Job interview tips, advice, help, etc.

[brainanator]

After today's events this thread popped in my head, so I'll post what happened. After a totally dry summer of engineering interviews/interest in me, out of the blue an oil drilling company calls saying they got my resume from monster. Well after a couple weeks of waiting I finally did an interview over Skype with them, I didn't think it went particularly well since they are mainly looking for an electrical engineer and I'm civil...but they liked me it seems since they are flying me down to Houston, TX from Great Falls, MT (an expensive air port to fly from).

Don't have a date set yet, will have them book my tickets tomorrow morning. Pretty excited.

[JERRY2KONE]

Hey Brain that is great news. Don't think for a second that this is a lock, but most of the time when they want to spend money to fly you into their neck of the woods to take a closer look at you that means that you are seriously being considered to fill the spot. Especially in these tough times when every company is looking to cut expenses. It sounds like an intrueging position to be in. Good luck with your trip and second interview. Houston is not too bad of a place to be working. Besides the oil business in one place that is still making bank with our economy being so crappy.

[brainanator]

I wouldn't be working in Houston, that is just where the home office is. I would be working up in North Dakota on the oil fields, and sometimes in the Pennsylvania area. 2 weeks on 1 week off I think. or something like that....
I will also be driving 4 hours to interview with the Montana Dept. of Transportation, I've interviewed with them probably 3 times through my college career, so we'll see what comes of it.

[brainanator]

most engineering internships pay at least $15 an hour.
Of course the experience on your resume is what pays off in the end (who am I kidding...the $$$ is what you care about NOW, lol).

[rawfuls]

Hey guys, just as an update since today was my last day @ work, and I start school on Monday.

I talked to him about 3 weeks into the job and we had a pretty good conversation, his main reasoning behind the $1000 stipend was because that was more or less the best he could do.

Since he is a fairly small business, I understood, so I brought up the idea of editing my hours per week to make it a fair hourly wage.

I went with twice a week, 6 hours a day, and for an estimated 8 weeks, is about 96 hours total. (Beside the 54 hours in two weeks, my first two weeks), divided by a thousand, equals out to about $10.4/hour, which actually is a great wage for a 16 year old, IMO.

As far as the 54 hours/2 weeks, I was actually given a few "bonuses" of $20-$40 a couple times, usually when a big fat invoice was paid by one of our customers; just about 4 times or so.

Sure, I could be making more by lifeguarding (which I originally wanted to do, but ended up giving the IT field a shot first), about $5 more; but this IS my first legitimate year in the commercial industry, and at 16 years old, I'm fine with the wage.

He asked if I would be willing to work weekends during the school year; I told him as long as I would be receiving a set hourly wage.
He replied by saying I would receive a wage, a little under our other two, very experienced (One worked for Geek Squad, I know, awful, but later worked for a very large company in business & residential, and now just works whenever he is needed; our other has an internship w/ a couple large companies, one being Microsoft. A+ certified...
Both are mid-20's), who are making about $16-20/hourly.

As long as I make right above $12/hour, I'm happy.

[brainanator]

$12ish an hour on the weekends during school isn't bad by any means! Hell, I've got 3 years experience working at hastings entertainment (books/music/movie retailer/renter) and when I went back to work there for something to do while I looked for an engineering job, they're paying me $7.50....same wage as a first hire. I changed my schedule to only work there a couple days a week, lol.

[PBO]

You're obviously a well balanced person who has the ability to see reason but the reason he gave you "because that was more or less the best he could do" IMO is absolute BS. I believe he took you on because he thought he'd make a great return on his small outlay. When you addressed the issue he rolled over & by default agreed to a higher rate (less hours, same remuneration)

I think you have the outcome you should have had in the first instance & good for you for taking control of the situation but don't fall for the old line "I'm a small struggling business" - he was happy for you to work every hour you did & he wasn't going to suggest otherwise. He would have charged as many of your hours as he possibly could

It's important to stand up for yourself

[rawfuls]

brain: Roughly in that ballpark, I'll be more than glad to take it :)

PBO:
totally understand what you mean, but it was already a bit too late in the summer to try and find another job, I also applied to other shops to no avail, mainly because of my inexperience.

[PBO]

Originally Posted by rawfuls

totally understand what you mean, but it was already a bit too late in the summer to try and find another job, I also applied to other shops to no avail, mainly because of my inexperience.

Don't take what I said the wrong way, you did the right thing & you got the right outcome - it's just a shame you needed to put the employer on the spot to get it

Trust me on this though, you have learnt a valuable lesson - one you will benefit from many times over in your life. Well done

[JERRY2KONE]

In fact the biggest lesson you should have learned is to make sure you discuss the pay before you do even one hour of work. Its not rude to ask, and in fact expected if you really want to be respected on the job. No one in his right mind will work without knowing up front what he will be paid. The only exception to that rule is if the employer insisits on seeing how well or not so well your work ethic is, before making a final decision on what your time is worth. Kind of like a probationary period. For me I would not go more than a week though. I have enough experience to be more demanding on having a pay rate up front. Still it all worked out for the best and you left with your head held high, because you made sure that you were heard. Good luck in school young man.

[simplechamp]

Also, you need to look at total compensation, beyond just hourly wage or salary. Insurance benefits, 401k, pension, profit sharing, etc. can be a big part of your "pay" for doing your job.

Of course if you're looking into summer jobs during HS and college this doesn't really factor in so much, but keep it under your hat because in the future it will.