Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hiring

Will My Dept Sink Me With A Prospective Employer?

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:46:00 -0800

Will a prospective employer not hire me when they find out I'm repaying money to the IRS? I'm in the running for a job I very much want, and in the course of my research on the company discovered that they run routine credit and background checks on prospective employees.

I have minimal outstanding credit card debt and no collection agency reports on outstanding bills. My concern is this: although I've filed my taxes every year, due to a drop in my income, I didn't have enough money to pay what I owed for tax year 2008.

Since I'm currently a freelancer, it was a substantial amount ($4000). I worked out a payment plan with the IRS immediately, and the debt is being deducted bit by bit from my bank account every month, but I assume that it will show up on a credit check.

However, I don't want to give any reason for my prospective employers to not hire me. Would this give them pause? Should I try to find a way to clear the debt immediately, say, by asking a family member for a loan to pay the IRS?

I also would appreciate any information on when these checks are usually conducted. For example, are they conducted during the interview process, or after they make a tentative offer subject to the results of these checks? I haven't signed any authorizations to make these checks, but I'm not sure if they need my permission to do them.

Thanks for your help.

Follow Up Freak Out

Diablevert — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:09:02 -0800

Interview freak out: I'm concerned I may have hurt my chances with this job by being too aggressive with my follow-up. Any ideas to get me out of this hole? I interviewed for a job recently. I feel the interview itself went well --- the guy specifically said I had done a good job and asked how much notice I'd need to come back for round two. However, he also noted that I was one of the first people he'd interviewed for the position. I mailed a thank you letter afterwards. It might be noted that I got the interview after ringing him up myself, having sent my resume in in response to a posting on a job board I frequent the week before.

I sent a follow-up email a week and a day after the interview, saying simply, I enjoyed meeting him, was wondering how the search was going, please let me know if there's anything further I can do. I heard nothing from this, and figuring that as I'd originally got a hold of him by phone, called later in the week. I spoke with the manger, he said he had been conducting interviews and would be making a decision soon, but would be out of the office much of the next week.

I let that week pass, and called again to touch base today. I reached him, and he said this was his first day back in the office, and that he'd hadn't made a decision yet. He sounded a bit annoyed, I apologized, saying it hadn't been my intention to bother him, I just wanted to touch base as I and had understood from our previous conversation that he would be coming to a decision about this time.

Question: Is there anything I can do at this point to improve our relationship? After the initial interview, I felt stongly that it had gone well, and we parted warmly. Certainly, he might since have seen other candidates whose previous experience better suited them to the job. While this is a job where being aggressive and on the ball in terms of following up with people would likely be virtues, I certainly don't want to leave him with the impression that I'm pushy and obnoxious. And I'm worried that I might have done so.

Do you think an email would be too much? I'm having flashbacks to that scene in Swingers with Jon Favreau where he stumbles all over himself leaving the message. But on the other hand, he didn't say I was out of the running, and as long as I am I'd like to do all I can to tip the balance in my favor. Would a brief, polite email touching on some of the specifics about the positon that we had discussed, my enthusiasm for it, and regret if that enthusiasm came across as undue pressue help or hurt?

Need help with a concept video. What are my options?

ben5757 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:29:35 -0800

Lately I've had a few business ideas that I think need concept videos, which would involve moderate CG and production, to properly explain. What are my options, in the price range of nothing (film/graphics students?) to around $1000?

what are the rules regarding hiring foreign contract workers who work at home?

helios — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:08:04 -0800

What are the legal/tax issues involved in an US-based company hiring European individuals to do contract work at home (things like translating documents; the person hired would never need to leave their home country). From the standpoint of the US-based business, it is simply a matter of sending a 1099 like any other contract work? Is there anything else to consider?

How do I get hired in the UK?

theraflu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:51:58 -0800

My favorite site is hiring developers and I'm qualified. I'm American and they're in the UK. Possibly assuming they're willing to sponsor me for a work visa, what do I need to know? Information on differences in the application/hiring process, any business-related etiquette quirks an American might miss out on, and how to present myself as an employee worthy of sponsorship are all helpful.

A little background: I am young, married, no kids and have a very small amount (just enough for maintenance) in the bank. I've been professionally working in Web dev for about two years - the position I'm looking at is entry/associate level. The company has fewer than 100 employees but is an internationally-known site. I'd be going from a very rural to a very metropolitan style of living.

I'm pretty sure that getting what would be my dream job is a (very) long shot, but I'll be more disappointed if I didn't give it a go. I want to give it my best shot. Any advice and input is more than welcome and I'd like most to hear from Americans working abroad in the UK.

Hiring someone you can trust...

blueyellow — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:55:40 -0800

Over the last few years a couple of partners and myself have been building a small business that tries to make money using computers to trade in the stock market. Technically, we do black-box prop trading. Its been an uphill climb these past few years, but we are now at the point where we are considering hiring someone. This person will be a programmer/developer that will help with existing projects and help us grow in new directions. We are currently faced with a big dilemma. Whomever we hire will have to be given full access and will be exposed to our trade secrets. This kind of business lends itself to the temptation of impropriety. This person could take what we have and either sell it or assuming they break the barrier to entry use it for themselves. They could probably do this without getting caught as well, with the effect being that our secrets lose their value. We wouldn't mind hiring someone remote either. We have outsourced pieces of projects to various developers already. But these have been non-proprietary projects in the sense that they didn't contain specific trading information. This is our first foray into taking someone on that will have access. My question then is how do we minimize our risks when it comes to this hire? What recommendations, experience or thoughts do you have?

Should a firefighter candidate disclose ADHD?

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:00:25 -0800

I'm a candidate for my local fire department. It's a paid position. Should I disclose my ADHD? I was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I had been taking Adderall XR and just switched over to Vyvanse.
Will my diagnosis or medication keep me from being hired as a firefighter?

Clash of the Headhunters

Astragalus — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:42:56 -0800

Headhunter #1 calls me about Cool Hedge Fund (CHF) and wows me with stories of its coolness. He sends my resume. CHF "has already picked someone" and that is the end of that, I figure. A month, maybe two pass and I get a call from Headhunter #2: have I heard of Cool Hedge Fund? Would I be interested in a spot there? "Uh yeah I think I've heard of them... I suppose I would be interested" say I, nonchalantly failing to mention my prior submission through a different headhunter. This time they bite and I get a past the screener and the six-hour gruelling interview and find myself on the short list, one more interview away from the prize. All is well until one day Headhunter #1 finds out that I have interviewed with CHF under the auspices of a different headhunter. He mentions that were I to get the job, it would be a "big mess" - something about who gets fees, etc. What can I do? Who can I trust? Will it inevitably end in a battle with headhunters mounted on frothing lawyers and the CHF running away from the whole thing screaming? I have already heard one discouraging story from a coworker who was in a very similar situation and was told by the company that they were no longer interested in hiring him because it would entail legal issues re: headhunters. I've already spent considerable effort trying to get this job and it would really be perfect for me. I'm pretty sure they like me, but I don't know what kind of legal arrangements typical exists with these headhunters - just by HH#1 sending my resume once, is he then legally entitled to a fee if I am ever hired for any position there? So far HH#2 doesn't know about HH#1 - I want to tell him, well, mostly so I don't feel like such a conniving bastard (I'd rather leave that to them). But I will keep my mouth shut unless someone has advice for me... Thanks a lot in advance, mefi!

Hiring a roofing contractor, prefer to avoid disaster

HotToddy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:01:02 -0800

Best practices for hiring a roofing contractor, please. Like, do I care what brand of shingles he uses if I'm only planning to be here for a couple more years? How do I ensure my landscaping isn't destroyed? What sorts of things should be covered in the contract? Any and all advice, cautionary tales, etc., welcome!

To apply or not to apply.

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:35:01 -0800

Should I bother applying to this employment agency? I'm good at working independently and can type 70wpm, and have started looking into transcription work. Someone recently tipped me off to a transcription agency not far from me. As I was looking into their company, I learned that the president of the company also owns a temp agency with whom I worked in 2003. They placed me in some questionable jobs, and after I got fired from one of them (for inappropriate conduct on behalf of the company, which I didn't feel comfortable telling my recruiter) they never asked me back. This is a small, independently-owned temp agency in Massachusetts that hired quite a few temps when I was there. Should I bother clearing the air to my potential supervisor about my previous time there? (FWIW, I never met the president of the company.) Would they remember me? Should I not even bother applying?

Never work with friends?

pauldonato — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:45:10 -0800

Tips on sub-contracting to friends? I'm sub-contracting some freelance writing work to a friend. This is causing me incredible social anxiety. On the one hand, I want to be pushy in order to keep my project moving and my costs down. On the other hand, I want to be a good friend.

What tips/tricks/principles do you have to help keep things smooth, prevent future problems, ease myself, and leave us both feeling good about things afterwards?

Finding an open-source programmer?

liquado — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:52:54 -0800

I'm involved in a group of small/nonprofit organizations that would like to financially support the starting of an open-source software application. While I am technically-minded, I'm not a programmer -- and I don't really know what to look for in one (hopefully to be found on MeFi jobs!). Help greatly appreciated. I'm the co-chair of a nonprofit community fishing tournament. We've been using a software package to run our tournament that, bluntly, was never very good to start, and is showing its age.

Its function is basically to facilitate the entering of weights as anglers weigh in at the scale, calculation of current standings as the tournament runs, display on a fancy screen for spectators to see, display sponsor ads, angler photos, etc., etc.

We have a group of local tournament organizers (mostly nonprofit) that would like help developing something that would be useful to all of us, but that is cross platform and open source, so that other (fishing or otherwise, possibly) tournaments can benefit from it, as well. We're not interested in developing it as any kind of revenue stream; we just want a useful product for our own tournaments.

We likely can raise a reasonable amount of money to start the project, and are forming a committee to try and develop a spec sheet for it, but I don't know how to proceed from there. Other than the obvious usual HR baseline, what do I need to know/ask/require/expect in finding someone to start an open source project for us?

Alternately, is there a protocol wrt to looking for programmers who just want to start a new open source project (i.e., are not looking for financial recompense)? As I said, we will likely have some financial ability to make this happen, but someone wanting to do it on their own time would be okay, too.

Thanks for any advice!

How do I find a historian to hire full time?

semacd — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:23:15 -0800

Where do historians look for jobs? My law office is interested in hiring some historians but we don't have the first idea where to advertise the position. Any ideas? Our ideal candidates would each hold advanced degrees in different human right conflicts (i.e. the Rwandan genocide, or Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge), and would be willing and able to dig through essentially cold cases to document those abuses, write reports on those results, and testify in court. We don't care right now which conflict. It could be a bit more broad than a specific conflict (i.e. could be modern Rwandan or Cambodian history). The person wouldn't need to have post-graduate experience, although we'd prefer it.

We've tried pslawnet and other public interest type job postings, and have gotten some great results, but we do feel like we should have many more applications given the economy, the salary, and the job description. We're clueless. Any advice?

I can haz developer???

spicynuts — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:33:30 -0800

Does this person exist, relatively cheaply: drupal, PHP, Flash, CSS developer? All rolled into one. I am tired of paying time and materials to outsource new dev/maintenance of our ecomm website. We are a start up and the costs of continued development now look to be about the same as the cost of hiring an in house resource, depending on whether my estimate of salary for this kind of person is accurate or that a single individual that can do all of this exits.

So here is what I would need this single person to be able to do:

1) implement new drupal templates for design of new pages on site
2) write new functionality that uses drupal/php to access database and manage data, users, products, etc
3) our site is an integration of Flash and CSS using a drupal engine - I want someone who can develop/optimize/fix the functionality that uses communication between the Flash customer facing stuff and the back end for transaction management, customer activity, non-transactional features, etc
4) handle day to day changes to pages on site based on promotions or testing of 'stickiness' to see how customers respond..so, like swapping out banners, areas of content, moving content around, etc
5) develop better interfaces for product and content management into drupal and the MySQL database - we use a stupid excel file now and drupal falls apart easily...I'd like to be able to develop some kind of web-based interface that uses php or something to directly into the product database and do our inventory and product management.

Is this completely unrealistic? For example, is this a team of three people rather than one person? If it is one person is this someone who should be earning 150K/annum due to the skill set or is it a lower level salary? Can anyone help me understand what's possible here better?

Let me get someone else to do it!

that girl — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:31:55 -0800

If I wanted someone to design a wordpress template for me (with graphics/images) for a personal website, what sort of budget would I expect to be looking at, and how would I find people willing to do it for me? I am relatively web-savvy and code-literate, but get frustrated quickly when trying to turn my little brain-ideas into actual physical (or digital) things. Dealing with photoshop or illustrator in particular makes me grumble at my inability to make what I'm thinking match what I'm seeing, and I'm not comfortable enough with wordpress to know how I can make it do what I want, or even to know if it can do what I want.

To that end, I'd like to investigate having someone else do it for me. I have a basic idea for a wordpress-based website with a relatively minimal frontpage and two main sub-pages, and I know there are people out there who could do it better than I could. So how do I find one of those people, and how much would I have to pay them?

Is it okay to give the name of a hiring manager as a reference, too?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:48:53 -0800

Someone who is one of my best professional references wants to hire me! But now how do I offer good references to his large, corporate HR department? Mr. Men Tor was a supervisor and professional mentor to me a few places of employment ago. I have, since those days, used him as one of my best professional references. We had a terrific working relationship and remain in touch today, well over a decade later.

Recently he mentioned that there's a position under him that he would like me to fill. While I'm not entirely sure the position would work for me due to it requiring a vicious multi-hour commute, he has encouraged me to go through the process in any case and I'm game.

But I've reached a minor sticking point in how to proceed. Mr. Tor's company's HR department is sure to ask me for my professional references, however I have no idea if it's kosher to put his name down. Is giving the name of the hiring manager something that will look dodgy to your typical HR person? Or would I be viewed more favorably in that case? I have other professional references I can use but Mr. Tor is definitely the strongest of them and if it makes sense to offer his name I certainly would prefer to.

I know the obvious answer would be to ask him, but he has left the decision up to me as he doesn't know what his HR people would think, either.

For context: While we're both located on the west coast of the U.S., this company is a large national corporation with more of a midwestern/east coast culture. Both of us are web people, but the overall company is in the retail industry. The position is one of system engineering and administration, where generally I've found good references to be critical to landing the best work. I never faced this issue as a hiring manager in the past, but also wasn't subject to a tremendous quantity of HR involvement in my hiring process, so can't draw on my prior experience in the corporate world.

Do organizations generally scale back hiring in December?

rybreadmed — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:35:09 -0800

What's going on in December with hiring? Do people pretty much NOT hire in December? I know the economy sucks. You don't have to remind me. Luckily, I have a job. However, I just graduated school with my BS in mechanical engineering, and am doing everything I can to find a job. Up until the end of November, I was getting emails and calls regularly from HR people, hiring managers, senior engineers, etc. from various companies, government agencies, and other organizations.

I know nothing is truly recession proof, but the industries I've been focusing on are doing pretty well right now (ie. government, defense contracting, aerospace, etc.).

My question, then, boils down to this: Is December generally a slow hiring season? Is everybody just on vacation or focusing on the holidays? Will my phone ring again come January and the interviews continue? Or is this all part of the whole economy being in the crapper, and I should thank my lucky stars that I have a job while many others don't?

Can my client ask me to send pictures of employees for her review?

urbanette — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:05:10 -0800

How can you hire people based on looks? Isn't that illegal? More information - I'm working for a client who insists on seeing pictures of the promotional reps that my company hires to represent her business. She's a marketing manager for a large technology firm and we are doing a campus tour to promote one of her devices shortly. She's requests 'rep cards' including photos and resumes of the promo reps to ensure that they aren't in her words 'beer girls'.

I've never had this request from a client before. Obviously you hire a certain look for projects like beer or sports promotions, but I thought we were specifically prohibited from asking potential hires for photos. This isn't a casting. They have to stand around and hand out cards.

Oh I'm in Canada - specifically Ontario.

Am I right? Is this an offside request? The client will meet all the reps in the training session but she's concerned about regions where she can't attend the sessions in person.

Avoiding Online Employer Scams

mannequito — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:55:29 -0800

What are some reliable ways to check the authenticity of companies that advertise for jobs on craigslist and other such websites?

Could disclosing my ethnicity be used against me?

bumblebeat — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:01:39 -0800

Can a US employer require a job seeker to disclose race and gender before granting an interview? I've just applied for a job, and the first contact I've received from the internal recruiters is an email link to a voluntary self-identification form. The form prompts me to indicate my gender and ethnic group(s) and also gives me the choice to not disclose.

I would have no problem disclosing my ethnicity under different circumstances, but really don't like the idea of having to do so so early in the recruitment process. Can't help but wonder if this information will really be kept separate from my application. (Why else would they want this information now?)

I'm concerned about being labeled before speaking with them.
I'm concerned that one of my race checkboxes may be overrepresented in the company and industry.
I'm concerned that my other race checkbox may also be overrepresented, disliked, whatever.
I hope I am just overthinking things.

My question: Should I select my race and take my chances or be a troublemaker and choose not to disclose? Also, how common is this practice? I otherwise respect this well-known company, really want the job, and do want to be as helpful as I can. Thanks!

____ is a privilege, not a right!

sixcolors — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:13:59 -0800

What are some LESS obvious things that can disqualify someone from obtaning a job, car, or an apartment? I think it's well known that if someone has a criminal record, they'll have a lot of trouble finding employment. Or, if you get a DUI, your driver's license may be suspended or even revoked. But, I'm sure there's less obvious things that can cut off your access to housing, transportation, and employment.

It almost happened to me a few years ago. My father is one of those people who do not like to put his vehicle documents in his glove department or anywhere else in his car. He fears that if someone steals his car, they may steal his identity also, or the thieves may locate his address and stalk him. When I was younger, I let him talk me into doing same thing. Well, I got into a little fender-bender, and the cop asked me for my vehicle documents. I didn't have them, and the cop told me that was a somewhat serious offense. I asked what could happen. He said, depending on my record, I could lose my driving privileges for a year and have to pay a $1000 fine. We did NOT learn about this in drivers ed!

Fortunately, nothing happened, but it was a wake up call that the possiblity of me losing my driving privileges was a lot easier than I previously thought. As I am transitioning into "adult" life, the fear of me not being able access (or losing access to) transportation, housing, and employment is increasing.

So, what are some less obvious things:

1. That could prevent me from getting a job...or get me fired?
2. That could prevent me from buying a new car, having my license revoked/suspended, or having my car repossesed?
3. That could prevent me from renting out a house or apartment?

Question about the current job market

crapmatic — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:31:15 -0800

How are entry level jobs in your career field (US) faring right now? Just to underscore that this isn't chatfiltery, my wife is in a research job that's gotten a bit insane, and she's thinking about quitting. She's talked about taking "any old job" for awhile, even part time, to keep some income rolling in. She's worked in retail, doctors offices, bartending, tech support, programming, and so on. How are entry level / retail job markets faring right now? Is it difficult to find work, or does it really depend, and which areas seem to be relatively tight or open? This would be in the TX and OK area, specifically.

Prey seeks hunter

kenzi23 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:06:20 -0800

My head needs hunting...how do I find the hunters in my field? I want to make a move into software training in the legal field and am not finding a lot of jobs in the usual listings (monster, careerbuilders, hotjobs, nytimes). I'm just starting the search for real and calling all my contacts in the legal field, but I also want to put myself in the path of headhunters in this field. My googling looked like this "software trainer headhunter legal new york", and the results were not at all helpful.

Is there a reputable guide to headhunters, maybe with breakdown by field and rankings/ratings? Should I be looking at IT headhunters? or legal headhunters? How do I know I'm getting a good one? If you have actual headhunters or agencies to recommend, please post them.

BTW, I'm in New York City. Thanks!

Should I ask for more money after a raise?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:19:01 -0800

After being promoted and receiving a decent raise I've been tasked with hiring my replacement. My new position is managerial so this new employee will report directly to me. While working with the recruiter I just found out that the position has a maximum salary that is larger than my current one. How do I talk to my boss about this without sounding ungrateful? First, a bit of background. I've been at the company for less than a year but made enough of an impression that they promoted me. I was making a competitive salary when I started and my raise was decent but not spectacular. I'm looking to hire someone to replace my old position. That new person along with some other people will report directly into me.

I found out today that the maximum salary available for my old position is actually more than I make now - with my new raise. Obviously, that salary is only a maximum amount alloted for the role and is by no means a guarantee. However, that makes me feel a bit odd that the person working directly under me could make more money than I do.

It seems like there are several options on the table:

1. Do nothing about it. Be grateful for my promotion and my salary.

2. Wait to see who gets hired and what their salary requirements are. It's possible that the new employee will demand less money thus nullifying my concern. If they do make more money then and only then do I talk to my boss.

3. Talk to my boss about it right now. I don't want to sound petty but I also feel the need to stand up for myself a bit. To be clear, my boss is very approachable.

So that's the situation. I am not looking to be greedy and don't want to appear ungrateful for the promotion and raise. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? All comments are much appreciated.

Where to find nurses and lifeguards to work at a short camp?

rmless — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:40:25 -0800

Where should I look to find lifeguards and nurses to staff the short non-profit camp in Maine that I help run? Each year we seem to run into some problems with finding lifeguards and nurses and I am wondering if there is a group of people I should tap or website that I should be posting on that I've missed.

The camp runs the last two weeks of August (19- Sept 1), which rules out a bunch of college and high school students who have to go back to school at that time.

We run on a pretty small budget so while we do offer stipends for working there, we can't cover more than $100 of transportation costs per person so we can't ship people in from Europe or something like that.

We've so far tried: posting on Idealist, Craigslist, and contacting other camps in Maine directly to see if their counselors want to stay after normal camp session to work at ours.

Any other ideas?