Salary expectations - returning to work

amother

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 12:44 pm

I am returning to work after taking almost a decade off to be a SAHM. Should I expect to be paid more than/ less than/ same as I was making when I worked last? I am being offered less and am wondering if I am wrong to feel insulted. It's true that I will be rusty at my job at first. But I am experienced and qualified and certainly inflation should be taken into account.

Jeanette

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 12:54 pm

If you've been out of the workforce for that long, you are basically looked at as inexperienced, I.e. they won't consider your past experience that's 10 years old.

Whether the offer is "insulting" or not is irrelevant. It all depends on the job market, what your employer is able to pay and what they think you're worth. You can try to negotiate better pay, but if they're not willing to offer it you may have to either look elsewhere or accept what you can get and work your way up.

Fox

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 1:19 pm

You don't say what kind of job you're being offered, but in many or even most jobs, a decade might as well be a lifetime.

My advice would be two-fold:

1. Instead of seeking a higher starting salary, negotiate to have a salary review after six months rather than a year. Explain very honestly that you realize that you've been out of the work force and might therefore seem to be inexperienced, but that you will be completely up to speed and able to transfer your skills and learning in a shorter time than they might expect. If you can negotiate such an arrangement, you will need to spend *lots* of time documenting the fact that you are successfully doing the job of someone who had *not* been out of the workforce for ten years.

2. SAHMs develop a lot of skills that are very important in business. Someone who is a good SAHM (and not all SAHMs are good at their jobs, just like other job!) could probably run the country far better than most politicians (Congress: "Can we have $5 billion for a new aircraft carrier?" Mom/President: "No. The one you have is in perfect condition and still fits.")

Keep on the lookout for areas where you are able to do your job better than others of similar experience because, perhaps, you are better at multitasking or handling divergent needs simultaneously. You can then point out how some of the skills developed during your employment as a SAHM are actually benefiting your employer.

Hatzlacha!

SRS

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 1:52 pm

Every field is different. There are fields with lower starting rates and fields with higher starting rates. If your goal is to get in the door, feeling insulated isn't going to be a productive emotion. I like Fox's advice about revisiting salary in 6 months if the employer is agreeable. If you have competing offers, you will be able to more easily assess your worth. If not, you have to start somewhere.

OOTforlife

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 2:11 pm

Your salary expectations should be based on the market for the type and level of the job you're applying for, with some adjustment upward based on relevant experience where applicable. Where some of your experience has been made irrelevant due to the passage of time, this approach will account for it.

I don't see any reason to adjust downward separately based on your absence from the job market. And I definitely would not bring up the idea of a lower salary based on a promise of a 6 month review unless the lower salary is their firm offer and adding the 6 month review would be a gain for you. In most cases, your only practical means of enforcing such a promise will be to leave, and leaving a job after 7-8 months doesn't look great after a long absence from work preceding it.

OOTforlife

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 2:17 pm

Also, dont use your previous salary as your benchmark. The market for your field may have changed since then and it is also possible that your salary was out of pace with the market anyway (particularly if you were working at a single employer for many years).

amother

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 10:40 pm

OP here. Thanks for the helpful insight. I'm feeling much better about this now. And I've asked for a 90 day salary review and they've agreed, so hopefully if I pick things back up quickly and they're happy with me I will get a nice salary boost.

P.S... for whoever asked, it's a bookkeeping job.