[Jobs] Immediately or Negotiable

[Dick Davis]

Peter,

Some informative yet noncommittal answers are "open", "negotiable", or "will
discuss during interview".  If you are working for an employer that requires
two weeks notice, you can say "two weeks" or "two weeks notice required in
my current job".  It shows the prospective employer that you respect the
needs of your current employer. 

Whenever a question of this type is asked on a job application, it is
probably a screening mechanism.  "Salary expectations" is a good example of
another one.  You cannot know for sure the reason for the question, so it
may be wisest to give an informative yet noncommittal answer.  If they are
interested in your qualifications, they will still interview you.

Dick Davis 



-----Original Message-----
From: jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Steve Jacobson
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:31 PM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List; Jobs for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Jobs] Immediately or Negotiable

Peter,

I tend to think that saying that you are available immediately implies that
you have no other obligations, although making 
certain that 
the employer knows you have to relocate would be very wise.  To say you are
not available, would imply you had other 
employment obligations.  If the employer specifically asks you upon what
date you can start, then you would have to 
give some thought taking into account relocating.  However, most employers
are not going to wait for three months 
while you relocate unless it is a high level job.  for relocating.  

On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:52:17 -0600, Peter Donahue wrote:

>Good evening everyone,
>    A common question that appears on most job applications is, "When will
>you be available to start work" or some derivative of that question? If
your
>prospective employer is across town responding with immediately is probably
>the best choice as you don't have to worry about moving across the state,
or
>across the country. However when you apply for work with an organization
>located across the state or the country when they ask you that question
your
>first inclination is to say, "Immediately" knowing full well that it will
>take you time to relocate to the local of that company or organization. A
>question here is if you give the, "Immediately" response aren't you telling
>the prospective employer that you can start work that day, tomorrow, or
next
>week? That's easy enough to do if you're in the same city or town as the
>company or organization, but wouldn't that mislead the employer in question
>if you give that response to their question, and they see that your
>currently living in another part of the state, or the country? It gets even
>more questionable to use that response if you need the assistance of your
>state vocational rehabilitation agency to assist with relocation expenses
>adding more time between when you're chosen for the position and the time
>when you actually begin work. Anyone who has gotten assistance from their
>current state's VR Agency knows that making arrangements for moving
>assistance and for other stipends to cover other move-related expenses can,
>at the least take several months for all to be processed before you can
move
>and begin work in the new community.

>    One possible solution to getting out of this tight spot might be to
>respond with, "Negotiable" when that question appears on an application. To
>me it would be telling the prospective employer that you're ready to
>commence employment upon relocating to the community or state in which
>they're located and that you want to work out the details with them to
>arrive at this date. We've been faced with that question on job
applications
>in the past, and have always wondered which is the best response for it
when
>the new job is in a community or another state than your current place of
>residence. I'd love to hear feedback on how others have handled that
>question.

>Peter Donahue

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