Think you’re entitled to that prevailing wage job you once had? Guess again, because chances are that you aren’t — at least yet. That’s the message from Lani Harless, who has a tough love approach when it comes to helping local job seekers find employment.
Harless runs Rapid Staffing, a Brandon, Florida based company she first founded in 2002. According to her, employees who set the bar too high when it comes to wages might be keeping themselves from getting a job. With 14 million unemployed people cross the country, sometimes you can’t be picky when it comes to choosing a new career.
“Someone in a skilled trade like an electrician who was making $20 an hour when they got laid off, that’s not going to happen now,” she said during a recent interview with Tampa Bay Online. “Those jobs might pay $15 an hour now. You have to be willing to bite the bullet.”
Do not waste the employer’s time because you are only there to record it for unemployment.
Harless recently sat down with me and gave some tough advice for those job seekers who might not realize the ball isn’t necessarily in their court when it comes to finding the perfect job that pays well. Over the years, she says, she’s seen it all.
“Wish I could be their employment angel and guide all of them; they have to want it bad enough and take accountability, find out what is wrong, and be willing to let someone give them the straight truth,” she told me.
“It seems like the ones that are having the hardest times have some of these problems,” she said.
Those problems run the gauntlet, everything from not dressing for success and wearing sandals, flip flops, shorts and tank tops to interviews to accepting a position without fully understanding the job description.
The Lani Harless Top 10 Mistakes Job-Seekers Make
10.) Please don’t bite on your nails, chew gum, be loud, or use profanity. Be nice, genuine, professional, and seek career counseling if you are out of touch with how you need to present yourself, especially if you have been out of the interview stage for 20 years. Find out what employers want, even if you must attend seminars or go to college.
9.) Don’t talk about if your family thinks this is a good job for you; think more independently. This is your job, not your family’s job.
8.) Find out how much time the interview will be, instead of arriving and letting the company know you have to leave in 20 minutes to pick up the kids or go to another appointment.
7.) Ladies, do not wear low cut blouses. And if you have tattoos, please tell the company and make sure it won’t be a problem. Also, do not wear your nose ring or tongue ring to an interview.
6.) Do not give out wrong numbers for references, and make sure you have contacted them for a reference prior to the interview.
5.) Be honest about your employment history and if you can do the job. If you can’t do the job, let them know what you can do.
4.) Do not waste the employer’s time because you are only there to record it for unemployment.
3.) Remove your obstacles. Do not require more pay because you are used to that amount; be more open and willing to get a job.
2.) Don’t try to skim on testing. Employers know if you can or can’t do the tests by the timing of them. Also, do not use your calculator for simple math.
1.) Don’t accept a job without fully knowing what you are doing and the hours and rate of pay. Make your best decision on the type of company and consider if you want the job for the right reasons, and not just income. “Everyone’s best job is the one they love the most; and the fulfillment they get out of the job,” Harless explained.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Why should I have to compromise? Companies are using this bad economy as an excuse to squeeze more out of people for less. Can they pay decent wages? Damn straight they can but why have the bar higher when you can get people to expect less. If anything, in this mass sea of unemployed, businesses should be paying appropriate or competitive wages to find and keep the good ones while they have the opportunity.
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I assumed Florida had been doing better than most states. Up here in Ohio it is worse.
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