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I have had all my education and my whole professional experience in my ‘previous life’ done under the communist regime. By ‘previous life’ I mean my education and my ten years of working as an economist in a communist company, professional carreer that ended abruptly after I lost my job because of pressures from the secret police, related to my involvement in defending the rights of Christians. Under a centralised economic system there is really no place for job interviews and salary negotiations. Everything is prescribed by the communist Party.

Now, after the fall of the communist system, I still did not have a very capitalist experience in the jobs I was hired for. I remember when I went to Vienna, in October 1999, for the final discussions about the current job with World Vision (after I had been there for a preliminary discussion in the early summer of the same year and I had wrestled a whole summer with that decision, because the job was so tempting that I could hardly make up my mind if it is a gift from God or a temptation of the devil – I never imagined that the difference between these  could be paper thin).

When I got there, my future boss (a man for whom I have a deep respect) asked me how I feel. I told him that I am scared to death, because I have never had a job interview in my life. He told me straight: ‘Forget about the job interview’ (as I have said, we have had at least one serious discussion about it previously). And he added. ‘Do you take it or leave it?’

My response was as straight as his: ‘If the condition is for me to move to Vienna (as we had discussed previously), as much as I would like the job, I don’t take it. Philip Hunt, my boss to be told me: ‘Forget about it. We have counted and it is cheaper for us if you stay in Romania.’ I said: ‘I don’t like the reason, but I like the conclusion. I take it.’

He showed me the contract, I looked it, as we say in Romania, ‘like a kitten reading the agenda’ and signed it without any discussion. No salary negotiation, no discussion of benefits (which was in fact going to be a problem later on, when Philip left). Just a hand shake.

That is the limit of my capitalist hiring experience. To be fair, I don’t mind. And I am ready to admit my ‘communist’ handicap. When I observe now job interviews and I see sometimes how indecently are some people trying to ‘sell’ themselves on the work market, over-emphasizing their skills and brushing under the carpet their weaknesses, when they are not straight lying about them, I have the feeling that I am in red district. Something profoundly sick is happening in this field in our free market societies. I must confess, I feel this is more dehumanizing than the way communism dealt with it. But what do I know/ Maybe it is just my communist brain washing.

* * *

Now, most of my younger colleagues and friends do not have the chance (or grace) that I had. They have to compete on the work market, whatever they feel about it. That is why I thought it may be useful to point their attention to a recent article in Time magazine, that gives potential job candidates and actual employees a number of tips on how to ask for a pay rise in order to actually get results. Here they are, in summary:

1. Postpone salary negotiations until you have been offered a job (see also HERE the associated video)

2. Let them go first.

3. When you hear the offer, repeat the top value — and then be silent

4. Counter the offer with a researched response.

5. Clinch the deal — then deal some more.

If this seems interesting and useful, read the whole article at the link above.

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