We Kid You Not Childfree Forums

The current wisdom on portfolios, from what I've seen, is DON'T send them completed work. Why? They may be fishing for free images/work to use for their own gain. I send 1-2 writing samples if it's required, but otherwise, I tell them "portfolio/clips available."

Personally, I think employers just look for ways to eliminate people to save themselves work. I don't play THOSE kinds of games. Salaray? "negotiable." References? "upon request." Portfolio/clips? "upon request."

(I'm not just applying for admin jobs, so I read all kinds of job postings.)

Jen M.

(06-02-2010 02:57 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ]I've seen it too B'Cat-ads asking for references along with your resume, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I also see ads where they want your salary expectations along with the resume. I hate th
at. Just tell me what the job pays and I'll tell you if it's acceptable or not. I don't want my resume to automatically go in the garbage or be deleted because my guess at what the job pays is off the mark. In the field I'm in, some places pay crap wages for the position-close to minimum wage-and other places pay over $20/hour for the same position, so guessing what a company pays for the position is a total crap shoot.

The most ridiculous ad I saw asked for resume-the actual wording is : "Please send interesting illustrated resume including samples of projects and project-related correspondence." So they want people to e-mail them projects they've worked on in the past before people are even considered for an interview. WTF! First of all, I have a protfolio of projects I've done in the past, but it's a hard copy only (paper copy) so it can't be e-mailed and I'm not going to scan it to be e-mailed. I'll gladly show an interviewer the hard copy of work I've done. Secondly, the portfolio of work I've done technically and legally belongs to the employers I worked for in the past. So even showing it to another employer is a no-no, but it's the only way of showing what I've done in the past. So there's no way I'm going to e-mail a project that I have done that isn't legally mine and belongs to someone else, especially when all of the paperwork has a past employer's name and logo on it. That's asking for trouble.

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Yes. I have references from past, non-work related projects and even from my spiritual community. The issue I'm having is if they want references from where I work now.

I have some ex-coworkers I can ask, but I have not spoken to them in a long time, so that's awkward. I'll go to them if I have to, though. I just can't use anyone I work with NOW.

Jen

(06-02-2010 06:17 PM)catsnotkids Wrote: [ -> ]Do you have a volunteer job that you could use as a reference? I used the president of the board of the animal shelter as a reference. Why not - she knew my work and I didn't want to use my current boss at the time...

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NK, that's how I react to those types of ads, too.

I WILL share my salary expectations, but only if they ask up front. Why? Because honestly, my expenses are such that I'm right in the (low-end of the) salary range I need, just to tread water. I don't want to waste my time with jobs that won't even cover my mortgage.

Jen M.

(06-03-2010 08:55 AM)NKBurlington Wrote: [ -> ]When an ad requests that I put my salary expectations in my cover letter, I put "Salary: Negotiable". If that's not good enough for them, fuck 'em. I probably don't want to work for that kind of company anyway.

I saw an ad that requested the subject line of the email include the job title and salary expectations. I quote "Any email received that does not include salary in the subject line will be automatically deleted" To me, this would suggest that if your salary was too high, they wouldn't even bother opening your email.

Sorry, I'm not going apply to your sorry-ass job.

I cannot stand it when salary is requested because employers know damn well exactly what they want to pay but they are hoping that you'll undersell yourself because you are desperate to get a job in the first place. It's a BS game because it's being put on the field without being told the rules and then being criticized for losing when you didn't have any idea what you were doing.