To complicate matters, he doesn’t actually want the job. Not only is the pay poor, the location is problematic for someone who doesn’t drive – there is no public transport nearby, and it is 25 miles from our home. There is an apartment with vacancies within walking distance, but he feels the salary doesn’t justify the move. Plus this is an apartment building in the middle of an industrial area, with no stores or restaurants within walking distance. He really wants to be back in Boston. I have told him he should take it, for the reasons given by most people here, but he’s not buying it. He would rather take a low-paying, unrelated job in Boston and spend his free time coding games.
So, to summarize:
- Poor pay
- Bad location
- Not really what he wants to do
Maybe it’s not such a good idea after all.
“-Three things when looking for a job—location, how much you like the work, money. Pick two.”
So true. In this case, though, he has no job, so none may be in scope:(.
Is the location bad on a macro or micro level? By that, I mean does he have to move to Podunk, Nowhere to live? Or must he move to a nearby town he doesn’t love?
I’d say take it, after a year begin looking.
Would there be an employee non compete agreement that this employer wants him to sign? If it is a broad one, it may restrict him from getting another job later.
If he writes games in his spare time, does he have anything sellable (even a $0.99 phone app), or which he can give away for free that will impress potential employers?
Boston is a great town. I am sure he loved his NEU days and wishes he was still in school living the dream. He definitely should look into buying a car and getting a license. Even if he get a job at EMC or Google, we would have to drive to work. Not having a license is going to severely limit his options.
40K is way too low. I think it is insulting. A fair salary would be 70K+ and bonus. That being said, I am surprised he doesn’t have an offer yet, someone of his background (grades and major). I would accept it and continue to look. He can turn it down if he gets a better offer. Do not get into this honor, integrity business about feeling bad in turning it down in the future. I have seen too many companies rescind their offers (happened to my nephew) or firing employees without notice (my old boss last week and another colleague today).
BTW - he is not going to work his way up from 40K at this company. The only way would be for him to go to another company. It doesn’t look good to leave a company in less than a year.
Hey one thing he can be doing right now is part time work as a CS tutor. Should be easy job for him to get, probably lots of options in Boston. At least he’ll feel a little better about working, and can say he is currently employed. It’s something, and it is within his field.
At first I was going to say take it…but now I pause with the other information. Bad location, nothing nearby and he doesn’t drive. Bad pay. I personally wouldn’t push my son to take it. It would have to be his devision, but how will he get around the other obstacles?
@oldfort Curious as to why you say/think this?
"BTW - he is not going to work his way up from 40K at this company. "
^it’s just too low of a starting point. You have to move if you want a significant bump in pay with most companies.
The downside to not taking the job now is that the next graduating class is already interviewing and lining up jobs. He’ll be at a disadvantage competing with that group. The longer he waits for that good job to land at his feet, the more problematic his gap in employment is going to be. Take the job, as crappy as the offer is, and get that resume built. For someone looking for work, it’s always a much better situation to be employed than not. Recruiters and employers will always be suspicious of someone who is not working (If you’re that great, why are you unemployed?). You have more leverage being an employed programmer than an unemployed one. Employers sense desperation and can lowball you if you don’t have anything else to fall back on.
I don’t care if it’s a bad location, nothing nearby and he doesn’t drive. Learn to drive.
Take it. In a couple of minutes he’s going to be competing with all of THIS year’s new graduates for the same jobs. It happened to my niece and she ended up being unemployed for 2 years. She stopped being so picky and now she’s working and very happy…in her 2nd job (Ha.).
Every shi!!y job leads to the next one.
Time to grow up.
When someone starts you at 40K, they are not going to be that quick to give you a 10-20K raise. They either do not have the revenue or the kind of work they have isn’t worth more than that.
There are many IT hiring managers here. We all know flight risk if our people are paid too low, so the question is why this employer thinks it could get away with it. Tech is very hot right now.
Sorry I just re-read OP, the son has been out of school for 9 months, I thought he was graduating this May. If this is the only real job offer he has now, he may want to take it. I am a bit surprised.
I certainly know people who were able to increase their pay substantially in the first year or two with an employee. Impress them enough to bump you up a level. Not impossible. I know from experience. That said, one can always look for another job once he’s been in the current position for 6-12 months.
If this is the first job offer this young man has received since graduating last May, he should take it. Without knowing more about his job search process - how hard he is trying, how many interviews he’s had, how he presents himself, it is really hard to give more advice.
I generally agree with this, so long as the position offered is relevant to the career path the OP’s son wants to take. Relevant experience is very important, especially in STEM.
If he hasn’t already, suggest that he have two resumes and cover letter templates, one set should have no reference to game design or game anything. He can reword course and project descriptions to focus on other the non-gaming aspects of what he learned/built.
While a technical department manager might understand that game theory has business world applications, it’s the HR department (or the recruiter) who could be excluding him from further consideration upon seeing “games” mentioned.
Even technical managers at non-gaming companies will see “gaming” on the resume and assume that their job isn’t the applicant’s idea of a good fit.
An employer that lowballs the pay to begin with is unlikely to double his pay next year to match typical industry pay. It is probably depending on the location and other factors that limit employees’ ability to search for other jobs in order to pay that low.
Also remember that the value of benefits (at least the ones that he cares about) can vary significantly from one employer to another.
If it was my kid I’d tell him to take the job, move to the apt near the job and get a roommate to share the cost.
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He would rather take a low-paying, unrelated job in Boston and spend his free time coding games. <<
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He doesn’t like the lowball offer for a job in his field – so he would rather take LESS pay for a job NOT in his field, that will not build his CS resume in any meaningful way? That makes absolutely no sense.
Also, why does he not drive? If he is medically unable, that’s one thing – but if he just chooses not to, he is really limiting his future options.