Conducting Interviews--- Candidates are Crazy

[chicagodisneyfan]

Heck - I paid my receptionist $38,000 a year!

How can a middle mgmt position pay so low?

 

[kydisneyfans]

I know cost of loving is low in Buffalo, but my wife started just above 12 as a phone clerk, and has worked her way up to the 15-20 range now, but is still below management status. I don't think you are in the ballpark regarding salary.

I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for.

 

[cntrygal]

in my area that would be considered really good, i wish i lived near her id apply and take the job in a heart beat. Our hospital, starts people out at min wage and expects medical experience for that job!

 

[mickeymedic]

I'm from near Rochester and have worked in several different areas of the medical field. I agree that the hourly wage seems really low for a mid level management position. $18-20 is closer to what I have seen offered in the past.

 

[Carly_Roach]

Welcome to the recession. This type of low-ball salary has been going on for years here in Michigan. Employers know that there are lots of well-qualified people out there who are hungry and will take whatever they can get, poverty level living or no. $12.00 for a management postion at a hospital is better than $8.00 for a management position at a gas station.

Right now employers are lucking out because they're finding qualified, experienced, educated people who are willing take low salaries and declare bankruptcy in order to keep a roof over their heads. But those employers will lose out when the economy improves and the best qualified people leave them for a higher bidder (and it won't be difficult to outbid a $12.00 to $14.00 an hour job).

I know the OP can't change the salaries so I wish her the best of luck. Keep wading through the resumes and hopefully you'll find a gem who'll stay for a few years.

 

[NonScents]

I am doing interviews for a registration supervisor position at our clinic. So far 3 people have just no-showed. Then the 2 that did----

The first one, a recent college grad. No work history (not even a PT job) but a 3 month internship. The person felt they should make at least $25/hr.....waaaayyyy off base.

The second person, has 16 yrs medical office exp. Which is a huge plus, but she goes on to tell me her minimum required salary is $70,000/yr.

This job is a $12-14/hr position. Which is about competitive for this area. This is a mid-level management position. I just am shocked by the salaries people are requesting. There is no-way the second person made more than 1/2 her requested salary at any job she had on her resume. I just don't know what people are thinking.

Did you include the pay range for the job when you advertised? I think you will save yourself time if you do, or at least discuss that first thing in a phone interview. That said, the person with no work history is a little unrealistic to expect $25/hour for this job.

As a job seeker, I always felt that those prospective employers who ask, "what are your salary requirements", are just seeing how much experience they can get at the cheapest price, especially these days. I mean, don't you know what your budget for this position is?

 

[Mickey's Minion]

I know cost of loving is low in Buffalo, but my wife started just above 12 as a phone clerk, and has worked her way up to the 15-20 range now, but is still below management status. I don't think you are in the ballpark regarding salary.

I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for.

 

[crazelion]

You got that right. I soon economy fires cylinders. I am gone to the highest bidder.

My job has not give a me raise in 4 years. I done all the require training class for my job. That's why job is losing people now. The economy is improve here by leaping this year. It's keep getting better in 2010.

I am taking all my training is going place else where they have a little bit more organize at.

WOW that is low for a year around job pay 14 hour. H@ll I make 10 hour at my seasonal job as management.

 

[kilee]

I think I need to move to where a lot of you live!!!

In our area.....this wage is about dead on for the position. We are non-profit and a clinic and tend to offer a hair below average. However, I'd say on the high end this specific job wouldn't pay more than $15/hr at anywhere else in our area. I am the Billing Manager w/ 14 yrs exp and my CPC and I make $17/hr and that is the high end for this area. I'd be hard pressed to make much more than another $1-2 hr and that would be the rare case.

Our Nurse Practitioners are only making in the mid to upper $20's per hour.

Maybe it's because in spite of the crazy taxes here in NY-- in my area the overall cost of living is still relatively low. In my neighborhood (I live in the suburbs and 7 houses off a decent beach on Lake Erie) you can buy a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath house for $65-80,000 still. I rent a really cute 3 bedroom single-family house, on the lake, w/ a great big yard for $600 a month.

However, as you can see by our rate of pay, it really all evens out.

 

[Tweevil]

Entry level supervisors (Pt Access, Billing, etc.) here are starting at 16 and go up to 20. Entry level billers/reg make 12 to 16 I believe. You wouldn't believe who is trying to get in and what their education level is. It is hard to hire but the wage ranges here are competitive and you have to consider the bene packages as well. They are included in the "base" salary.

 

[MushyMushy]

I think I need to move to where a lot of you live!!!

In our area.....this wage is about dead on for the position. We are non-profit and a clinic and tend to offer a hair below average. However, I'd say on the high end this specific job wouldn't pay more than $15/hr at anywhere else in our area. I am the Billing Manager w/ 14 yrs exp and my CPC and I make $17/hr and that is the high end for this area. I'd be hard pressed to make much more than another $1-2 hr and that would be the rare case.

Our Nurse Practitioners are only making in the mid to upper $20's per hour.

Maybe it's because in spite of the crazy taxes here in NY-- in my area the overall cost of living is still relatively low. In my neighborhood (I live in the suburbs and 7 houses off a decent beach on Lake Erie) you can buy a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath house for $65-80,000 still. I rent a really cute 3 bedroom single-family house, on the lake, w/ a great big yard for $600 a month.

However, as you can see by our rate of pay, it really all evens out.

Same here. Most houses in my town are a good bit lower than $100k and renting a house is usually around $500 a month.

$14/hour is a nice wage in my town! Granted, I don't think you'd want to support a family on that (you could, but it would be tight), but if you had two working parents it's fine. I just don't think people really take regional salary and cost of living differences into consideration sometimes.

 

[okeydokey]

Wow, salaries are much better where you all live than where I a do. My DH and I are both professionals with Master's Degrees and our hourlies are no where near 30 or 35 an hour.

 

[laurie31]

I think I need to move to where a lot of you live!!!

In our area.....this wage is about dead on for the position. We are non-profit and a clinic and tend to offer a hair below average. However, I'd say on the high end this specific job wouldn't pay more than $15/hr at anywhere else in our area. I am the Billing Manager w/ 14 yrs exp and my CPC and I make $17/hr and that is the high end for this area. I'd be hard pressed to make much more than another $1-2 hr and that would be the rare case.

Our Nurse Practitioners are only making in the mid to upper $20's per hour.

Maybe it's because in spite of the crazy taxes here in NY-- in my area the overall cost of living is still relatively low. In my neighborhood (I live in the suburbs and 7 houses off a decent beach on Lake Erie) you can buy a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath house for $65-80,000 still. I rent a really cute 3 bedroom single-family house, on the lake, w/ a great big yard for $600 a month.

However, as you can see by our rate of pay, it really all evens out.

First off - the bolded... New RN grads make more than that here. But from what you posted about rents and housing costs, the cost of living is about 2-3 times more here, so like you say, it evens out. It's not how much you make, it's what you can buy with it.

 

[Darsa]

Huh, I'm up "thaya" in Maine, and work in an office as an assistant (read: "flunkie") with the very LEAST tenure of everyone in our office. We're non-profit, and I make just under $14 an hour. My boss, who's considered "middle management", makes about what your second candidate makes.

It's really interesting to see how pay rates and scales very by location.

 

[hentob]

Goodness, I pay my baby sitter $10/hour.

I was just going to say that! Plus we feed the sitter

 

[kydisneyfans]

My wife is CPC and Medical Billing certified and is training this week for a job at $18 an hour to start, with $23 an hour likely including incentives. She will have mandatory OT after the first of the year too. Her 1st year salary quote is between 40-60K. This is a relatively low cost of living area too. Unemployment is only 7%, and that does have an effect on things.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I wish employers would offer salaries that people can actually live on. $12-$14 an hour for a management position? That is terrible.

I was thinking the same way and I think the $70k lady is about right for a mid-management slot.

 

[bumbershoot]

In my neighborhood (I live in the suburbs and 7 houses off a decent beach on Lake Erie) you can buy a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath house for $65-80,000 still. I rent a really cute 3 bedroom single-family house, on the lake, w/ a great big yard for $600 a month.

However, as you can see by our rate of pay, it really all evens out.

Wow. Those are some pretty prices on houses. But as you say, it evens out.


It's always interesting to see what the COL is in places, and how what seems like a huge amount is relatively nothing elsewhere. Like housing costs in San Francisco and NYC...terrifying!

Then again, my stepmom was making 100K as a first year NICU nurse in Santa Cruz, CA (which is also expensive to live in). Evens out.

 

[babytrees]

Heck - I paid my receptionist $38,000 a year!

How can a middle mgmt position pay so low?

because there are so many of us out there looking for jobs.

I am not middle management but I am an office manager with 5+ years of experience and most people want my experience (and more) but only want to pay UP to $12 an hour....I am going to have to have 2 jobs when I finally do get hired just to catch up and maybe eat out every once in awhile.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I'm shocked when I see job ads here requiring 5-10 years of office experience, but the pay is between $9-$10 an hour. It's no wonder households here need 2 incomes to survive...I was earning $14.50/hour at my last job, doing data entry, and yet my rent for my one-bedroom apartment took up 60% of my pay. It was also the LOWEST rent I could find in the area.

It surprised me when I went to the Dept. of Labor office when I lost my job and they showed me that my pay was actually at the poverty level. They're telling me that, now that I've returned to school to upgrade my skills, I shouldn't accept a job that pays less than $16/hour.