blogs.vault.com/ Tue, 22 January 2019 11:48:00 Tue, 22 January 2019 11:48:00 Karen Lenore via Fairygodboss /blog/salary-and-benefits/6-financial-moves-you-need-to-make-when-you-get-your-first-job/#detailed_comment After countless hours of preparation and multiple interviews, you get the glorious news that you got the job you had your heart set on. While landing your first job brings a flood of excitement and elation, it also comes with a lot of worries and anxiety. There's the stress of fitting in with your new team, learning the ins and outs of your new job, and the financial aspect of learning how to plan for your future. As for your financial future, what can you do once you get your first job lined up? Definitely don't make the mistakes I made. Instead, follow these financially-savvy next steps. 1. Negotiate your salary. You might be reading this and thinking: "Negotiate my salary? For my first job?" Absolutely. While interviewing for a position, do your homework and research similar positions in the surrounding area to see what the usual pay range is. Keep in mind that you should be realistic, and shouldn't necessarily shoot for the high end of the range. However, you can respectfully present the data to the hiring manager, and ask if there is any room for negotiation, given that you have x, y, and z skills from the internships you have completed (again, you'll need data and valid reasons on why you deserve the pay bump, so be prepared!). Also, keep in mind that the employer may not budge on their offer, but you can use this discussion to talk about performance expectations. Nailing those will help get you there for your next review. 2. Read about and actually use your company's benefits. Although the employer handbook and benefits package is a lot to absorb, I promise it's worth reading. I've been at my current company for more than two years, and just discovered my company offers a benefit which has an advocate call my insurance company to deal with and negotiate my medical bills on my behalf. I detest spending time doing that myself, and could have saved myself lots of time had I taken the time to read through the leaflet they gave me. Obviously benefits differ by company. But the point is that you could be leaving free money (and time) on the table by not getting up to speed on what your company offers. 3. Contribute to your employer-sponsored retirement account. To piggyback on the point above, use and prioritize your employer-sponsored retirement account. The best retirement savings advice is to start as early as you possibly can. There are a number of articles out there that illustrate the power of compound interest, but here's one that shows the difference between two savers: one who starts at 25, and another who starts a mere 10 years later. And if there is an employer match, contribute at least enough to meet it. You're literally throwing away free money if you don't. 4. Create a budget and plan for your future. Once you know what your paycheck will be, write down the money coming in, as well as monthly and annual expenses that you can track. Then, think about the goals you want to reach in the next five to 10 years. Do you want to travel, buy a house, get married, or have a baby? Create an action plan on how you're going to save for and achieve these financial milestones. There are tons of apps to help you get started, like You Need a Budget  and Mint . 5. Automate payments to your savings account. If you don't already have one, create an emergency fund (you can choose an online high yield savings account, there are quite a few currently offering 2% interest or more). You're never going to know when an inconvenient flat tire or other emergency can happen, so better to be prepared. Set up the account so that every time you get paid, it automatically deposits a set amount. Experts recommend three to six months of expenses in case of job loss or other emergencies. Additionally, you can set up savings for other short- and long-term goals as well—like that vacation you want to go on or the house you're hoping to buy in a few years. You'd be surprised how fast savings build when you set it and forget it. 6. Make a plan to pay off student loans and other debt. After you have your emergency fund situated, focus on the outstanding loans or consumer debt you have. There are different methods for paying them down: the Snowball method focuses on paying off the smallest balances first, thereby eliminating a balance and giving you a sense of achievement. The Avalanche method focuses instead on your highest interest debt first (regardless of balance), saving you more money in the end. Ultimately, whichever method works best for you is all that matters as you work to eliminate your debt and make your money work for you. A version of this post previously appeared on Fairygodboss , the largest career community that helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice. /blog/salary-and-benefits/6-financial-moves-you-need-to-make-when-you-get-your-first-job/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/6-financial-moves-you-need-to-make-when-you-get-your-first-job/ Tue, 22 January 2019 11:48:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/how-to-talk-about-desired-salary/#detailed_comment I hate talking about money. My parents had a very strict “we don’t talk about money” rule—not just at the table or at parties, but ever. Discussions about taxes or partisan fiscal policies make my palms sweat. I don’t even know how to barter at street stands—I just overpay what they ask me to. And that’s why in the final steps of an interview process, I clam up like the tide’s coming in. Because that’s when the hiring manager puts in his or her “let’s get down to business” face and asks how much money I think I should be making. “I don’t know,” or “whatever’s standard,” don’t cut it as answers, so here’s some advice on approaching this awkward conversation. Know the Market There are a thousand different ways to learn the going salary for the job you’re applying to—and not just at this one particular company, but for anyone with that title in your area. So do a little research, and go into your final interviews prepared with a target number. Start off with the multitude of online tools out there for a baseline, but don’t forget to ask your coworkers and network. The people who know the industry best are those who work in it. Just make sure that you know the person and that your questions aren’t unwelcome. The key to confidence when talking about your desired salary is knowing exactly what you want going in, rather than making something up on the fly. Get in the Right Mindset Let me reiterate: you should under no circumstances talk about salary in an interview unless the interviewer brings it up. That said, it will absolutely come up at some point. Your salary is important to both you and your employer—albeit you probably have a little more skin in the game. Money may not be a polite topic, but if a hiring manager wants to know your desired salary, you need to tell them in specific terms—so listen to your “get pumped” playlist on your way to the interview, and face this head-on. You’re not overstepping your bounds or seeming ungrateful—you’re taking hold of your finances. Just make sure you’re coming off confident rather than aggressive. It’s a simple question that merits a polite answer—not a rumble with the Jets. Take a Risk Here’s a little secret: if you’re talking seriously about salary in later rounds of interviews, the company wants you. I know—it’s a good feeling. So when they ask what your desired salary is, take a leap of faith. Ask for more than you think you deserve. If the going rate for the position is $70 thousand, ask for $80 thousand. What’s the worst that could happen? They’ll pass me over for the next person on their list, Kaitlin—duh. No, they won’t. Remember, at this point in the interview, nothing’s formal or in writing. If they are genuinely considering you for this position (and broaching the salary topic is a pretty good sign), they’re much more likely to come back with a counteroffer than to immediately pass you over for someone who will work cheaper. You can even soften the blow if you need to by framing it as a question: Does $80 thousand sound reasonable? You’ll never know what you can get unless you ask for it—just make sure not to ask for anything too ludicrous. You did all that research on a fair salary for your position, so use it. State Your Case Why should you make more money? Because you’re great, that’s why. So tell the hiring manager why they should invest in you: reiterate your experience, your education, whatever it is you’ve got going for you. When I went through this process, I made a big deal out of my Master’s because, frankly, there aren’t a ton of people my age with an advanced degree. I was also confident that I’d adequately proven my skills and leaned into that when explaining my desired salary range. Whatever it is on your resumé that made that hiring manager stop, take a closer look, and decide that he or she wanted to talk to you, remind them that it’s also what makes you worth the extra payroll. Know When to Back Off Alright tiger, you gave it your best shot. They know what you want, because you told them in polite, professional, specific terms. Ideally, you get a job offer at some point (although I’ve gotten more than a few on the spot, so watch out for that!), including your projected salary. Regardless of the manner in which you receive your job offer—in person, on the phone, or through email—you are entitled to some time to think it over. Even if there seems to be pressure to accept immediately, I advise you don’t. Thank the hiring manager, express your excitement for the opportunity, and promise to get back to them by a specific date. Consider the pros and cons and, if you feel you need to, ask the hiring manager to discuss the salary that he or she offered you. Even at the formal offer stage, you’re allowed—and often expected—to negotiate salary, benefits, bonuses, etc. The good thing is, at this point, you’ve also got some time built in rather than having to come up with an answer on the spot. /blog/salary-and-benefits/how-to-talk-about-desired-salary/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/how-to-talk-about-desired-salary/ Tue, 04 December 2018 10:00:00 Berta Melder /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-fathers-re-entering-the-workplace/#detailed_comment Although paid parental leave is often associated with women, it’s no less important for men. And the good news is people are increasingly realizing the need for effective policies that address men’s family responsibilities and work demands at the same time. As for the effects of paternity leave, perhaps most important, it goes a long way toward improving gender equity , as the demands of motherhood remain a major driver of pay inequality. In addition, paternity leave helps fathers bond with their families and get more involved in their children’s lives. In fact, fathers who take paternity leave are more satisfied with their family lives, and, in turn, increased engagement in childcare leads to better mental health and cognitive outcomes for their children. Paternity leaves are also very beneficial for employers. Companies that support working fathers report much better employee retention , and their employees are more satisfied with their jobs. Despite all the positive effects of paternal leave, many factors stop men from taking full advantage of their leaves. Some fathers can’t imagine leaving their jobs because returning after time off seems daunting and difficult. Meanwhile, other fathers prefer to cut their leaves short because their families can’t afford long, unpaid leaves (often, female employees only get unpaid leaves, which makes fathers’ incomes even more critical). That said, to encourage more fathers to take their all-important paternity leaves, here are a few tips that will help fathers’ re-entry smoother and more successful. 1. Start Preparing for Your Leave Early The success of your comeback depends on the situation at work while you’re absent. Thus, you should prepare to take a leave in advance. You may need to wrap up many things before your baby is born and make sure your colleagues and staff won’t have any problems without you. Find the right people to transfer your workload to. In addition, you should understand that sometimes babies can be late, so don’t leave your work until you actually need to. Stay busy and work as much as you can so that you won’t waste your precious leave having nothing to do. 2. Stay in Contact With Your Coworkers Let’s be realistic, sometimes it’s hard or even impossible to completely forget about work for a long period of time. In addition, fathers don’t have to give a birth so their health condition remains good and they don’t need any time to recover. You don’t have to actually work from home, but your re-entry will be certainly easier if you keep answering emails or even participate in online conferences. You can help your co-workers cope with the additional workload from home while taking care of your baby. 3. Don’t Be Afraid to Set Boundaries at Work When you come back to work, your troubles at home don’t disappear. You’ll still need to spend much more time with family, so don’t be afraid to speed up a boring meeting where one of your coworkers shares his emotions about the NFL season. Speak up and help your team get back to the point. Brandon Will, a department manager at Masterra Writers , notes: “There’s nothing wrong with asserting yourself and setting boundaries. I made it clear that I can’t be present at any meetings after 5 p.m. It’s better to have more time at home.” 4. Keep Extra Clean Clothes A sad fact: when you’re a father, your shirt is often stained with food, poop, or vomit. It happens so fast and so often that your plans to be at work on time may be ruined. To avoid stressful situations, keep clean and ironed clothes in your closet so that you can change your wardrobe fast. 5. Be Thankful Show your teammates that you appreciate their help. They stepped in, for you when you couldn’t work, so buy them a gift to show your appreciation, or at least take them out to lunch. Berta Melder is a content strategist, novice entrepreneur, and co-founder of the Masterra Writers . Specializing in brand management, she cooperates with different education courses and helps participants develop the brand management skills in the age of digital transformation. Follow her on Twitter . /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-fathers-re-entering-the-workplace/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-fathers-re-entering-the-workplace/ Tue, 30 October 2018 13:17:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/navigating-unlimited-vacation-day-policies/#detailed_comment Imagine digging your toes in the sand for as many days as you want each year. Sounds like a dream, but for some, endless beach days—or ski days—are a reality through their companies’ unlimited vacation-day policies. When limitless vacation is ingrained in the culture and employees are trusted to balance their work and vacation time, this perk can provide amazing flexibility and autonomy. But boundless vacation can also lend itself to uncertainty about how much time off is acceptable, and employees may be nervous about actually using this time. Don’t let your vaca go to waste—take ownership of your me-time with the below advice. Ask! It seems like the most obvious answer, but as you plan out your unlimited vacation time, you should ask HR, your supervisor, and your coworkers their recommendations on taking time off and what the general practice is in the office. It’s possible they’ll advise you to take as many days as you see fit, however. If asking around doesn’t provide clarity, rely on your own observations and reasoning to shape your time off. Understand the Culture As you integrate yourself in the day-to-day aspects of work, pay attention to the atmosphere. Are hours stringent or flexible? How much does your employer value face time? Is it a work-hard-play-hard mentality? Do others seem supportive when colleagues take time off? Observing the mentality on work hours can provide greater insight into the general outlook regarding time off. Determine a Reasonable Balance The most difficult aspect of unlimited vacation is knowing how much time off is acceptable. If you take too much, you may be deemed a slacker. But if you take too little, you are short changing yourself. The bottom line is that your employer has entrusted you with this flexibility. So ultimately, you must decide how to use it. Determine ahead of time what a reasonable balance of work hours vs. vacation would be. As a starter, you may consider the number of vacation days held by employees in the same field in similar roles. You also may want to map out the year in terms of busy times, slow times, and important work events and figure out how many vacation days would be reasonable for each quarter of the year. Yet another tool is to consider how many days you would allot to someone in your position if you were their boss. Schedule Vacation in Advance Scheduling vacation days in advance has a major benefit. Aside from giving your team notice of your absence, planning vacation ahead of time forces you to actually take that vacation, which is so important when you feel uncertain about the limitless nature of your time off. Don’t Take Advantage Endless vacation time gives employees autonomy to balance their work lives and personal lives and demonstrates an employer’s trust in its employees. As you shape your PTO for the year, respect the freedom you’ve been given. Resist the urge to sneak in as many days as you can. Instead, be thoughtful in planning a schedule that signals to your employer that you are committed to the job. But Don’t Be Shy Being committed doesn’t mean working non stop, though. Refusing to take any vacation time in hopes of impressing your boss with your hard work will likely just lead to you burning out. Instead, show your boss that you’re capable of organizing your time, prioritizing work when needed, and making decisions. Instead of being nervous about your unlimited vacation days, use the policy as an opportunity to take initiative and show your decision-making abilities. /blog/salary-and-benefits/navigating-unlimited-vacation-day-policies/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/navigating-unlimited-vacation-day-policies/ Tue, 28 August 2018 01:18:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-negotiating-your-salary/#detailed_comment Whether you’re negotiating your incoming salary for a new job or asking for a raise in your current position, here are some points you’ll want to address in order to have a professional conversation regarding your salary.  1. Know the Typical Wage for Your Position and Field   The first step to justifying your request for higher pay is to compare it to what other people in your field and position are making. If you’re making significantly less, you have an easy opening. If you’re making about standard, you’ll want to go to the next section. When you start your research, you might also find tips for negotiating in your specific field, like this article for nurses to negotiate their salary . Articles like this can provide some great industry insight and context to add to your case. There are also salary negotiation scripts that are appropriate for any role. 2. Analyze What You Bring to the Table   When requesting a raise or a higher starting salary, it’s always a good idea to make a list of the value you bring to the company. Make sure your daily duties match your job description. If you’re doing more than your job description states, that’s a great opening to ask for a raise. Finding that your duties fit a different position than your title also makes a great argument. For example, if you’re an “administrative assistant” but actually doing the job of an assistant manager in your field, you can compare your job duties to job descriptions and salaries from other companies. This will give you the facts you need to backup your request.  Once you’ve taken a job, you might find out that the salary you agreed on is not appropriate. In this case, look at these tips for when you’ve lowballed yourself in negotiations . At the end of the day, the more details you can give about the financial, skill-based, or customer-benefitting value you bring to the company, the better chance you have at convincing your superior that you deserve a raise.   3. Be Willing to Discuss Beyond Salary   In some cases, your boss may agree that you deserve a raise but is unable to offer you one. This may be due to company policy or financials. Ideally, this situation will result in a timeline for when you can expect to receive a raise, but you don’t have to settle for just that. See if you can negotiate for other benefits or perks. Perhaps your PTO accrual rate could be adjusted, or the company could increase their match to your 401(k). These types of incentives can be easier for companies to allow even during financially difficult times because they exist in a separate part of a company’s budget and have different tax ramifications.  4. Make a Timeline for Negotiations   Never go into a salary negotiation expecting an immediate answer. Ideally, your manager was expecting a discussion about your compensation, but either way, they’ll likely need to get any salary changes approved. Make it clear you’re willing to go through the proper channels and discuss next steps on both of your parts. Schedule a meeting to touch base about the topic. This will show you’re serious and on top of the situation while understanding the realities of how company finances work.  5. Discuss Long-Term Plans   Whether your salary increase is approved or not, you should discuss your long-term plans both inside and outside the company. Talking about your life goals and where you see yourself in the future can help your manager see where you’re coming from. Discussing your plans within the company will show them that you’re committed and willing to be a part of the company’s future. This will incentivize them to find the best way to keep both you and the company happy in terms of job duties and compensation.  This piece is part three in a series on business etiquette. See part one on how to contact an employer for the first time and part two on tips for communication during interviews . /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-negotiating-your-salary/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/5-tips-for-negotiating-your-salary/ Mon, 23 July 2018 10:42:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/does-unlimited-pto-work/#detailed_comment With work/life balance rising as a top workpace value, one of the best ways employers can increase productivity is by creating a happier and stress-free workforce. One way to achieve this is to allow employees to have time away from the office. Recently, InfoTrust, Netflix , Krono’s, and many other firms have added unlimited paid time off to their list of employee benefits. Despite obvious concerns with allowing employees the freedom to take as much vacation as they want, employers that have tested out this vacation policy have seen little change in their employees’ vacation habits—the average time employees take off at companies with unlimited PTO compared to those without the policy is virtually equal. Crisp Video Group, for example, discovered that most employees are still averaging two to three weeks of paid time off, including sick days, under its unlimited PTO plan. And the largest number of weeks taken noted by other employees at other companies with unlimited PTO was about five. Most companies upholding this policy are tracking the amount of time taken off, but others aren’t. It’s also important to keep in mind that unlimited PTO is still scheduled PTO. So, what are the potential negatives with this type of policy? For those companies that have tried it, the complaints have been miniscule, but they have received some. The most common complaint is from employees who have saved up their PTO to accrue cash rather than utilizing the vacation days. Another common worry within this vacation program is that some employers that have implemented it haven’t made the rules of how it functions clear. Employees in these instances weren’t sure what was expected of them and therefore didn’t use much PTO. They were not provided proper instruction on how much PTO would be acceptable to use, how much would be frowned upon on managers, or how to request days off appropriately. Kickstarter employees found themselves so confused by the policy that the company removed it and replaced it with a formal PTO plan. During a trial run of unlimited vacation time at Krono’s, its HR team dealt with complaints from more tenured employees who were upset that, when the unlimited vacation policy came into effect, new hires were given the same benefits immediately that they had been with the company years to receive. Despite these concerns, in an article by Nathan Christensen, CEO at Mammoth, he notes that, in general, employees value this benefit. At Mammoth, employees value their flexible vacation policy as highly their health insurance and 401(k), since unlimited PTO offers a stress-free environment for employees to schedule in necessary personal time with their work schedules. Not having to sacrifice vacation time for important life events (such as caring for a sick family member or standing up in a friend’s wedding) is mentally freeing. After Krono’s implemented the policy, it found that those who benefitted most from the flexibility of unlimited vacation hours were employees in their 30s and 40s and those with children. Employees with unlimited vacation have even been using their time to give back to their communities by volunteering—which not only positively impacts communities but also creates a positive perception of employees and employers. In a recent Q&A , Michael Mogill, president and CEO of Crisp Video Group, notes that each of his employees has a different definition of what work/life balance is, adding that there’s a big difference among employees’ PTO needs. And so, if more firms follow these other firms' lead, providing a more individualized PTO benefit structure to employees, it might just create a much healthier labor force overall. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram . /blog/salary-and-benefits/does-unlimited-pto-work/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/does-unlimited-pto-work/ Mon, 02 July 2018 16:54:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/jobs-for-all-americans-will-the-business-community-allow-it/#detailed_comment According to the Washington Post , Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is set to propose a plan to guarantee a job to "every American worker 'who wants or needs one.'" The plan has already been met with the expected responses from across the political spectrum. Among the objections: the fact that the plan is currently un-costed, and no mechanism for paying it has yet been suggested (although it's all but certain that it would entail some combination of: taxes; projected reductions in spending on programs such as TANF and SNAP, which would no longer be needed by many current recipients; and good old-fashioned deficit spending). On its face, it’s a compelling idea: the technological revolution we're living through is steadily erasing human jobs—especially in low-skill occupations—and inequality is at levels that haven't been seen since the 1920s. With millions of American citizens being left behind—or at risk of it—because of this disruption, a plan that guarantees a government job for anyone who wants it has a lot of appeal. However, it also has a lot of problems, not least in terms of logistics. Over at New York , Jonathan Chait outlines one significant issue—skills—as follows: "In both the private and public sector, jobs are designed with an output in mind, with employing people a by-product. If employing people becomes the primary goal, then instead of starting with a job description and finding people who can do it, you start with the people you need to hire and then find work they’re qualified to do." That seems, to me, to be a pretty fair summary of a pretty large problem with the plan—and something that, as Chait notes, would be "an enormous managerial challenge". To my mind, however, there's an even more significant issue standing in its path: objections from the business community. While you're unlikely—at least at this stage—to find too many CEOs willing to go on record in opposition to a plan that effectively creates a national minimum wage at a stroke, you can bet that there are teams of lobbyists already working the umpires in DC on exactly that point. The reason: in 2017, 1.8 million workers in the US were paid at a rate equal to or less than the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the BLS . And that's only the current federal minimum. Widen that lens to people who earn less than $15 an hour, and— at least as of 2015 —you've got 42% of all workers in the United States. That's right: somewhere in the region of 50 million employees who would likely be better off quitting their jobs and working for the government under Sanders' proposal. Of course, there's an alternative: companies could simply raise their wages and benefits to a level that allows them to continue to attract the employees they need to … You get the point: There's no way that a company that depends on sub-minimum wage employees is going to suddenly give those employees a 100%+ pay rise and competitive health insurance without breaking its business model. (Breaking those models may well be a thing that needs to happen, but that's a subject for another day.) In light of that, companies will most likely do the exact thing that their owners and shareholders expect them to: fight to the death to keep costs as low as possible in order to maximize profits. For that reason, as necessary as tackling inequality undoubtedly is, it's hard to see Sanders' plan serving as more than a boogeyman to get the business community to the table on a series of more piecemeal solutions. /blog/salary-and-benefits/jobs-for-all-americans-will-the-business-community-allow-it/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/jobs-for-all-americans-will-the-business-community-allow-it/ Wed, 25 April 2018 14:03:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/the-5-best-perks-big-4-firms-offer-their-staff/#detailed_comment Last week we released our new Accounting 50 , a ranking of the best accounting firms to work for. The rankings were based on our annual Accounting Survey, the most recent of which surveyed more than 8,800 accounting professionals, asking them about life at their firms (they were asked to rate their firms in categories like hours, work/life balance, compensation, training, and more). Of those surveyed, approximately half (around 4,000) work for one of the Big 4 professional services firms ( Deloitte , EY , KPMG , and PwC ). And when we asked accounting professionals at these firms to tell us which are the best benefits their firms offer, these are the five offerings that were rated the highest. 1. Vacation time It's perhaps fitting that vacation time was rated the best benefit by Big 4 professionals, seeing as how professionals at these firms work a lot of hours, especially during tax season, which is typically defined as the four months prior to the mid-April tax-filing deadline. Big 4 firms obviously know they're working their staff hard, and so do a good job of offering plenty of vacation time for their hardworking (some would say "overworked") staff. Most young Big 4 professionals start out with five weeks of paid time off, which is well above the average for entry-level employees nationwide. Here's a Deloitte insider talking about the firm's PTO offerings: “Deloitte makes a great effort to show support of well-being and vacation time. We receive a well-being subsidy to encourage a healthy lifestyle. We also receive a significant amount of vacation time, plenty more than an average entry-level corporate job." 2. Flexible hours The ability to get your work done where you want and when you want is extremely important to those working at the Big 4. Hundreds of Big 4 professionals stressed this point when answering various questions in our survey. These days, given that a significant amount of work can easily be completed remotely, Big 4 firms are increasingly allowing their employees to take advantage of this benefit. And employees are extremely appreciative, especially those with family commitments. Here's a PwC staffer on the flex-time benefit: "Busy season is busy, and a lot of hours are spent working. However, once busy season is over, the work/life balance is awesome. The firm is very flexible about working from home and offers other perks that compensate for the long hours during busy season.” 3. Casual dress policy Perhaps somewhat surprising, the ability to not have to sport a suit and tie all day, every day, was ranked very highly by Big 4 professionals. This could be the result of professionals placing an importance on being comfortable while putting in 12-hour days during tax season. Whatever the case might be, accountants, it seems, aren't as buttoned up as you might think. Here's a PwC insider on dressing down: "Casual dress at the office is great. I just wish it carried over to the client site." 4. 401(k) matching Big 4 accountants are very appreciative of their firms' policies when it comes to helping them build wealth. And there's perhaps nothing that helps build an employee's wealth more than a healthy 401(k) match. While some firms, both big and small, might not think employees care one way or another about this benefit, Big 4 firms understand its importance. And Big 4 employees certainly understand it (and take notice of it) as well. Here's a KPMG insider on this offering: “KPMG offers competitive salaries, great benefits, and a number of perks. What stands out most to me is that the firm matches employees' 401(k) contributions and also provides pension benefits." 5. Maternity/paternity leave policy It's well known that the Big 4 offer some of the most generous maternity and paternity leave policies in the United States. And so, while the U.S. in general still has a long way to go to compete with many countries in Western and Eastern Europe when it comes to maternity and paternity leave policies, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better industry to join in the U.S. than public accounting, if spending time with your newborn or newly adopted children is among the most important employee benefits to you. Here's a KPMG staffer speaking about this benefit at the firm: “The best perk is the maternity/paternity leave policy—full pay after childbirth during the leave period compared to reduced pay in the past." Follow me on  Twitter . Follow us on  Instagram . /blog/salary-and-benefits/the-5-best-perks-big-4-firms-offer-their-staff/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/the-5-best-perks-big-4-firms-offer-their-staff/ Wed, 25 April 2018 12:42:00 AnnaMarie Houlis via Fairygodboss /blog/salary-and-benefits/10-companies-where-you-can-work-from-home-every-day/#detailed_comment A growing number of employees want to work remotely and, fortunately for them, 170 companies in the U.S. now operate 100 percent virtually. That number is up from 26 in 2014, according to FlexJobs, an online platform specializing in remote and flexible employment. FlexJobs reports that the ability to  work remotely , even part time, helps employees achieve a better work/life balance and thus improves their overall health and wellness. It can also help workers save up to $4,000 a year with reduced spending on gas, parking, public transportation, and dry-cleaning. Perhaps that's why, according to Gallup's "State of the American Workplace" survey, more than one-third of the respondents said they would change jobs in order to be able to work remotelysome of the time. And telelcommuting doesn't only benefit the workers; companies can reap rewards from it, too. Offering remote opportunities allows companies to work with top talent, regardless of location. And because those employees are likely to be happier in their jobs, it also leads to greater productivity, better performance, and higher employee retention rates. Likewise, it saves companies money in office expenses like equipment, amenities, and more—plus rent and utilities if they choose to forgo an office altogether.  Technology is fueling the growth of fully virtual companies—tools such as Slack, Zoom, Dropbox, and Quip, a document-sharing and editing platform, make it easier than ever to communicate with employees based anywhere and track their performance and workflow more accurately. Trina Hoefling, author of  Working Virtually: Transforming the Mobile Workplace , told CNBC" "Technology is the enabler, so people starting businesses are realizing that they can launch a company without a physical location quite easily." So what are some of these companies that are already fully remote? Here are 10. 1.  Toptal Toptal scouts the best freelance engineers and designers from anywhere in the world and vets their qualifications using a mix of proprietary software and online interviews. The company has grown to more than 400 core employees working in 60 different countries. 2.  Automattic Automattic is the team behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, VaultPress, Akismet, Gravatar, Polldaddy, Cloudup and more. It's a totally distributed company with 704 automatticians in 62 countries speaking 80 different languages. It makes sense that they're so expansive, given how necessary these sites are globally. 3.  AnswerConnect AnswerConnect is a live call answering service. Whether companies need call handling services after hours or all the time, AnswerConnect has a plan to fit any situation because it doesn't have a call center; rather, its employees all do their work from the comfort of their own homes. 4.  InVision InVision is a digital product design platform powering the world’s best user experiences. The company works with everything from Twitter to Vice to Netflix, so its success from work-from-home employees is obvious.  5.  10up This web design and development consulting service describes its 120-plus person team as "one big happy family" that just so happens to be distributed worldwide and stays connected with Slack, Google Hangout, and text. 6.  Buffer Buffer is a fully distributed team of more than 80 employees working in several different countries. The company's social media management tools are used by over 60,000 paying customers around the world. 7.  Ghost Ghost is a blogging platform behind the publishing efforts of organizations like NASA, Square, and Graze. It's open source, free, and customizable—and created almost entirely by volunteers from the nonprofit Ghost Foundation, which runs and organizes Ghost. The team of developers and other staff work online from all corners of the internet.  8.  Hubstaff This time-tracking tool is used by over 8,000 remote teams to track time and help with automatic payroll processing and attendance scheduling. The company was founded in 2012 by two entrepreneurs who wanted a better way to manage remote freelancers, so it makes sense that it's built by a totally remote team, too. 9.  Doist Doist is the team behind Todoist, a popular productivity app that helps millions of people manage their tasks and projects. The company has been around since 2007, and its team members are spread across 20 different countries. 10.  Knack Knack is a cloud-based database tool with over 3,000 customers (like Harvard University and Tesla) that makes it easy for anyone to manage, share, and utilize their data. Most use Knack for creating things like inventory managers and customer portals. The team behind is calls the internet its headquarters, but they still get together twice a year at retreats. A version of this post previously appeared on  Fairygodboss , which helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice. /blog/salary-and-benefits/10-companies-where-you-can-work-from-home-every-day/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/10-companies-where-you-can-work-from-home-every-day/ Tue, 17 April 2018 09:36:00 /blog/salary-and-benefits/salary-negotiation-scripts-for-any-role/#detailed_comment Money is an uncomfortable topic, which is why most people don’t even try to negotiate their starting salary. But when you go into an interview, there is no getting around the fact that you’ll likely have to talk money at some point.  You know there’s a good chance that they’ll ask you something like, “What are your salary expectations?” or “What did you make in your previous position?” Maybe you’ve frozen before when they’ve asked, or maybe you’ve blanked and had no idea what to say. It can be really nerve-wracking, because what is the “right” answer to that question?  Or maybe you've come right out and told them how much you used to make in your previous role, completely blowing your chances of negotiating a number that’s much higher than that, even if the role you’re currently discussing is truly worthy of a lot more.  The truth is that the salary negotiation process is complicated. I’ve broken it down here in this post into a simple framework (with a script for each one) so that you can be as prepared as possible when you find yourself in it.  There are many ways to handle it, and each case will be different depending on the hiring manager, the organization, and other differentiating factors. However, there are some basic steps to give you a good idea of what to expect when you’re going through this process.  Deciding to have this conversation before you accept an offer means that: 1) You are a lot more likely to negotiate a higher salary when you're first starting a new job (during the process) than once you're already in the job. 2) The average raise is only 2% to 5%. 3) When people negotiate a higher starting salary successfully, the average candidate actually gets more than they expected.  STEP 1. Research   The first thing you absolutely NEED to do before you even go to an interview is to do your research first and know your numbers around the roles for which you’re applying. You can be asked about money at any time, so it’s crucial for your success to know your numbers before you get into any situation that may require you to speak about salary confidently.  STEP 2.  “What are your salary expectations?”   This question is normally asked before they are serious about hiring you, just to feel you out. There isn’t any point in discussing or getting into the numbers at this time because they haven’t committed to hiring you yet, and they have not made you an offer, so you ideally want to defer this question and hang out in the world of ‘being negotiable’ until you have a job offer on the table.  Example script:   “My first priority is finding the right fit; however, I am negotiable depending on what your budget for the position is.” STEP 3.  Negotiating after you have the job offer in hand   Once you have the job offer in hand, you know they are serious and committed to the idea of hiring you. This is when you will want to make your move.  One thing you don’t want to forget when you have this conversation is that it’s very important that you sound genuinely excited about and grateful for the opportunity before you get to the point of asking for above what they’ve offered you. The key is to approach the conversation with the frame of being excited to start providing value and working with them, AND….  you just want to iron out the details and work out the best offer that’s fair for both of you.  With that said, here’s an example script that you can use:  Example script:   “I’m very excited about this opportunity, and this is the place that I want to be, so I’m really excited about this offer! Based on my research, this role at other companies is in the range of  about  $_____ - $_____. While what you’re offering is respectable, with the value that I’ll be providing, I’d like to discuss if there’s anything that we could do to bring me closer to $____ .”  Once you’ve got the job offer, they are confident in you. They know you’ll be providing value, or they wouldn’t be offering you the job. They chose you! The above script works because they’re attached to the idea of hiring you. They have invested time and resources into making the decision that YOU are the right fit.  Salary negotiation is complex mainly because there are many other things that you can be missing out on too if you don’t ask about them, and the way you do this is you bring them up, (again) with an excited energy to be a part of the company and contribute in the role, but wanting to work out what’s fair for both of you.   STEP 4.  Negotiation scripts for extra benefits beyond money:   For example, if they aren’t able to be as flexible on the salary that you would have hoped, it doesn’t need to end there. You can ask them for other things that (quite often from my experience) are a lot easier for them to say yes to, and will bring you great value in the role and in your quality of life, like extra vacation time or stock options, and in some cases, a company phone, an expense account, or a car allowance.   Example script:   “Thank you! I really look forward to working with you, I have a question about my offer. I was wondering if you have any flexibility around vacation time. Is that something you’d be open to discussing?”  This opens up the conversation for them to say, “What did you have in mind?” and then they can give you an easy, “Sure” or, “I’ll check.”  I know that this makes most of us feel uncomfortable, and that’s exactly why most people don’t do it.  Here are some facts:  ●      “No” is the default response to most salary negotiations, and this shuts down 50% of people who attempt it.  ●      If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.  ●      Those who don’t negotiate lose out on $500,000 of potential income in their lives (That adds up to $16,000/year lost over the next 30 years of your life) - Source Fast Company.  ●      25% of those who negotiate get MORE than they expected - Source PayScale ●      Only 15% of people who try get nothing - Source PayScale.  On a final note, the goal of the negotiation is for the hiring manager to think to himself, “Well she drove a hard bargain, but we’re happy we were able to get her on our team.”  We want them genuinely feeling happy about being victorious in hiring you. The feelings in the salary negotiation can easily go sour if the candidate approaches it in the wrong way. That’s why it’s so important to be genuinely excited and grateful for the offer before you ask for above what they’ve offered. From personal experience, that’s the biggest key to getting what you want and having both sides be happy about it.  Salary is a big topic, and I’ve had much experience in the realm. That’s why I’ve created a FREE Cheat Sheet that contains the five most common lines that catch people off guard in a salary negotiation (+ scripts for how to respond to each one).  Click here to download the cheat sheet now. /blog/salary-and-benefits/salary-negotiation-scripts-for-any-role/ /blog/salary-and-benefits/salary-negotiation-scripts-for-any-role/ Wed, 04 April 2018 13:01:00