The corporation that employed me had its own, captive Information Technology company.
That IT company recruited in a unique way. They did not recruit from Stanford or UC-Berkeley or UT-Austin or MIT. They recruited from Fly-over State Regional University and School of Brake Repair.
Further, they only recruited the top 5% of each class.
Their reasoning was that anybody in the top 5% was hungry and could ignore distractions like hunger, pain, privation, the spouse-du-jour's demands for time together.
The other quirk of their recruiting is that the interviewer always worked in the question, "What is the absolute, rock-bottom salary you would consider?"
The company had a cut-off. If the minimum salary stated was too high, the candidate did not get an offer. If the minimum salary was below the cut-off, the candidate got an offer and it was exactly, to-the-penny the number the candidate volunteered to the interviewer.
For a while, that IT company's ticker-symbol was the best performing "stock" on the NYSE.
Speculation regarding future actions
I am loath to speculate regarding how I will react in the future.
Consider the candidate for the IT job. They GAVE away every bit advantage they had in their negotiations. If they had been coy in answering the "...rock-bottom...consider?" question they might have been offered the "cut-off" salary instead of what the graduate naively asked for.
You see, the graduate had NO idea of the cost-of-living in other places. Their "rock-bottom" demand was based on the cost in living in Scottsbluff, Nebraska or Springfield, Missouri rather than Massachusetts or inside the Beltway.
The interviewer-candidate scenario is a classic case of information asymmetry. The interviewer started the interview with more information than the candidate and ended the interview with an even greater disparity.
What benefit?
What benefit do I gain by tipping my hand? I see no upside and dozens of downsides.
Perhaps the biggest downside is that it gives the opposition a few pages of my play-book. Loose lips sink ships, and all that.
Frankly, I think the opposition will provide their own undoing. Hives are very susceptible to entropy (disorder). Everything has to work well to support the population densities of the Leftist enclaves.
A simple example: A riot stops garbage collection...rats thrive on garbage...rats carry diseases...BAM...a real epidemic with fatality rates in excess of 10%.
There are dozens of scenarios where major cities would go down on their knees in a matter of hours, days or weeks. You can tick them off on your fingers: Electricity, water, sewerage, trash, EBIT cards, food logistics, natural gas, illicit drugs, prescription drugs, traffic control, bridges, airports, Information Systems, parcel delivery.... that is sixty seconds of brainstorming.
And the Loonie Left is more likely to destroy that kind of infrastructure than sane, rational people who can anticipate consequences. Destroying is in their DNA.
I will share that, if God is willing, I will NOT be in a city or incarcerated when entropy bites them in the bum.
Country Boys Can Survive---Hank Williams Jr. ---ken
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've had recruiters try to play that game with me. I flat refused to give them a number, instead telling them to make 'me' an offer and I would decide from there...LOL Ended a few interviews early, but that didn't bother me.
ReplyDeleteAnother article that makes me glad that I live WAY out in the sticks. WAY OUT.
ReplyDeleteAlways easier and quicker to burn instead of building.
ReplyDeleteBut, again, that's the Left's *desired* outcome.
As a recruiter who works WITH hospitals rather than for them I can see both sides. When I ask what's their rock bottom number it's usually because something in the interview has made me concerned their bottom number is going to be too high. I don't like wasting time trying to get an offer if the candidate wants 25% above the Max pay scale. If the candidate gives me a number in the pay range the employer will go I usually tell the employer a number higher than the rock bottom minimum ( Just in case the employer decides to low ball). For those who refuse to give a Rock Bottom Number I tell the honestly...I know You want to make Twice what a realistic number is ( who wouldn't) and the company wants to pay half of what a realistic number is. Im looking for a number in the middle that wont get rejected right off the bat. I have found most experienced workers are reasonable and some fresh out of college have too high an opinion of themselves.( Well Prof so-and-so said...or according to interweb article....yeah , maybe on the Left Coast but not in Middle-America)
ReplyDeleteAs always results vary etc.