.
5. Pay all the taxes that go with it. I'd take the lump sum distribution. Get my budget ready.
6. Investigate and donate to women's shelters.
7. Investigate and donate to animal shelters.
8. Sell my house and move into a much smaller, quieter place, perhaps out in the country where I can have some animals.
9. Never tell anyone I meet that I am a millionnaire.
10. Quit my job after a year.
11. Live in peace and die with dignity.
And, I wouldn't pay off anyone else's debt. Until those people figure out and exercise their own muscles in regard to money, it would be like giving a drunk a drink and you'd might as well just flush the money down a toilet.
I was once interviewing with an attorney for a clerical position at his office of 2 attorney's and another secretary.
I was asked if I was going to have more kids. The implication was that he didn't want someone out of the office for doctor's appointments.
I shrugged it off, after all, what was I going to do, SUE him?
I got the job.
A year later, when it came time for cost of living wage, he told me his wife was pregnant with their 5th child and he needed a new roof on his house. His house was a mansion. I lived in a trailer.
I left a week later.
Ugh.
It caught my attention and made me wanna read! :D
Normally you want to be really careful about lying on a job interview.
Although most employment in the US is "at will" (meaning that they can fire you for any reason, or no reason at all), there are a few prohibited reasons--race, religion, etc. If a company wants to fire you for a prohibited reason (trying to organize a union, let's say), they will, of course, try to trump up a legit reason--but that's complex. If they just made up some reason--coming in late or poor quality of work--then they'd have to fake up the documentation for that, or else they could lose in court when you sued for wrongful dismissal.
One easy out for them is lying in your job application materials. If they can find any false statements in your application or resume, that's a safe reason to dismiss you--even if the real reason is illegal.
I'd say, though, that false answers to the illegal questions are safe, as long as you don't put the answer in writing. (It's okay if they document it in their own notes.) To use a false answer as an excuse to fire you, they'd first have to admit that they asked you an illegal question, and then they'd have to admit that they used illegal criteria to make the hiring decision.
So, if you're pretty sure that you know what answer they're looking for, I think it's perfectly safe to lie when answering this sort of question.
Of course, a job that you need to lie to get is probably not forward progress on a long-term career.
A notorious one when being interviewed by a church is for the church reps to ask you how your wife sees your ministry and even how she sees herself being involved in your ministry. This lends itself to looking for a two-for-one, and I've seen churches discriminate on the basis of whose wife they thought would be more involved and that's the minister they hire!
We've talked about it in a dreamy sort of way. Though we never play the lottery. I'd give it away to good causes (things we already have a heart for) as that much cash in a lump makes me very uncomfortable. My DH would put it towards retirement, the kids' college and work the rest of his life at his present job for nothing, as he loves it. Obviously we'd have to compromise.
I'm not sure where this falls. But here's a rather round about, quirky, way of matching personalities to a job, as a resume actually lists qualifications. Have the job seeker hand write their application out and get an expert to do a personality analysis from the handwriting. A cousin's husband in pro sports used this method to weed out the "me first" and dangerously agressive players from the 300 or so wanting the job. I've also heard of personality tests being used to find matches in close knit working situations. Apart from actual skills, this seems to be the most important thing at a job.
Being sensitive to the needs of a company is not a bad thing either. A newly married friend was asked if she intended to have children soon. The company had lost two previous employees for that particular position. They had been trained at company expense only to leave in a year. A big financial hit for a small outfit. So as another poster mentioned, address the reasons behind the questions.
I am curious, although I think I know the answer:
Is it truly illegal to *ask* these questions around the mentioned statuses (parentage, age, etc.)?
I don't believe it is...it's just illegal to discriminate against the person based on the attributes.
So even if they don't directly or indirectly ask certain questions, and if you think that they may hold your actual status against you, then be even more careful of your answers to unrelated questions, especially the "tell me about yourself" opener...
I agree with the earlier poster who mentioned that discrimination may be based on the believe of how you will fit with the company, its culture/environment, and their believe in how it will affect your commitment to the job; of course, it could also be a prejudice of the interviewer against (or for!) certain status that causes their using your status in their hiring decision.
Just don't get your ire up immediately if they seem to ask a "illegal" question...the could just be a badly trained interviewer.
I would consider having some role-playing interviews with colleagues and have them work in some questions of this direct and round-about nature for you to practice deflecting with the approach they have a legitimate concern (to them) and your return of the topic back to your qualifications...
If you think they are concerned with your commitment (perhaps for parents, or health status), then tell war stories of long days/nights, weekend duty, work from home, etc.
If it's more of an race, religious, or orientation centered "issue" for them...good luck! That's almost impossible to deal with overcoming prejudice in an interview...
I come from New Zealand. We have without boast some of the purist water in the world. We have huge mountains that are a stones throw away and it gives us beautiful clean water with no additives. Yet people still buy water by the crateload.
It's redicious. I read one bottle that said it was processed in Kaiapoi which is about a 15 minute drive north of us... Wonder where there water comes from? No doubt the same as ours.
Hi. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with the region code change on a Sony. It’s very frustrating and I can’t watch any DVD’s
Where I work, it's way more important to find someone who is a personality fit. We have lots of people who have kids, but they're adults with kids. Sometimes we get superparents - ALL THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS THEIR KIDS. Ugh.
It tends to alienate our younger crowd fast, then the regular parents, until they get upset and feel like an outcast. It's happened four times, and the last time I tried explaining to the person that if he just talked about world events, or even offensive topics like politics or religion he'd feel more included, but he told me point blank "My only interest is my kids." So, if I can't ask it, how to I let my applicant know what kinda crowd we are so they don't hate working for us?
"We all have interests outside of children... and don't think potty training is a great lunch topic. How d'you feel about that?"
Amazing just how dumb or self absorbed some folks can be.... as I'm in the job market it's good to know that I'm not really 'competing' against all of my competition.
Thanks for sharing!
Dave
There are many factors that play into this discussion. Nebraska, for example, has relatively low average pay ($39,000), coming in at 30th for the entire country -- Keep in mind that average includes tenured teachers who have been there for 20 years or more. The starting pay is between 25K and 29K. When you factor in that many schools also require teachers to take on extra activities (class sponsorship, athletics coaching, elective classes), this can put the burden fairly high for a new graduate.
On the other hand, a school with greater pay and excellent benefits can put you in an excellent position to earn more.
I think it really depends on your situation.
Linsey Knerl