How can I keep myself from being taken advantage of during a job transition?
August 6, 2010 9:04 AM Subscribe
How can I keep myself from being taken advantage of during a job transition?
I work in a technical field. My boss handed in his resignation late last week. His boss (who will be my new boss) basically told me he wanted to promote me to my boss's job and eliminate my current position. This is great news for me, but knowing the company I work for, I want to make sure I am treated at least somewhat fairly.
I have been with this company for several years now. I am grossly underpaid due to a set of circumstances that isn't worth getting into for this question. My boss is slightly overpaid for his position, so I know the company treats some people fairly. I am part time and have enjoyed my free time and thought of my free time as one of the benefits to being underpaid (even if I was full time, I would still be grossly underpaid – even our department's director admits to this).
I was excited at first that I was offered this new job, but now I am starting to worry. The company I work for moves at a snail's pace in terms of making transitions and hiring. Before, I can transition into the new position, it has to be re-graded (since they are going to change a couple aspects of the job). Then, I will most likely have to apply (per HR requirements) and wait for them to interview other people even though they plan to give me the job. In the meantime, my new boss is incredibly busy. I can easily see everything falling by the wayside (which is typical of this company).
My main concern right now is to avoid being put in a situation where I am doing my former boss's job at my current salary. If I start the new job, without the higher pay, I worry that they will just forget about me and continue to pay me far less than the job is worth.
I am in a position of some power since I'm the only one at the company who knows how to use one of our proprietary systems (which comprises a large chunk of the job). If I left, they would have huge problems because there is no one to train a new person on this proprietary system. I know they could always replace me, I'm not that special, but it would be a huge pain for them and the fact that they take months to replace people who leave, leads me to believe they would not want me to quit.
What type of strategy can I take to ensure that when I take over the new job that I am paid fairly? How long should I wait before following up with my new boss (I don't want to seem pushy, but I also don't want to be a push-over)? Also, I do not want to work full time until I have been officially given the position. I tend to be timid and anxious about this type of thing, leading me to undersell myself and come across as unsure about myself.
Any advice?
(Despite the overall negativity of this post, I like the company I work for and want to stay put.)
I work in a technical field. My boss handed in his resignation late last week. His boss (who will be my new boss) basically told me he wanted to promote me to my boss's job and eliminate my current position. This is great news for me, but knowing the company I work for, I want to make sure I am treated at least somewhat fairly.
I have been with this company for several years now. I am grossly underpaid due to a set of circumstances that isn't worth getting into for this question. My boss is slightly overpaid for his position, so I know the company treats some people fairly. I am part time and have enjoyed my free time and thought of my free time as one of the benefits to being underpaid (even if I was full time, I would still be grossly underpaid – even our department's director admits to this).
I was excited at first that I was offered this new job, but now I am starting to worry. The company I work for moves at a snail's pace in terms of making transitions and hiring. Before, I can transition into the new position, it has to be re-graded (since they are going to change a couple aspects of the job). Then, I will most likely have to apply (per HR requirements) and wait for them to interview other people even though they plan to give me the job. In the meantime, my new boss is incredibly busy. I can easily see everything falling by the wayside (which is typical of this company).
My main concern right now is to avoid being put in a situation where I am doing my former boss's job at my current salary. If I start the new job, without the higher pay, I worry that they will just forget about me and continue to pay me far less than the job is worth.
I am in a position of some power since I'm the only one at the company who knows how to use one of our proprietary systems (which comprises a large chunk of the job). If I left, they would have huge problems because there is no one to train a new person on this proprietary system. I know they could always replace me, I'm not that special, but it would be a huge pain for them and the fact that they take months to replace people who leave, leads me to believe they would not want me to quit.
What type of strategy can I take to ensure that when I take over the new job that I am paid fairly? How long should I wait before following up with my new boss (I don't want to seem pushy, but I also don't want to be a push-over)? Also, I do not want to work full time until I have been officially given the position. I tend to be timid and anxious about this type of thing, leading me to undersell myself and come across as unsure about myself.
Any advice?
(Despite the overall negativity of this post, I like the company I work for and want to stay put.)
anonymous: told me he wanted to promote me to my boss's job and eliminate my current position
This is a big red flag to me. Do a thought exercise- if they eliminate your current position, who's going to do the work you do? By your own admission ("I'm the only one at the company who knows how to use one of our proprietary systems (which comprises a large chunk of the job)"), you don't have an easily-transferrable responsibility. Does your boss's position require additional operational responsibilities, or is it just a title change, maybe with some management authority?
It's hard to know without details, but my gut says you're being set up to do two jobs for the price of one.
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on August 6, 2010
This is a big red flag to me. Do a thought exercise- if they eliminate your current position, who's going to do the work you do? By your own admission ("I'm the only one at the company who knows how to use one of our proprietary systems (which comprises a large chunk of the job)"), you don't have an easily-transferrable responsibility. Does your boss's position require additional operational responsibilities, or is it just a title change, maybe with some management authority?
It's hard to know without details, but my gut says you're being set up to do two jobs for the price of one.
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on August 6, 2010
I agree with mkultra on the smooshing together of your two jobs. If this, in fact, what is planned, then I would expect you to receive, at the very least, your boss's salary plus your current underpaid salary. Even if they grant you this, they will be saving on the cost of employing two people (and I include here the amount of space you take up versus the amount of space you and your boss take up, before we even get into any 'real' benefits like vacation time and health insurance -- just don't want you to start thinking that if you don't get any benefits, this is irrelevant).
So start out with *expecting* that big bump in salary and be very curious if it is not offered. let the company give you a good reason why you can't have it. No reason to mention this before you have actually been offered the job though. Wait for them to formally reject the other candidates to put you in a stronger position.
As for things getting waylaid, follow up and document. If things seem to stagnate and not go according to the discussed timeline (however casual that timeline is), pipe up, with the attitude of gathering information.
And I agree with jon1270 about having a Plan B -- it will put you in a stronger negotiating position.
I see a flag with the fact that they are interviewing other people...there's no guarantee that one of these people won't be superstellar, and they'll replace your boss with one of them. And then expect you to act as support to this person. That would be a great time to at least insist on some bump in salary or benefits for your current position, due to your additional responsibilities. A new boss to train is additional responsibility, and I'd assume they'd want to motivate you to do a good job of training them.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 9:56 AM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]
So start out with *expecting* that big bump in salary and be very curious if it is not offered. let the company give you a good reason why you can't have it. No reason to mention this before you have actually been offered the job though. Wait for them to formally reject the other candidates to put you in a stronger position.
As for things getting waylaid, follow up and document. If things seem to stagnate and not go according to the discussed timeline (however casual that timeline is), pipe up, with the attitude of gathering information.
And I agree with jon1270 about having a Plan B -- it will put you in a stronger negotiating position.
I see a flag with the fact that they are interviewing other people...there's no guarantee that one of these people won't be superstellar, and they'll replace your boss with one of them. And then expect you to act as support to this person. That would be a great time to at least insist on some bump in salary or benefits for your current position, due to your additional responsibilities. A new boss to train is additional responsibility, and I'd assume they'd want to motivate you to do a good job of training them.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 9:56 AM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]
Ask for a written time frame for the transition, agreed upon by HR, management, and you.
Ask for temporary responsibilities and concurrent increases in salary.
Ask for information on the salary range of the new position (this is NOT unreasonable).
Ask for information on where you would fall within that salary range before you agree to the responsibilities.
You will most likely be asked to take on your boss's position before you are given the increase in pay. You will most likely not be offered the same salary rate as your boss. It will all seem very friendly at first. You will hear "Please take on these responsibilities temporarily until we can get all the paperwork done." You need to respond very politely "I will happily take on temporary responsibility, however I am not comfortable with an increase in responsibility without a concurrent increase in compensation." Keep repeating this firmly, politely, professionally. Eventually they will give in and stop trying to take advantage of you.
But initially they WILL try to get you to do the work without paying you for it. Call them out in a professional manner and you will be respected for it in the future. The key word is "professional" here.
posted by raisingsand at 1:55 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ask for temporary responsibilities and concurrent increases in salary.
Ask for information on the salary range of the new position (this is NOT unreasonable).
Ask for information on where you would fall within that salary range before you agree to the responsibilities.
You will most likely be asked to take on your boss's position before you are given the increase in pay. You will most likely not be offered the same salary rate as your boss. It will all seem very friendly at first. You will hear "Please take on these responsibilities temporarily until we can get all the paperwork done." You need to respond very politely "I will happily take on temporary responsibility, however I am not comfortable with an increase in responsibility without a concurrent increase in compensation." Keep repeating this firmly, politely, professionally. Eventually they will give in and stop trying to take advantage of you.
But initially they WILL try to get you to do the work without paying you for it. Call them out in a professional manner and you will be respected for it in the future. The key word is "professional" here.
posted by raisingsand at 1:55 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
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Then prepare yourself to decline your former boss's job at your current salary. In other words, develop a Plan B so you know your next step if things don't go as you hope. Put yourself in the driver's seat, so you can choose the best of the situations that are available to you. If you don't do this then you're pretty much stuck with whatever they offer you.
posted by jon1270 at 9:23 AM on August 6, 2010