Job Interview do's and don'ts

[badgegirl007]

I'm tearing my hair out right about now. Can someone who is a manager or in charge of hiring at their place of employment please help me out with this?

I'm looking for an office administrative position. I have about 9 years of experience, most of it good. The last job I had I was made to resign after 5 months due to me missing too much work due to health reasons. As far as the job itself went, I learned fast and was good at what I did, it's just unfortunate I got sick before my probation was up (It was a job working at the front desk of a police station)

So, I'm leaving the police station job off my resume and just telling employers I've been living with my parents because my father had knee surgery and I've been his caretaker (which isn't a lie at all. It's just not a 24/7 requirement).

My question is this. Aside from spending loads of money on a private investigator, is there any way an employer can find out about a job I leave off my resume? I don't feel it's really worth putting on my resume anyway, since it has nothing to do with the type of work I'm looking for, and it was only 5 months.

The second thing I want to know, is why is it taboo to ask about the salary when you go on an interview? I know what I need to make in order to make ends meet, why waste my time and the company's if they are offering $10,000 less a year than I can live on? I talked to a recruiter at an employment agency today and she said never ever ask about the money or benefits. 75% of the want ads never give you even a hint of what they are willing to pay, then if I am lucky enough for THEM to bring up the subject of money during the interview I find out it is not even enough for me to rent an apartment on my own. They could have saved both of us the time and aggravation by just putting the salary in the advertisement. Am I wrong? And why would being asked the salary be a deciding factor in hiring someone? I mean, the main reason we work is to support ourselves. Don't we have the right to know if it's worth our time before going in to interview? :confused:

[BookstoreEscapee]

Sorry, I've never hired anyone, but I had to say: Does it strike you as ironic that you were on probation at the police station? :)

I don't know about leaving jobs off your resume, but if it's not relevant and it was so short, it probably wouldn't matter; if you decide to include it just make sure to emphasize that you left for personal reasons that are no longer an issue (assuming you're health is not a problem any more). You want to emphasize the relevant experience, and it sounds like you have enough to crowd that one job out, so to speak. Assuming the job is not some kind of high-security organization, I doubt they're going to go digging too deeply.

I think the whole money thing depends on when and how you ask. If the interview is going well and the interviewer is interested in you they should bring it up; I guess you just don't want to give the impression that money is all you care about. But I agree, it is frustrating when you have no idea what they are offering and don't feel comfortable asking. Others on here might have more advice for you in that department.

A lot of places will ask for your salary requirements when you apply; put a range that starts slightly higher than what you would be willing to accept. There are websites that provide typical salary ranges for different areas; you might try a google search and see what you find; you don't want to price yourself out of the running, but you don't want to sell yourself short, either. You could also try the career section of a bookstore. There's a series of books by Adams Media called JobBank. They publish it for most major metropolitan areas; search Chicago JobBank on bn.com. I don't know if they have salary info though. It's basically a directory of companies but also has a section of job search tips.

Good luck with your search!
-ams-

[Banrion]

The job at the police station was less than 6 mos so you shouldn't have any trouble leaving it off the resume. If you have 15 jobs that are all 6 mos or less that you are leaving off, that could be a problem, but 1 won't really matter.

[Boozy]

Aside from spending loads of money on a private investigator, is there any way an employer can find out about a job I leave off my resume? I don't feel it's really worth putting on my resume anyway, since it has nothing to do with the type of work I'm looking for, and it was only 5 months.


Don't put it on your resume. Your resume is supposed to highlight the points of your career that you feel are most relevant to the job you're applying for. For example, potential employers don't care that I worked for a fast food restaurant in high school....I'm not applying for fast food jobs. Your resume is a tool used for selling yourself, it need not be a blow-by-blow account of your entire professional life, good, bad, and irrelevant.
With that said - if asked about the gap in employment, don't lie. Tell them where you worked, and simply explain that you left it off the resume for the sake of brevity, clarity, and to indicate what you consider to be the main thrust of your career and where you want to go.
As far as asking about salary....general rule of thumb is not in the first interview. If you get a call-back for a second interview, or you get an offer, that's when the haggling begins.