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GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!
I graduated with my masters in May and have been on the job hunt since. I've sent out over 100 applications, but have had a lukecold response ... about 5 interviews and no offers. Two weeks ago, I found a position in a city nearby and applied to it, sort of on a whim. I was contacted the day after I submitted my application, interviewed the following week, and given an offer two days thereafter. I'm scheduled to start on Monday.

The problem is that I've had some time to think about it, and I'm no longer interested in the position. I'm overqualified -- they're asking for someone with an AA, and I have a BS, an MA, and a graduate level technical certificate. The position also doesn't pay great; the range is just $29k to $42k. I asked for $40k because I felt like a jerk asking for the maximum pay, and they gave me $39k, which gives me little room for growth. Furthermore, most of my colleagues with the same degree and similar experience seem to be starting in the $42k to $47k range.

The other issue is with the city in which the job is located. It's a small city of about 10,000 people, and it's a little backwoods. The county in which it's located has one of the lowest median incomes, and one of the highest percentages of people below the poverty line for the entire state. As such, I don't see myself forming too many friendships or worthwhile relationships simply because I don't feel that I have much in common with the folks in a poor small southern town. The alternative to living there is to commute from where I currently live, where I love living, but at the sacrifice of 100 miles round trip and 2 hours of my life every single day. There is virtually nothing to rent between here and there.

Is this an acceptable way to decline the position before I start Monday? I have already taken and passed a required drug test and physical. I have no other job offers, but it seems unfair to say "I don't want to work there because there's a 97% chance I'm going to hate it". I feel guilty saying I have work elsewhere, but frankly, it's none of their business.

quote:

Dear Mrs. HR Person,

Thank you for the offer of employment with the City of Many Doublewide Trailers. I feel that I learned a great deal by completing the interview process with the hiring team, and am pleased to know that I was selected for the Chocolate Teapot Maker position.

It is with great regret that I must decline the offer for employment with the city. I have had another offer which I believe more closely aligns with my current career goals and interests.

I thank you for the time taken to meet with me. I wish you the best in the search for the best candidate, and would be happy to forward the job posting to my university's job board for increased exposure among qualified graduates.

Sincerely,
GILF Hunter

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Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.
I'm confused, if this is the only offer you've gotten in months, what're are you going to do after rejecting it? Don't you, like, need money?

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!
The alternative is living with my parents. I'm okay with that for now, on the assumption that I can't be unemployed forever. I've had two interviews offered to me since I received the employment offer.

ZentraediElite
Oct 22, 2002

I think you should take the job. If you've been hunting since May, it would be nice to actually have some income. I know you have a low perception of this backwoods town, but there's nothing saying you can't go back to your parents on the weekend. You need to be earning money, and you're not going to do that by staying with your parents.

Edit: Don't you watch Parks and Recreation? Mark Brendanawicz starts off hating Pawnee but winds up loving it before they wrote him out of the show for being too boring. This is your chance!

ZentraediElite fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Aug 15, 2014

Bugamol
Aug 2, 2006
Can I ask what field your in? I've always been under the impression that you should never turn down a job when you don't have one. What happens if these two other interviews don't pan out? Also typically the longer you're out of school the harder it's going to be to get a job.

Admiral101
Feb 20, 2006
RMU: Where using the internet is like living in 1995.

GILF Hunter posted:

I graduated with my masters in May and have been on the job hunt since. I've sent out over 100 applications, but have had a lukecold response ... about 5 interviews and no offers. Two weeks ago, I found a position in a city nearby and applied to it, sort of on a whim. I was contacted the day after I submitted my application, interviewed the following week, and given an offer two days thereafter. I'm scheduled to start on Monday.

The problem is that I've had some time to think about it, and I'm no longer interested in the position. I'm overqualified -- they're asking for someone with an AA, and I have a BS, an MA, and a graduate level technical certificate. The position also doesn't pay great; the range is just $29k to $42k. I asked for $40k because I felt like a jerk asking for the maximum pay, and they gave me $39k, which gives me little room for growth. Furthermore, most of my colleagues with the same degree and similar experience seem to be starting in the $42k to $47k range.

The other issue is with the city in which the job is located. It's a small city of about 10,000 people, and it's a little backwoods. The county in which it's located has one of the lowest median incomes, and one of the highest percentages of people below the poverty line for the entire state. As such, I don't see myself forming too many friendships or worthwhile relationships simply because I don't feel that I have much in common with the folks in a poor small southern town. The alternative to living there is to commute from where I currently live, where I love living, but at the sacrifice of 100 miles round trip and 2 hours of my life every single day. There is virtually nothing to rent between here and there.

Is this an acceptable way to decline the position before I start Monday? I have already taken and passed a required drug test and physical. I have no other job offers, but it seems unfair to say "I don't want to work there because there's a 97% chance I'm going to hate it". I feel guilty saying I have work elsewhere, but frankly, it's none of their business.

Yes, that's an acceptable way of declining a job offer.

That said, education with no practical experience means extremely little. You are not as overqualified as you think you are. Additionally, long unexplainable unemployment gaps between finishing college and applying for the job in question raises (apparently well founded) questions about your work ethic.

Eugene V. Dubstep
Oct 4, 2013
Probation
Can't post for 8 years!
Pretty sure GILF Hunter is trolling you.

adorai
Nov 2, 2002

10/27/04 Never forget
Grimey Drawer
Assuming you aren't trolling, the reality is that a masters degree and professional certificate without any experience puts you in the "paper qualifications" zone and you are probably worse off than if you did not have these have things. Recruiters know you will expect more pay, and hiring managers know you will likely not be as productive as someone with real experience.

moana
Jun 18, 2005

one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web

adorai posted:

Assuming you aren't trolling, the reality is that a masters degree and professional certificate without any experience puts you in the "paper qualifications" zone and you are probably worse off than if you did not have these have things. Recruiters know you will expect more pay, and hiring managers know you will likely not be as productive as someone with real experience.
Yup. Take the job, prove you're an awesome employee, and don't stop looking for another job. An employed person is a thousand times more likely to get a job offer.

Plus you might learn that uneducated poor people can actually be good friends, too, you arrogant rear end.

Harry
Jun 13, 2003

I do solemnly swear that in the year 2015 I will theorycraft my wallet as well as my WoW
That letter is way too long. Cut it down to 3 sentences.

AgrippaNothing
Feb 11, 2006

When flying, please wear a suit and tie just like me.
Just upholding the social conntract!
Oh look, someone straight out of school doesn't want a job because they think the work, the pay and the people are beneath them.


They are better off without you.

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

Just take the job and keep looking. My goodness.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

ZentraediElite posted:

Edit: Don't you watch Parks and Recreation? Mark Brendanawicz starts off hating Pawnee but winds up loving it before they wrote him out of the show for being too boring. This is your chance!


Bugamol posted:

Can I ask what field your in? I've always been under the impression that you should never turn down a job when you don't have one. What happens if these two other interviews don't pan out? Also typically the longer you're out of school the harder it's going to be to get a job.


My field is urban planning with a focus on GIS. My interests include multimodal transportation and sustainability, two things that this particular small town doesn't factor much into their daily doings ...

Aristotle Animes posted:

Oh look, someone straight out of school doesn't want a job because they think the work, the pay and the people are beneath them.

They are better off without you.

... If my studies have taken me down a path of technical analysis, but I'm being hired to stand in the road with a GPS unit, yes, I would say that's beneath me. It would essentially put all of my graduate-level studies to little or no use. This was not revealed until the interview. There's a reason why the position only required an AA. You can teach any shmuck to stand around in the road, push a button, and then plug a thingy into a computer to make it all pop up on a computer screen. Would go to school to study chocolate teapot analysis, but then go work at Walmart just because they sell chocolate teapots?

Don't be so quick to judge.

Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

GILF Hunter posted:

... If my studies have taken me down a path of technical analysis, but I'm being hired to stand in the road with a GPS unit, yes, I would say that's beneath me. It would essentially put all of my graduate-level studies to little or no use. This was not revealed until the interview. There's a reason why the position only required an AA. You can teach any shmuck to stand around in the road, push a button, and then plug a thingy into a computer to make it all pop up on a computer screen. Would go to school to study chocolate teapot analysis, but then go work at Walmart just because they sell chocolate teapots?
Fair point right now, although if you're unable to find more suitable employment within the next few months it'd probably be a better idea to just take what you can get and then keep looking.

quote:

Don't be so quick to judge.
Well, you are planning on rejecting a decent paying job so that instead your parents can pay for all of your stuff at age 31.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Cicero posted:

Fair point right now, although if you're unable to find better employment within the next few months it'd probably be a better idea to just take what you can get and then keep looking.

It seems unfair to an employer to accept a position knowing that you're going to be actively seeking other employment. To me, that looks worse on a resume than an unexplained amount of time unemployed after graduation. That, and the whole bridge-burning thing "Yes, hi, I've worked here for 2 months, but I'm going to go work someplace else now" probably isn't going to get me a letter of recommendation.

quote:

Well, you are planning on rejecting a decent paying job so that instead your parents can pay for all of your stuff at age 31.

You know nothing of my past, so if this is a snarky comment about being lazy, just move along.

TwoSheds
Sep 12, 2007

Bringer of sugary treats!

GILF Hunter posted:

It seems unfair to an employer to accept a position knowing that you're going to be actively seeking other employment. To me, that looks worse on a resume than an unexplained amount of time unemployed after graduation. That, and the whole bridge-burning thing "Yes, hi, I've worked here for 2 months, but I'm going to go work someplace else now" probably isn't going to get me a letter of recommendation.

Wait, wait... unfair to the employer? Are you serious? Do you have any idea how stacked the deck is against you, the employee, in this country? Your employer will not spare a second thought about your well-being if you don't end up working out in your new position, which thanks to at-will employment can happen for literally any reason or no reason at all. Why should you care about theirs? As for reference letters, if you're that sure you're above this position (hint: you're not), why would you want to use it as a reference anyway?

Seriously, I've seen employers hire people for a full-time job knowing they were going to fire them a few months in, regardless of their level of performance. As in, the employee unknowingly applied for a temporary position. gently caress employers.

TwoSheds fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Aug 16, 2014

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

TwoSheds posted:

Wait, wait... unfair to the employer? Are you serious? Do you have any idea how stacked the deck is against you, the employee, in this country? Your employer will not spare a second thought about your well-being if you don't end up working out in your new position, which thanks to at-will employment can happen for literally any reason or no reason at all. Why should you care about theirs? As for reference letters, if you're that sure you're above this position (hint: you're not), why would you want to use it as a reference anyway?

Are YOU serious? How is it NOT unfair? An employer offers you a job in confidence. If you accept it, and then continue to seek employment elsewhere, that's kind of a lovely thing to do, regardless of how the deck is stacked again you. Doesn't this go against the generally-accepted idea of not burning any bridges?

And in all seriousness, why does the general consensus seem to be that I'm "not above" this position? Why would I accept a position that I could do with significantly less education? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of spending the last few years in school?

TwoSheds posted:

Seriously, I've seen employers hire people for a full-time job knowing they were going to fire them a few months in, regardless of their level of performance. As in, the employee unknowingly applied for a temporary position. gently caress employers.

I suppose I might have more faith in my employer.

AgrippaNothing
Feb 11, 2006

When flying, please wear a suit and tie just like me.
Just upholding the social conntract!

GILF Hunter posted:

My field is urban planning with a focus on GIS. My interests include multimodal transportation and sustainability, two things that this particular small town doesn't factor much into their daily doings ...


... If my studies have taken me down a path of technical analysis, but I'm being hired to stand in the road with a GPS unit, yes, I would say that's beneath me. It would essentially put all of my graduate-level studies to little or no use. This was not revealed until the interview. There's a reason why the position only required an AA. You can teach any shmuck to stand around in the road, push a button, and then plug a thingy into a computer to make it all pop up on a computer screen. Would go to school to study chocolate teapot analysis, but then go work at Walmart just because they sell chocolate teapots?

Don't be so quick to judge.

My serious advice to you is getting some field work under your belt would do you some good. I'm in Environmental sciences and some of the people I work with are GIS guys for various DEP state agencies and USGS. The best data managers have field experience. They certainly respect their field crews because they understand what it takes to get the data, which is more than pushing a button. No one is looking at your resume and not seeing your MA. They're offering you a start and you are turning your nose up at it.

AgrippaNothing fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Aug 16, 2014

TwoSheds
Sep 12, 2007

Bringer of sugary treats!

GILF Hunter posted:

Are YOU serious? How is it NOT unfair? An employer offers you a job in confidence. If you accept it, and then continue to seek employment elsewhere, that's kind of a lovely thing to do, regardless of how the deck is stacked again you. Doesn't this go against the generally-accepted idea of not burning any bridges?

And in all seriousness, why does the general consensus seem to be that I'm "not above" this position? Why would I accept a position that I could do with significantly less education? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of spending the last few years in school?


I suppose I might have more faith in my employer.

It's not really burning bridges. First of all, you have no idea if and when your search will pay off. You're basing your assumptions on the possibility that a week or a month after taking the job, you'll get an interview and land a job that better fits your qualifications. What if it takes a year to get that far? Wouldn't you rather have a year's salary and experience under your belt than a hole in your resume?

Second of all, it's perfectly normal for people to leave low level positions for higher-level ones. That's why employers are usually wary of hiring people that are grossly overqualified on paper. Going back to our hypothetical scenario, though, you could easily justify leaving after one year if it takes that long for you to find something else. Hell, you could leave after one month as long as you handle it right, and nobody's going to hold it against you.

The consensus is that you're not above the position because that's a lovely attitude to have, and because you're ignoring the very tangible benefits of taking the job offer in favor of a shot in the dark because you don't want to inconvenience your new employers. Look, if you were talking about having a master's degree and turning down a job at McDonald's, I MIGHT be a little more able to accept your not wanting it, though I'm still of the mind that having a job is better than not having one, regardless of what you're doing or how much you're making. But this is something that's at least tangentially related to your field. You could use this opportunity to expand your network and put in your dues, which a graduate degree does not exempt you from. Yes, you'll make less money, but it's better than the no money you would otherwise be making.

Rudager
Apr 29, 2008
You're a pretentious idiot, if you're as good as you think you are you can take an entry level job and work up from it in little to no time at all.

You're going to be unemployed for a long loving time with that attitude because no-one is going to give you the job you think you deserve because in reality you don't deserve it. That bit of paper you have is only good for getting you an entry level job, like that one you're rejecting.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Aristotle Animes posted:

My serious advice to you is getting some field work under your belt would do you some good. I'm in Environmental sciences and some of the people I work with are GIS guys for various DEP state agencies and USGS. The best data managers have field experience. They certainly respect their field crew because they understand what it takes to get the data, which is more than pushing a button. No one is looking at your resume and not seeing your MA.

I actually have some field experience. Also, my undergraduate degree is in land surveying.

The problem in this scenario is that that while they do see my MA, I feel they don't value it perhaps as much as I do. I feel that they're predominantly seeing my field experience and an opportunity to have me go to more of it. I don't mind going out in the field, but in all honesty, I went to grad school so I wouldn't be standing in the road with an orange vest after graduation. Do you feel that's an unfair assumption? I have friends with the same degree and a similar amount of experience who have jobs not requiring them to lift up manhole covers regularly.

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

GILF Hunter posted:

Are YOU serious? How is it NOT unfair? An employer offers you a job in confidence. If you accept it, and then continue to seek employment elsewhere, that's kind of a lovely thing to do, regardless of how the deck is stacked again you. Doesn't this go against the generally-accepted idea of not burning any bridges?

And in all seriousness, why does the general consensus seem to be that I'm "not above" this position? Why would I accept a position that I could do with significantly less education? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of spending the last few years in school?


I suppose I might have more faith in my employer.

Are YOU kidding? Take them for everything you can, leverage them to the next job! Have fun being a nobody making way less than you could.

How do you think people double their salary in 5 years after they get out of school? It is not by being nice and in for the company. drat if I did that I would be making $35000 less than I do now.

You don't owe anyone but yourself anything.

E: you take the job since you have nothing else going for you. You use it as a branch to the next job and to keep the gap off your resume (which studies show is killer).

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

spwrozek posted:

You don't owe anyone but yourself anything.

Then why am I supposed to be unhappy by accepting a job I don't want?

Eskaton
Aug 13, 2014
So you went into urban planning and have no interest in improving a town you think is crummy? Urban planning is already a tough market to get into, so 39k isn't even awful.

TwoSheds
Sep 12, 2007

Bringer of sugary treats!

GILF Hunter posted:

Then why am I supposed to be unhappy by accepting a job I don't want?

Because it's an obvious stepping stone to a job that you do want.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Eskaton posted:

So you went into urban planning and have no interest in improving a town you think is crummy? Urban planning is already a tough market to get into, so 39k isn't even awful.

In my defense, I wouldn't be working for the planning department. There is no growth there. Nothing happens. And everyone I know that was hired thus far has been hired above 39k with a LOT more room to grow.

TwoSheds posted:

Because it's an obvious stepping stone to a job that you do want.

So I only owe it to myself, but I'm not allowed to be happy with the outcome? Or living there or commuting an hour each way? That doesn't make any sense to me.

GILF Hunter fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Aug 16, 2014

TwoSheds
Sep 12, 2007

Bringer of sugary treats!

GILF Hunter posted:


So I only owe it to myself, but I'm not allowed to be happy with the outcome? That doesn't make any sense to me.

Sometimes in life you need to sacrifice your short-term happiness to realize your long-term goals. This would be one of those times.

EDIT: And I know plenty of people who commute two hours or more each day for considerably less than $39k, and that's in New York, one of the highest cost of living areas in the country.

TwoSheds fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Aug 16, 2014

AgrippaNothing
Feb 11, 2006

When flying, please wear a suit and tie just like me.
Just upholding the social conntract!

GILF Hunter posted:

I actually have some field experience. Also, my undergraduate degree is in land surveying.
I'm going to tell you what I want to tell every MS that goes on about what system they modeled or how they studied algae in a certain bay or estuary; no one gives a poo poo about your graduate work and the sun rises an sets on systems you can't even begin to guess at. Besides that it wasn't real operational experience. It is worth noting what you did but it's like a paper route or something... it only says you may be able to walk or ride a bike. Can you deliver when it counts? Real job experience makes me feel a like someone is a safer bet. It also tells me that someone isn't going to bitch about something being beneath them. If I had a nickel for every worthless graduate that was giving everyone around them guff about something they didn't want to do. This is the job. There's a lot of poo poo I don't want to do, it's called work.


It may sound like your WWII vet grandpa talking, maybe it is. Maybe you should listen. I wouldn't fret yourself about taking a entry level for a year or more and ditching it if there's nowhere to go at that company. They saw your MA. They know the score.

llamaperl2
Dec 6, 2008
As someone who has been on a hiring committee for a position like the one you have, if you sent this email, the hiring committee's response would be "eh", and "call the next guy". Odds are, there were 10 other strong candidates and you just managed to edge the others out.

As an urban planning person, you already have a tough fight to find a job; in major markets, you are competing with guys with PhDs and masters degrees who have been doing this for decades. In mid markets, there are a glut of urban planning masters degree holders who actually have experience. Before you quit this job outright, you should really think about your prospects; at 39k, you are at the top end of mid-career urban planning people in a mid-market. You have eluded to the fact this small town doesn't do the two things you want to do; what do they do that you want to do? Multi-modal transportation and sustainability are things large markets need, and you can't compete in those markets.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Aristotle Animes posted:

I'm going to tell you what I want to tell every MS that goes on about what system they modeled or how they studied algae in a certain bay or estuary; no one gives a poo poo about your graduate work and the sun rises an sets on systems you can't even begin to guess at. Besides that it wasn't real operational experience. It is worth noting what you did but it's like a paper route or something... it only says you may be able to walk or ride a bike. Can you deliver when it counts? Real job experience makes me feel a like someone is a safer bet. It also tells me that someone isn't going to bitch about something being beneath them. If I had a nickel for every worthless graduate that was giving everyone around them guff about something they didn't want to do. This is the job. There's a lot of poo poo I don't want to do, it's called work.


It may sound like your WWII vet grandpa talking, maybe it is. Maybe you should listen. I wouldn't fret yourself about taking a entry level for a year or more and ditching it if there's nowhere to go at that company. They saw your MA. They know the score.

I agree, I feel like real experience is the only truly valuable thing. When I say I have experience with field, I mean I have actual job experience, not some posh college experience. It's not a lot, and I chose to bail on it in the interest of furthering my education.

Perhaps the problem I see with the suggestions offered (mainly about taking the job and continuing to look) is that I'd be unsure how to approach the next employer about why I'm leaving City of Many Doublewide Trailers so soon. What's to stop a future employer from assuming I'm going to bail on them in a few months? I've been given advice from both camps.

Listen, I understand it's experience, but in all honesty, I don't feel that it's all that valuable experience. Standing in the road collecting GPS data on the locations of manholes is not going to make me better at spatial analyses of land use.

llamaperl2 posted:

As someone who has been on a hiring committee for a position like the one you have, if you sent this email, the hiring committee's response would be "eh", and "call the next guy". Odds are, there were 10 other strong candidates and you just managed to edge the others out.

As an urban planning person, you already have a tough fight to find a job; in major markets, you are competing with guys with PhDs and masters degrees who have been doing this for decades. In mid markets, there are a glut of urban planning masters degree holders who actually have experience. Before you quit this job outright, you should really think about your prospects; at 39k, you are at the top end of mid-career urban planning people in a mid-market. You have eluded to the fact this small town doesn't do the two things you want to do; what do they do that you want to do? Multi-modal transportation and sustainability are things large markets need, and you can't compete in those markets.

They don't have a "next guy". Why else would they have called me so quickly? The guy who would be my boss actually tried to offer the job to me halfway through the interview before the HR lady was like "hang on, he has to pass a drug test and other HR stuff". The position had been listed on their website for more than a month. Frankly, the salary is a little intimidating for someone holding a masters. As previously stated, most people I know who graduated with me are being paid about 10% more and are thousands of dollars away from the maximum salary for their position.

Now, it's entirely possible that this stream of posts has taught me that my degree is less valuable than I see it. I won't deny that; but I see it as a settle to work in a place that I don't particular want to live (or commute to) and be paid less than my colleagues. Is that not fair?

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
Well you would probably be fired in a week since you are a giant douche so I wouldn't worry too hard about letting them down easy. Don't list the job on your resume. Problem solved.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Elephanthead posted:

Well you would probably be fired in a week since you are a giant douche so I wouldn't worry too hard about letting them down easy. Don't list the job on your resume. Problem solved.

Don't list the job in my resume and have a gap in my employment show because of a lie? That sounds like literally the worst advice in this whole thread.

LoreOfSerpents
Dec 29, 2001

No.

It sounds like you got an offer and accepted it. If so, you've already done a lovely thing by accepting a job you didn't want. Some employers will just silently blacklist you for accepting a job and then backing out. You generally don't want to be in that position.

GILF Hunter posted:

Why would I accept a position that I could do with significantly less education? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of spending the last few years in school?
Yes. There are very good reasons not to pursue an advanced degree unless you know exactly what it will do for you first. Your degree path is very specific and there will be a lot of competition, so you should have been leveraging your connections in grad school to get you a job right after graduation.

GILF Hunter posted:

Perhaps the problem I see with the suggestions offered (mainly about taking the job and continuing to look) is that I'd be unsure how to approach the next employer about why I'm leaving City of Many Doublewide Trailers so soon. What's to stop a future employer from assuming I'm going to bail on them in a few months? I've been given advice from both camps.
In my opinion, you should not list this job on your resume until you've been working there for at least 6 months. Treat it as an unemployment gap where you're getting paid. If people ask what you're doing in that gap, say "I'm doing some field work to pay the bills" and also talk about other things you've been doing to keep your knowledge relevant to your field (online classes, writing a blog about urban planning, whatever).

GILF Hunter posted:

As previously stated, most people I know who graduated with me are being paid about 10% more and are thousands of dollars away from the maximum salary for their position.
Why didn't those people help you get a job?

adorai
Nov 2, 2002

10/27/04 Never forget
Grimey Drawer

GILF Hunter posted:

Now, it's entirely possible that this stream of posts has taught me that my degree is less valuable than I see it. I won't deny that; but I see it as a settle to work in a place that I don't particular want to live (or commute to) and be paid less than my colleagues. Is that not fair?
They aren't your colleagues. You haven't started your career yet.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

LoreOfSerpents posted:

It sounds like you got an offer and accepted it. If so, you've already done a lovely thing by accepting a job you didn't want. Some employers will just silently blacklist you for accepting a job and then backing out. You generally don't want to be in that position.

Hindsight is 20/20. People make mistakes. I asked for them to push back the start date, but they refused.

I don't see how this is more lovely than accepting a position, working it, and actively searching for other employment.

quote:

Yes. There are very good reasons not to pursue an advanced degree unless you know exactly what it will do for you first. Your degree path is very specific and there will be a lot of competition, so you should have been leveraging your connections in grad school to get you a job right after graduation.

I know what it will do for me, and it should be better than this.

quote:

In my opinion, you should not list this job on your resume until you've been working there for at least 6 months. Treat it as an unemployment gap where you're getting paid. If people ask what you're doing in that gap, say "I'm doing some field work to pay the bills" and also talk about other things you've been doing to keep your knowledge relevant to your field (online classes, writing a blog about urban planning, whatever).

Thank you for the constructive advice without the namecalling.

quote:

Why didn't those people help you get a job?

They graduated alongside me and had better luck, I guess? Not everyone I graduated with is employed, however.

GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

adorai posted:

They aren't your colleagues. You haven't started your career yet.

Correction: The people that graduated with me.

Rudager
Apr 29, 2008

GILF Hunter posted:

Frankly, the salary is a little intimidating for someone holding a masters. As previously stated, most people I know who graduated with me are being paid about 10% more and are thousands of dollars away from the maximum salary for their position.

Well for one, they're actually employed and so may have been able to negotiate a pay rise after 3-6 months.

Secondly, people have a tendency to exaggerate their incomes.

Thirdly, you even basically admit in the OP that the pay is partly your own fault for being bad at salary negotiations.

moana
Jun 18, 2005

one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web

LoreOfSerpents posted:

Why didn't those people help you get a job?
If I had to guess, I'd say because he's a giant douche and nobody wants to help a giant douche get a job.

Eskaton
Aug 13, 2014
If you worked as land survey, couldn't you have moved within a company to the planning department? I mean it depends on the firm, but sounds easier than trying to apply from the outside.

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GILF Hunter
Dec 3, 2005

Chairman Meow
leads us forward!

Rudager posted:

Well for one, they're actually employed and so may have been able to negotiate a pay rise after 3-6 months.

Secondly, people have a tendency to exaggerate their incomes.

I've asked around a fair amount, and I see no reason why my colleagues (?) would lie to me. And for what it's worth, for government jobs (which planning jobs typically are) the salary is public information and can be acquired on the city or county website of most decent-sized municipalities.

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