JT: It’s time to pull together our best advice from recent years.
DALE: And, once again, with those highlights goes this wish: May 2024 be your best year yet.
On accepting a new job and having your current employer want to make a counter-offer: There are multiple studies that show if you negotiate with your current employer to stay, the likelihood is you’ll be let go within 18 months. Once they know you wanted to leave and they can only keep you by raising your pay, they feel held hostage. This usually leads to your eventual departure. So tell them you are honored that they want to counter, but that you really feel the new opportunity is going to help you grow, and, if anything, might better prepare you to return to your current employer some day with new skills. This is the smartest way to leave on good terms.
People are also reading…
On learning your company is making everyone reapply for their jobs and wondering if you should just find a new company: Yes, start a search, but reapply to your job so that you can stay working. It’s not as much of a job seekers’ market as people think. Yes, there are a lot of jobs out there, and 40 million people quit jobs after the pandemic year, but those were mostly jobs that they didn’t like. The really good jobs are highly competitive. That’s why I would try to secure this position while you see if there’s something better.
On writing a resume to get back into a field you left 20 years ago: It’s true that most recruiters don’t want to see work experience that’s over 20 years old. That’s because it’s hard for them to believe that the experience is still relevant. So, don’t list it in your work history section; instead, put it in an “Additional Experience” section at the bottom of the resume and skip dates of employment. Then, focus on writing a cover letter that explains why you want to get back into the profession.
On being frustrated with online applications and asking “how are people getting hired?”: One study says that 60% of people found their jobs via networking and another puts the number at 85%. While it makes sense that companies prefer hiring via referral, it also has one giant advantage to the applicant: You don’t have to be perfect. If you’re a company sorting thousands of online applications, you’re going to throw out everyone who doesn’t match every little spec in the job posting, the old round hole/round peg. But, when you’re a hiring manager meeting with a referral, making a human connection, the hole can get more flexible and might just be made to fit the peg.
On being furious when finding out new hires are making more than you: Let that resentment go. The company didn’t wrong you; no, they just hired you in a different job market, before wages had risen. It would have been great if management preemptively moved you up, but go to them — calmly — and give them a chance to correct that oversight.
On weighing going back to college after retiring at 40: A college degree would be an expensive way to figure that what you want to do. Oftentimes, you won’t see the return on that investment. First, you need to figure out what profession you want to get into by conducting some informational interviews with people who have jobs that are of interest to you. There might be some sort of certification that you can get that is much less expensive and time-consuming.
On getting a job offer and thinking of telling them you’re waiting to hear about an offer from another, better company: Do not tell them that you are waiting for another job offer — that will just lead to them rescinding the offer. They want to be your first choice and hearing that they are merely a back-up implies to them that you could take the job only to leave them later on. Instead, accept the job and then continue to interview with the other company. If you do get offered the job that you really want, you can back out of the current opportunity, and you don’t risk ending up with neither job.
