Many career pilgrims avoid interviewing for jobs because they think that the salary may be significantly below what they are willing to accept. The primary reason for this avoidance is that they do not want to waste their time and the interviewer’s time. This is not a sound strategy for many reasons. The main one being that there is no sense in eliminating yourself. You will be eliminated by others more than enough times for your liking. Let them do the eliminating. Among the reasons for taking the interviews:
- There are no bad interviews! You will learn from each and every one of them. Tiger Woods has miraculously rejuvenated his career at age 43 by being able to make a golf ball do exactly he wants it to do when he swings a club at it. He has now won over 80 professional tournaments, most in history. How many balls has he hit on the practice range in his life to accomplish all that? I’m guessing a cool zillion! Why should interviewing be any different? Practice, Practice, Practice!
- You may think you know what the base salary is for a job, but unless they flat out tell you the number (rare occurrence) you likely will be off in your assumption. Besides, the total compensation package should be what you are focusing on. You may learn of these other components in the interview or certainly in an offer letter. All of the other components have value as well, some of which you may think of as more important, such as PTO.
- Many times, the interviewer recognizes you as an “overqualified” candidate for that position during the interview. They then pass your resume on to another hiring manager who is trying to fill an unpublished opening that you would be a better fit for. A position you would not have known existed if you had not interviewed for the original position.
- If you are between jobs, do not worry about wasting your time because you likely have some time to spare. And if you end up getting an offer…Guess What? You don’t have to accept it. A polite and professional decline is perfectly appropriate. In regards to wasting their time, all is fair in love, war and job search. There is nothing disingenuous about a two way street. The company will not think twice about not choosing you in favor of someone else.
So I have a simple suggestion, GO FOR IT!
Written by Co-Principal, Mark Weigel.