Job Interviewing - Do's and Don'ts

[ReaperKK]

I had my review for last years performance as well as compensation talk and it went better than I imagined. I got a 13% bonus and as 12% raise in addition to a promotion. I'm ecstatic! I had to share somewhere

[Nick]

Wanted to update here really quick on what I've been up to. You guys gave some good advice when I was interviewing at the end of last year, and if I failed to say so here I got that job.

So I went from the corporation that employed me for 17 years to a private single location funeral home. Cut my commute from ~55minutes to 30 minutes, and successfully reduced stress levels considerably, an all around success for a very small reduction in pay. All was well...

So like 3 days before I started that job someone reached out to me. This particular person had bought a funeral home 7 minutes from my house in 2018 and we've been in contact on and off again since then. This time he was making a huge push to bring me on board. I wanted time to try out my new work before doing anything hasty, and so I started at the new job, had 95% positive experiences, and was doing well, but after a month I figured I couldn't completely ignore the opportunity in my backyard, practically. Several meetings and discussions were had, and eventually I decided to make the move. I gave my notice Wednesday (2/23), and on Friday, (2/25) I had a very pleasant exit interview and they informed me that they were going to make Sunday (2/20) my last day, which was rather surprising. So talked to the new job and we moved my startup date from Mar. 10 to this Wednesday (2/23).

I am very excited about certain facets of the new job, obviously to make the move from someplace where I was happy. I do have some concerns, mainly the owner seeming a little eccentric and out there at times, and especially having less staff than the current job. But one of the things I love about the change is going from salary (which I was at the current and former place) to hourly again. And it works out that at 40 hours I'll make the exact same amount, so if I end up working a lot of overtime, no big deal as I'll make bank. I also negotiated 25 days of PTO + 5 holidays into my deal.

So a new adventure starts Wednesday.

[gmillerdrake]

Good Luck Nick! Sounds as if the move will be a good one....especially the short commute and the chance to rake in some $$$ if the OT is there.

[Orbert]

Wow, I hate changing jobs, especially leaving a job I like (or at least don't hate), but it's hard to turn down a gig right down the street, and with potential for better money and more vacation, too.  Congrats!

[millahh]

I had my review for last years performance as well as compensation talk and it went better than I imagined. I got a 13% bonus and as 12% raise in addition to a promotion. I'm ecstatic! I had to share somewhere

That's awesome, congratulations!

[snip]

That's also awesome!  Definite balls to jump that quickly, but it seems like the right decision, and probably a type of decision that more people should take.  We're often so reluctant to act in our own best interest when it could inconvenience someone else.

My new gig is awesome so far.  It's a big challenge and a lot of responsibility, but I think I'm managing it ok so far.  Got upset executives to deal with, a team in disarray and they don't even realize it, and lots of operational & strategic challenges.  But I'm good t this stuff, and this is why they hired me.

On the interviewing front, I actually had a bit of an interview debrief with my boss. She had two moments in the interview when she knew she wanted to hire me...and one of those was where I (politely) disagreed with her thinking on something. She asked how I'd approach an under-performing team member, keeping in mind this is a matrix team and I don't have a supervisory relationship to the person.  I questioned whether it was really a performance issue, and if it could instead be because of limited resources, poor communication, being conflicting messages about priorities by their management, etc., then laid out my process for discussing & ascertaining. She really liked that I challenged her assumptions, and she went and applied my approach to a situations she was dealing with, and it turned out I was right. As she put it, I "schooled her" during the interview.  I am very glad to be someplace where constructive disagreement is actually valued, rather than just given lip service.

Oh, and the old place seems to be on the verge of becoming a smoking crater. Ex-boss's behavior is escalating/spiraling to a point where it looks liek she could get forced out...and she's president/COO!  I am watching with popcorn from a safe distance.

[lordxizor]

I know it's a big no-no to bring up money too early in the interview process. I'm curious what you all would think of this situation. A company I interviewed with a couple years ago and just narrowly missed out on an offer reached out about another open position. It's fully remote, which would be great and I'm more than capable of doing the job. The issue is that I suspect my desired pay range will be too high given the title of the position. I don't want to waste everyone's time. Do I bring this up in an initial phone screen? Sometimes the HR person will bring it up, but not always, in my experience.

[Chino]

I know it's a big no-no to bring up money too early in the interview process. I'm curious what you all would think of this situation. A company I interviewed with a couple years ago and just narrowly missed out on an offer reached out about another open position. It's fully remote, which would be great and I'm more than capable of doing the job. The issue is that I suspect my desired pay range will be too high given the title of the position. I don't want to waste everyone's time. Do I bring this up in an initial phone screen? Sometimes the HR person will bring it up, but not always, in my experience.

Bring it up in the first interview. Just my $0.02. They reached out to you and recognize the skills. Find out what they're offering.

[Stadler]

I know it's a big no-no to bring up money too early in the interview process. I'm curious what you all would think of this situation. A company I interviewed with a couple years ago and just narrowly missed out on an offer reached out about another open position. It's fully remote, which would be great and I'm more than capable of doing the job. The issue is that I suspect my desired pay range will be too high given the title of the position. I don't want to waste everyone's time. Do I bring this up in an initial phone screen? Sometimes the HR person will bring it up, but not always, in my experience.

Bring it up in the first interview. Just my $0.02. They reached out to you and recognize the skills. Find out what they're offering.

I think generally Chino is right, but more specifically, it depends on what your priorities are.  Money is rarely the deal-breaker for me, so I don't bring it up on Day One.  Those things that are of import, I will.  If money is a variable that would cause you to walk away, then sure, bring it up.

[jingle.boy]

I know it's a big no-no to bring up money too early in the interview process. I'm curious what you all would think of this situation. A company I interviewed with a couple years ago and just narrowly missed out on an offer reached out about another open position. It's fully remote, which would be great and I'm more than capable of doing the job. The issue is that I suspect my desired pay range will be too high given the title of the position. I don't want to waste everyone's time. Do I bring this up in an initial phone screen? Sometimes the HR person will bring it up, but not always, in my experience.

Bring it up in the first interview. Just my $0.02. They reached out to you and recognize the skills. Find out what they're offering.

I think generally Chino is right, but more specifically, it depends on what your priorities are.  Money is rarely the deal-breaker for me, so I don't bring it up on Day One.  Those things that are of import, I will.  If money is a variable that would cause you to walk away, then sure, bring it up.

It pains me to type this, but Stadler is right.



Do it honestly, that you don't want to waste anyone's time if you are both out of sync on a very important factor to hire/accept for both parties.  It's just as much for their benefit as it is for yours to know where you each stand on the matter.

[lordxizor]

I know it's a big no-no to bring up money too early in the interview process. I'm curious what you all would think of this situation. A company I interviewed with a couple years ago and just narrowly missed out on an offer reached out about another open position. It's fully remote, which would be great and I'm more than capable of doing the job. The issue is that I suspect my desired pay range will be too high given the title of the position. I don't want to waste everyone's time. Do I bring this up in an initial phone screen? Sometimes the HR person will bring it up, but not always, in my experience.

Bring it up in the first interview. Just my $0.02. They reached out to you and recognize the skills. Find out what they're offering.

I think generally Chino is right, but more specifically, it depends on what your priorities are.  Money is rarely the deal-breaker for me, so I don't bring it up on Day One.  Those things that are of import, I will.  If money is a variable that would cause you to walk away, then sure, bring it up.

Money isn't the number one thing, but it is a big thing. I know what I'm worth, and am certainly not going take a steep discount for this role/company. I fear based on the job title, that the salary range will be below where I'm at now. But, I've had companies come up with money to pay me more than they initially expected before. Or to modify the job title to make it match my skills better. In this case tossing a senior or principle in front of the title would be more appropriate based on my experience. I'll talk to them. Hopefully they bring it up first.

[jingle.boy]

More later, but I had to tell my boss (yesterday) and team (today) that I'm leaving the company.  Next Wednesday is my last day.  Thursday I start with the new company.  Bitter-sweet feelings - certainly more of the latter, but I'm walking away from a great boss and team, and taking a small haircut on the income potential.  So many other things are going to improve with the new company/role though.

[Spiritus]

Indeed, this sounds interesting. Leaving a great boss and team with more pay for what may be not a great boss and team down the road.

[Stadler]

More later, but I had to tell my boss (yesterday) and team (today) that I'm leaving the company.  Next Wednesday is my last day.  Thursday I start with the new company.  Bitter-sweet feelings - certainly more of the latter, but I'm walking away from a great boss and team, and taking a small haircut on the income potential.  So many other things are going to improve with the new company/role though.

Good luck!  Been there; it's hard.  But you know what's right.

[ReaperKK]

More later, but I had to tell my boss (yesterday) and team (today) that I'm leaving the company.  Next Wednesday is my last day.  Thursday I start with the new company.  Bitter-sweet feelings - certainly more of the latter, but I'm walking away from a great boss and team, and taking a small haircut on the income potential.  So many other things are going to improve with the new company/role though.

Goodluck with the new role jingle, I was going to ask later on this year if you were going to be and the convention in Vegas because it looks like I'm going but probably not with this new role .

[gmillerdrake]

More later, but I had to tell my boss (yesterday) and team (today) that I'm leaving the company.  Next Wednesday is my last day.  Thursday I start with the new company.  Bitter-sweet feelings - certainly more of the latter, but I'm walking away from a great boss and team, and taking a small haircut on the income potential.  So many other things are going to improve with the new company/role though.

Best of luck Chad! You know what's right for you and your family so I'm sure while this may not have been an easy choice that you made the right one 

[Adami]

Since I really don't like my current job, I have two job interviews tomorrow.

I usually approach an interview with an attitude of not caring if I get it or not. So far it seems to work well for me. Not sure I'll get either of these two, or if they pay enough. Put I'm hoping!

[gmillerdrake]

Since I really don't like my current job, I have two job interviews tomorrow.

I usually approach an interview with an attitude of not caring if I get it or not. So far it seems to work well for me. Not sure I'll get either of these two, or if they pay enough. Put I'm hoping!

Good luck Adami! You deserve to land somewhere you want to be and that works perfect for you!

[millahh]

Since I really don't like my current job, I have two job interviews tomorrow.

I usually approach an interview with an attitude of not caring if I get it or not. So far it seems to work well for me. Not sure I'll get either of these two, or if they pay enough. Put I'm hoping!

How'd it go?  The not-caring attitude is a good one, that's a far more concise way of saying what it took me several posts to say upthread. 

As of today I'm halfway through my parental leave. Time has ceased to have any meaning...days and weeks are blurring together, and night and day aren't doing much better.  But I'm very happy. I could not imagine still being at my old, hyper-toxic job while having a newborn...there's no way it wouldn't have bled over and interfered with my feeling safe and present with the baby.

I haven't been thinking about work very much in the last month, but I think the time away after the initial sprint is going to be good for me in the long-term.  I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that I'm considered to be an executive at a 25,000 person company. I know that it is changing my relationship to power and accountability. I think I've come to the conclusion that it's ok (and in fact needed) to be a bit of a dick sometimes, when it comes to being clear that I will not accept someone's attempts to disrupt things or deflect accountability. I will still rely mostly on influence and being a "servant leader", but I think people knowing that I have my limits and that I can be an electric fence when needed actually makes the softer approaches more effective (because it's clear that I'm making a choice, not because it's all I've got). It's all a lot, but I feel very peaceful about it.

[Adami]

Actually, I got the date of one of the interviews wrong. Luckily I thought it was a week earlier than it was. So I only had one that Friday and then another that next Friday.

The first one....was not good. I don't think it was my fault though. It was supposed to be the director and associate director, but the director couldn't make it so it was just the other one, who had only started a few months prior. So she was clearly a bit uncomfortable having to do this alone. She also mentioned that I had applied for her job back in August. I did, in fact, do that but mostly because I could. I never dreamed I would get it and didn't expect to even get an interview, but she still clearly felt odd about it. Then, after the interview itself, when I asked about staff turnover and wanting to really stay at a place for a good while and such, she got very uncomfortable, as if she was trying not to say something she thought would get her in trouble. Just very awkward.

Second interview the next Friday was really good. Felt comfortable, good people, good questions, etc. Job, however, is an hour by train away. So I dunno. Guess we'll see if I even get a second interview.

[gmillerdrake]

So, after 16 months of being on the other 'side' of the construction industry.....working for a large Regional Contractor as a Project Manager.....I've decided to leave and get back to my 'specialty' and what I've spent most of my professional career doing.....Project Management Healthcare construction.  Overseeing the install of Healthcare Equipment, focused on the imaging equipment like MRI's, CT's.....etc etc.

I was contacted by a company (Siemens) at the beginning of February that I had applied to at the same time I applied to my current employer 16 months ago. They had called me a few weeks after I started here to interview but I told them I'd just started a position and wasn't interested. They told me they'd keep my resume on file and call me if anything ever came up. Well, a Project Manager in the St. Louis area is retiring so they called me and asked if I'd be interesting in interviewing. I've been contemplating whether I really like what I'm doing now (which is never a good sign) so the call came a a good time. I interviewed and after three days of back to back to back interviews (manager, panel interview, VP) they offered me a job the following day.

I'll be returning to a home based job, travel in the form of driving and covering my territory with some limited over night stays....but by in large I'll be covering Missouri, a touch of southern Illinois....the Paducah area in KY and maybe a bit a Kansas City should the workload demand it. Modest 5% bump in pay which is fine, company vehicle that also can be used as personal, gas card and quarterly bonus's so financially it's a step up for sure. It'll be neat to get back in to the travel and jumping around to job sites after being at this position where I've been tied to a project site everyday.

So....come 3/13 I'll be turning the page on this chapter and firing up another one.

[cramx3]

Congrats on the job, funny how things work out some times

[gmillerdrake]

Congrats on the job, funny how things work out some times

Thanks Marc...

What made it really hard is this company I work for is a really good, successful company. Great people.....I've just never 'felt' it here. I know that a job is a job and that not a lot of people skip to work while whistling dixie....but, it was a side of the industry I knew of and was familiar with given my work history and it was intriguing. Just didn't 'fit'....it's tough to explain. So....putting my two weeks in yesterday was really hard to do because this team I'm on is awesome. But everyone's been genuinely happy for me.....the VP I work under told me the door is always open for me to return should things not work out so that was very nice of him to say.

[Chino]

I was contacted by a company (Siemens) at the beginning of February that I had applied to at the same time I applied to my current employer 16 months ago. They had called me a few weeks after I started here to interview but I told them I'd just started a position and wasn't interested. They told me they'd keep my resume on file and call me if anything ever came up. Well, a Project Manager in the St. Louis area is retiring so they called me and asked if I'd be interesting in interviewing. I've been contemplating whether I really like what I'm doing now (which is never a good sign) so the call came a a good time. I interviewed and after three days of back to back to back interviews (manager, panel interview, VP) they offered me a job the following day.

My sister just left them after 6 or 7 years. They have a plant in the town I grew up in. She was their regional sales manager for lower NY and CT (not at the same time). It's a great company (assuming we're talking about the same one  ). The only reason she left because a client of hers reached out (poached) and offered her 20% more than she was making at the time.

[gmillerdrake]

I was contacted by a company (Siemens) at the beginning of February that I had applied to at the same time I applied to my current employer 16 months ago. They had called me a few weeks after I started here to interview but I told them I'd just started a position and wasn't interested. They told me they'd keep my resume on file and call me if anything ever came up. Well, a Project Manager in the St. Louis area is retiring so they called me and asked if I'd be interesting in interviewing. I've been contemplating whether I really like what I'm doing now (which is never a good sign) so the call came a a good time. I interviewed and after three days of back to back to back interviews (manager, panel interview, VP) they offered me a job the following day.

My sister just left them after 6 or 7 years. They have a plant in the town I grew up in. She was their regional sales manager for lower NY and CT (not at the same time). It's a great company (assuming we're talking about the same one  ). The only reason she left because a client of hers reached out (poached) and offered her 20% more than she was making at the time.

Yeah....they're a global entity....they seem to have their hands in a lot of things, especially medical related. I worked hand in hand with the group I'm joining as a customer for 10 years. The sales folks I know make a VERY good living and my quarterly bonus structure is going to allow me to have the potential to thrive which was very appealing considering two of my sons are within striking distance of college and my third will be there in a couple blinks of an eye.

I don't like to base every job decision on money....but the fact of the matter is I'm in my prime 'earning' years and I have to strike while the iron is hot. Plus, as I mentioned....this PM position I'm taking is going to get me back into doing things I 'know' and was/am pretty good at.

[Stadler]

Gary, I sent you a PM with more details, but my general assessment is consistent.  This is a quality company that has a broad footprint.

[gmillerdrake]

Thanks Bill.....received and replied. 

[Lonk]

So, after 16 months of being on the other 'side' of the construction industry...I've decided to leave and get back to my 'specialty'...

Congrats, sounds like a great opportunity 

Funny you mentioned 16 months, because I've been at my job for 15 and I am thinking of leaving as well, though for different reasons.

[WilliamMunny]

I've got one for everyone...

For a variety of reasons, I decided a few months back that it was time to get my resume together. Been with my company since 2007, and I've been a hiring manager for most of that time, so I am well aware that the whole resume game has changed dramatically since I last compiled one.

I've tried in vain to find a respectable writer in my area...someone who can help me 'fine tune' my CV into a legible, marketable single page resume. I found two locals here, and both have ghosted me after an initial phone call.

The online sites are all fine, but I really, really, really want to actually talk to the person who's going to do it (why does this feel so crazy in 2023?!?)

Obviously, most of you don't live in Northeast Ohio, but at this point, I'll take any recommendations at this point, either for a private agency or an online service.

Finally, and I fully realize that this might be ridiculous, but I really don't want to spend for than $300.

Help me, DT Forumers, You're my only hope.

[jammindude]

Seriously. Tell ChatGPT what you need and see what it does.

Heck, it’s free.

[hefdaddy42]

So, after 16 months of being on the other 'side' of the construction industry.....working for a large Regional Contractor as a Project Manager.....I've decided to leave and get back to my 'specialty' and what I've spent most of my professional career doing.....Project Management Healthcare construction.  Overseeing the install of Healthcare Equipment, focused on the imaging equipment like MRI's, CT's.....etc etc.

I was contacted by a company (Siemens) at the beginning of February that I had applied to at the same time I applied to my current employer 16 months ago. They had called me a few weeks after I started here to interview but I told them I'd just started a position and wasn't interested. They told me they'd keep my resume on file and call me if anything ever came up. Well, a Project Manager in the St. Louis area is retiring so they called me and asked if I'd be interesting in interviewing. I've been contemplating whether I really like what I'm doing now (which is never a good sign) so the call came a a good time. I interviewed and after three days of back to back to back interviews (manager, panel interview, VP) they offered me a job the following day.

I'll be returning to a home based job, travel in the form of driving and covering my territory with some limited over night stays....but by in large I'll be covering Missouri, a touch of southern Illinois....the Paducah area in KY and maybe a bit a Kansas City should the workload demand it. Modest 5% bump in pay which is fine, company vehicle that also can be used as personal, gas card and quarterly bonus's so financially it's a step up for sure. It'll be neat to get back in to the travel and jumping around to job sites after being at this position where I've been tied to a project site everyday.

So....come 3/13 I'll be turning the page on this chapter and firing up another one.

Nice!  Congratulations!

[gmillerdrake]

So, after 16 months of being on the other 'side' of the construction industry.....working for a large Regional Contractor as a Project Manager.....I've decided to leave and get back to my 'specialty' and what I've spent most of my professional career doing.....Project Management Healthcare construction.  Overseeing the install of Healthcare Equipment, focused on the imaging equipment like MRI's, CT's.....etc etc.

I was contacted by a company (Siemens) at the beginning of February that I had applied to at the same time I applied to my current employer 16 months ago. They had called me a few weeks after I started here to interview but I told them I'd just started a position and wasn't interested. They told me they'd keep my resume on file and call me if anything ever came up. Well, a Project Manager in the St. Louis area is retiring so they called me and asked if I'd be interesting in interviewing. I've been contemplating whether I really like what I'm doing now (which is never a good sign) so the call came a a good time. I interviewed and after three days of back to back to back interviews (manager, panel interview, VP) they offered me a job the following day.

I'll be returning to a home based job, travel in the form of driving and covering my territory with some limited over night stays....but by in large I'll be covering Missouri, a touch of southern Illinois....the Paducah area in KY and maybe a bit a Kansas City should the workload demand it. Modest 5% bump in pay which is fine, company vehicle that also can be used as personal, gas card and quarterly bonus's so financially it's a step up for sure. It'll be neat to get back in to the travel and jumping around to job sites after being at this position where I've been tied to a project site everyday.

So....come 3/13 I'll be turning the page on this chapter and firing up another one.

Nice!  Congratulations!

Congrats, sounds like a great opportunity 

Thank you fellas! 

[axeman90210]

So I've generally been content with the job I started back in late 2020 and with my more recent relocation to Florida for it. Well, the first six months were pretty dicey, but then my team got a new manager who's made a world of difference. When random recruiters have reached out on LinkedIn I've just told them I'm not interested in making a change right now. Then my first boss from years ago reached out a couple weeks ago. Long story short, the company we both worked for way back in the day sold off some, but not all of the clients that our team covered, and my boss at the time and most of my coworkers in the local office all got transferred to the new company that had those clients, while I stayed back with the original company to service the clients that they didn't sell. I know that I was thought highly of by my first boss (and his boss), and they have an opening at the company they've been with since the split that they think I'd be great for. It would involve moving back to the NYC area, so I told the HR rep that I would need to be at the top end of the listed range for the position, which would mean a 28-40% salary increase, to account for moving back to a higher cost-of-living area. It would also come with a title boost of two grades from where I currently am (not that titles are 1:1 across different companies). I've gone through a first-round interview, which went well, and have a second round scheduled for Tuesday. The more I mull on this though, the more I'm pretty sure that I'd be happy staying in my current role. I really like my boss and the rest of my team and I'm excited about what we're starting to build. There are some quality of life tradeoffs, my current job wraps up at about 7 each night and the new job would finish earlier most nights, but a bit later for a few nights at the start of every month. It would also mean a longer commute (about 30-45 minutes each way daily). Lastly, part of what made my current job rough at the start was that the team was horribly under-staffed. That's finally been corrected and we've gotten a bunch of great hires in the door in the last 12-18 months. Meanwhile, I feel like I'd be walking into a similar situation with this new role in that they've mentioned the team is currently a little light but also that there's a hiring freeze in place (barring a couple specific positions such as the one I'm applying for). Ideally I would get an offer and just be able to parlay it into a raise here, but I feel like to make that kind of move I have to be comfortable on some level with taking the new role if my current company says "sorry, we can't make a competitive counter" and I just don't know how I feel about that right now.

[Stadler]

Tangentially related question:   Are those recruiters that occasionally reach out on LinkedIn legit? How do I know if they are or not?


As for your sitch, I know I'm a bit older than you, so that is real factor, but for me, "quality of life" is so much bigger a factor now than it was in the past.  My boss moved on about six months ago, and it was down to me and another woman, and she got the job.   My group is a result of a merger, so, predictably, those from my legacy company wanted me, and those from the other company wanted her; the one-over manager is from the other company and I have some (legitimate) reason to believe that this was "preordained" at the time of the merger.  It bummed me out a bit, but it turns out, this is a blessing in disguise.  She's been wonderful to me, I am in the succession plan, I get to do exactly what I've been doing before without ANY of the admin nonsense of running a group, and I'm at a point where as long as I deliver on my "deliverables" I can basically come and go as I please.  My job isn't a cake-walk, and being a support-ish person I sometimes get "those" phone calls (two Fridays ago I was on a call from 4:30 to about 8:30 pm as we finalized a settlement offer) but my job is intellectual in nature; I'm providing guidance and informational input, not creating paperwork, so it's a small price to pay in order to have the flexibility to, say, fly to Dallas and drive my daughter back home without burning a week's vacation to do it.  I also get to continue to work out of the house, even as we're sort of doing an unofficial/passive migration back to the office and centralizing in certain locations (nowhere near where I live). 

[Chino]

Tangentially related question:   Are those recruiters that occasionally reach out on LinkedIn legit? How do I know if they are or not?

I'm sure like all things, it's not 100%, but some are legit. My fiance is a director of admissions for one of the universities in the state and she got contacted 5 or 6 weeks ago about a near identical position (paying 40% more) opening up for a nursing school that's moving to CT. She's had a handful of interviews, was flown out to Arizona to meet the owners and CEO, and she's expecting to receive the official offer sometime this week. As for avoiding scams, it's probably best to rely on your own due diligence. I imagine they'd be pretty easy to detect after an email or two.

[jingle.boy]

Tangentially related question:   Are those recruiters that occasionally reach out on LinkedIn legit? How do I know if they are or not?

I'm sure like all things, it's not 100%, but some are legit. My fiance is a director of admissions for one of the universities in the state and she got contacted 5 or 6 weeks ago about a near identical position (paying 40% more) opening up for a nursing school that's moving to CT. She's had a handful of interviews, was flown out to Arizona to meet the owners and CEO, and she's expecting to receive the official offer sometime this week. As for avoiding scams, it's probably best to rely on your own due diligence. I imagine they'd be pretty easy to detect after an email or two.

Congrats to Vic!!!

... but my job is intellectual in nature; I'm providing guidance and informational input, not creating paperwork, so it's a small price to pay in order to have the flexibility to, say, fly to Dallas and drive my daughter back home without burning a week's vacation to do it.  I also get to continue to work out of the house, even as we're sort of doing an unofficial/passive migration back to the office and centralizing in certain locations (nowhere near where I live). 

I'm kinda in the same boat.  I'm just over a year into my current job/firm, and the company I left acquired another company - but one that was actually larger (in revenue) as my old company.  The team I left is all in shambles - VP is being moved into a new role, people being let go, others being moved into a new tea (from the "acquired" company).  It's a shit-show.  Makes my move last year (despite the 10% haircut) look VERY serendipitous right now.  I love my job (for the most part), love my direct team-mate, have a "boss" that is quite hands off but is always available and offers input and guidance when needed, and have established my trust and credibility across virtually all of the constituents I work with.  Some weeks are 30 hours; some weeks are 60 hours, but I largely have the flexibility to dictate that as needed.

If I was to make a jump, I'd have to KNOW that I'm not getting into any kind of chaos - no matter what the pay bump would be.