2nd Interview - Need input on making a suggestion to hiring manager

[bc13]

Hi all -

Need some advice - have a second interview on Monday at 2:00, and am thinking of making a suggestion to the hiring manager.

First interview went very well, I have all the qualifications he's looking for, we got along well, seem to have the same vision, personality, etc.  The position posted was for an AA - all the usual secretarial/AA stuff.  In addition, I can work on updating their website with info - posting meeting minutes, etc., travel to the quarterly meetings with him and take meeting minutes, and he said maybe 1-2 times a month he would ask me to attend a meeting for him to take notes, get handouts, etc.  He travels the state a lot, meeting with political figures, business folks, etc., who are all on the board - over 50 folks on the board, it's a big one!  He wants me to answer all his phone calls, handle the inquiries, etc. Sounds good to me - small office, just 4 folks at this time - manager, 2 finance people, and the tech guy.  This AA job is a new position, doesn't exist yet, so it's pretty wide open to interpretation of duties it sounds like, and he was very flexible on the working hours.  In addition to my secretarial duties, I've been working IT for 4 years now, so have lots of experience troubleshooting and fixing PCs, setting up security, networking, wiping out virus problems, etc., which would save them money not having to call in a tech to help with that kind of stuff.  They have a tech guy already, but I still could be a big help to him as well.  It's amazing how much time is spent in my current company fixing crap people get on their computers by visiting websites, downloading stuff they shouldn't be, opening emails they shouldn't, etc.

Only problem for me on this position was the salary - the job description sheet he gave me had the salary on the last page, and I told him that was the only concern I had for this position, as it was about 5K under what I would leave my current job for.  I'm just wanting him to match what I'm making now, which is what I was making when I got laid off 4 years ago, so I've essentially gotten nowhere on the salary front for 5 years now.  I asked if the salary was negotiable, and he said "absolutely", and asked what I was making now.  This position is also exempt, so I don't want to come in on the low end, and not get paid overtime.  This is kind of a "state" job, but not exactly...this whole division is all funded through grants, which is a lot of what he works on, but he said the salaries and all other expenses for this admin office are taken off the top, then the rest is filtered down to the other offices they are responsible for, so there is never a problem with that.  It sounds very stable, he's been there 15 years, just got promoted to this manager position about 6 months ago, it sounds to me like the other manager got the boot, was doing things all wrong, so he's trying to get everything back on track.  

What I'm thinking of suggesting to him is this - consider making the position an Office Manager, instead of an AA, which would justify the higher salary, and really encompasses what the job will be doing anyway.

Should I suggest this during the interview, or wait until he actually makes an offer, then counter offer with this?  

If he goes for this, here's my next question - and I don't want to sound pushy, but want to get the best deal I can get up front - Should I ask for what I'm making now, or try something like this - if he seems very interested in hiring me - ask him to match what I'm making now, give me 90 days to prove myself, and if I do a good job, then get say a 5% increase at the 90-day mark?

I really think I could be a world of help to these folks, and if we are going to be dealing with all types of political folks and business industry leaders, I would think he would want a strong person backing him up, or acting on his behalf, right??  

Any input on what I can best say to make myself look like a great candidate for "Office Manager", and not just an AA?

Thanks!
:-)

bc13

[msmarieh]

If it were me, I would wait to discuss salary until the offer had been made, since you have verified that it is negotiable.

Your thought of a title change is an excellent possibility.

They know what your current salary is. I would expect them to come back with a higher offer. If they don't I would certainly counter with it. An increase of 5-10% would be very appropriate in my opinion.

However, I would just be cautious. If the job is perfect in all other respects, then don't jeopardize the job offer by appearing "greedy". Allow them to save face in the negotiation, rather than making it all or nothing proposition.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Marie

[bc13]

Thanks for your input, Marie!  We did talk salary at the first interview, I told him what I was looking for, so we got that out of the way already.

Well, the interview today went very well, though much more "structured" than the first one.  The first one was very informal, he didn't even go by a list of questions or anything.  This time I interviewed with 2 others, and they gave me all the usual "Tell me about a stressfull situation you handled...", "Tell me about projects you have done....", etc.  I think I answered them pretty well, and to their satisfaction.

Here's the fun part - there was an envelope addressed to me on the table when I got there, not to be opened until the end of the interview.  At the end of the interview the Director came back in, chatted a minute, then had me open the envelope.  It was a floppy disk and an assignment!  Type a business letter to him, stating why I think I should get the job, bullet point all my skills/qualifications, indent them and make them blue, then put a list of 4 references (name, address, phone #) in a 2-column table.  All of this to be done in 20 minutes!

Well, needless to say, I was unprepared for this, but I think my resourcefulness came all out this afternoon!  I usually have my reference sheet with me in my folder, but didn't today.  I don't like giving out references unless I need to, and have never given them out during an interview before.  Also, my Palm Pilot was dead!!  :-(   So.......I logged into my computer at home via GoToMyPC.com....copied my skills/qualifications off my resume, and the references off the last page, and pasted them into my document.....  then went to Google, searched "thank you letter interview" - the first site I hit had several thank you letters, one of them highlighting your qualifications for the job (just what I was looking for) - pasted that into my letter, reworded everything for my situation, and had a very professional-sounding full page thank you letter, and second page with references in 20 minutes, hardly having to type a thing!  Even had to look up 2 addresses online for my references. Ha!  Now is that considered cheating, or quick, resourceful thinking?  

Didn't get a chance to bring up the "Office Manager" suggestion - may hold that for next talk with them, or if I get the job, maybe bring up during my first review.  Not sure yet....I was expecting a more "laid back" interview than I got this time around!  LOL!!

Anyway, I even surprised myself today with getting this little project done the way I did.  I just thank God my PC at home was logged on, and I had internet access available at the interview! I usually use GoToMyPC to log into my hubby's PC while he's on the road to help him out, but today it totally saved my butt!!  LOL!  My job the last 4 years has been pretty laid back, I'm not used to being "under the gun" anymore!!  It was kinda fun....    :-)   :-)

bc13

[countrigal]

I would definitely hold the title change until you get the job and at your first review.  This way you can pull up what is actually encompassed in the job and not just what they "think" will be your duties, where your priorities will be, etc.  Then this will allow for a possible raise at that point too, to better match your duties.

Sounds like the interview went well... and I really like your resourcefulness on the tasking.  Not sure I would have thought of 1/2 of that if I had been handed the task.  But then, I haven't interviewed in the "real" world in so long I'm not sure I'd survive the interview itself.  Sounds like you did an excellent job, as long as you met all of their requirements (which I'm sure you did, since you rattled them off in here to us).  I know that if this type of test were given to some of the folks applying for admin positions around here, no one would ever be hired.  Too many of our admin folks can't do basic things in word, which is one of the things I have issue with here.  But I am babbling...

Congrats on the 2nd interview... sounds like it went well.  HOpefully you'll hear something official soon.  Keep us informed.  And best of luck!

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[bc13]

Thanks for the input!  I was just wondering if being assertive in something like discussing your job title or salary range was "off limits", or showed initiative and would be looked on favorably.  I guess it all depends on the job, company, and bosses.  With this position being brand new, and the guy not really knowing where it will be going right now, I thought may be a good time to ask.

Soooo sorry I rambled on, guess I got caught up in the moment!  I haven't interviewed a lot myself, and I didn't go into this interview really wanting the job, I was actually hoping to do well enough to get an offer, then hoping my current employer would offer me full time.  But that won't happen, they just hired another part-timer last week to "job share" with me, after me asking for full time for a year now!  So, I guess that shows me where I stand with my current company.  I also have my resume at another place closer to home, but the more I find out about this job, and meet the people, I think it can turn into a really great opportunity for me.  

And I agree with the lack of word processing skills - it's amazing how many high level Admins can't indent, do a table, columns, headers & footers, etc.  

On top of doing that "assignment", some people came in the front door needing help, and came over to me first, since I was closest to the door, so I had to act like I worked there for a minute to refer them back to the other folks!  LOL!!

bc13