The $50K Question

“I really needed that today,” she said. Her voice cracked slightly.

Six weeks into a job search, and the self-doubt at a lack of interviews had already started doing its thing.

A CEO wanted to meet with her about a role paying $120K, which was good news, except she’d also asked what she was currently earning.

She panicked.

Her current salary was roughly $50K less.

“What do I tell them?” she asked. And it’s right at this point we can accidentally screw ourselves over.

So I picked up the phone.

We pulled the role apart; at first glance, even I thought the $120K salary looked high for the job title. Similar roles usually paid at least $30K less.

But this wasn’t a cut-and-paste version of that job.

It was unusual.

And so was she.

She was worried because there were parts of the role she hadn’t done before.

Fair enough.

Except the self-doubt of not getting an interview in six weeks had scrambled her thinking and the significant value she brought to the table.

And that’s when the conversation shifted back to: “What salary should I tell them?”

So we did the maths.

Her current salary was part-time, so we converted it to the full-time equivalent, factored in the broader package and added at least 10%.

Now suddenly the $50K gap wasn’t nearly as dramatic as it first appeared.

But to really hammer home her worth, after the interview she sent them a 90-day plan. Nobody asked her to do it. She did it because she could already see what needed doing.

They were impressed.

Talking again, she said, “But it was really easy, like anyone could do it.”

To which I replied, “Obviously not. Based on the existing performance and the CEO’s concerns, it was easy for you because you’re the right person for the role to begin with.”

She didn’t see that coming.

~Lisa

Your Q&A

Two Weeks and Out

Hi Lisa,

I just resigned from a regional management job after two weeks. The job wasn’t what was described or what I was hired for, and I’d rather cut it short than stay somewhere that wasn’t going to work. Do I add this position to my resume or leave it off?

For the last 7 years, I’ve been a retail store manager, and this was my first step up into regional management.

Thanks Dorian

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Hi Dorian,

Leave it off.

Two weeks is barely enough time to work out where the good coffee is kept.

You’ve got plenty of street cred as a retail store manager behind you. That tells me far more about your capability than a regional management role that lasted a fortnight.

Don’t turn two bad weeks into a giant warning sign on your resume.

Let the next employer hire you for the experience you actually built — not the fourteen days you’d rather forget.

Thanks for writing in.

~Lisa