Stop! Just Stop! #3

The other two articles in this series have dealt with employers. Crappy job applications and lame interview questions are all on them. But what happens when you land that offer? What are you going to do? While it might behoove you to take the job, there are something you need to do before you sign on the dotted line. 

First...You need to stop, and negotiate your salary. Even if you have been eating bread sandwiches for a month,  work to get an extra $500. They want you more than you really want them, if you boil it down to the essential oils of the matter. Do not think for one second they are going to turn you down if they are negotiating. If they absolutely cannot budge, find another perk you want and get that. An extra couple sick days, your own parking spot. Hell something with they logo on it. Anything to make sure they know you are going to ask for more of them. 

Lot of librarians reading this are shaking in the sweaters with the thought of asking for more money for a job they'd do to keep their felines in Whiskas and themselves in coffee, but I can tell you every other professional person is out there doing this very same thing. We're professionals too...especially if your job requires an advanced degree...so why not. If the library wants you to have the degree, and the debt, they better be willing to fork over the bread for it. 

We all know the job is going to include more than the job description includes. So you damn well better get that money up front. Job creep is real. We are going to be asked to do more than what we are hired for. It is inevitable. And if you think asking for more salary is tough, try asking for a raise. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the old adage goes. Getting the money up front keeps you from having to play catch up when you have been there ten years and doing three people's jobs. Finally, it give you leverage if you have to "manage up." I can tell you from experience I was QUITE A BIT LESS likely to do my bosses job when they weren't doing it because my boss refused to budge on negotiations. In essence, you want me to manage my manager, you better pay me like one. Otherwise do not expect management work. 

I think this "Great Resignation" everyone is talking about is partially due to people not being compensated for all the work they have been doing and folks are wising up to, SO you damn well be getting your bread while the baker is in the oven. Though it is a hirer's market right now, as a worker bee, you have to get things you need to before you start on that first day. I know from experience this is not fun, and you did not go into libraries for the money, but you did go into them to get paid fairly. If a company is unwilling to let you have something (anything) you ask for on the front end, it shows outright they are not in this for the mutual benefit of everyone. And you need to think long an hard about working their because once they have you, you might not ever be in a spot to have them.