by Maryam Hussain
How much salary should you
demand?
While you are undergoing a job
interview, the employer may bring up the salary and benefits issues earlier,
but you should avoid asking benefits-related questions until you are offered
the job. The right time of discussing salary and benefits comes after you
have been offered.
Of course, if the employer raises
these issues, you may ask questions in response to what the employer has raised,
but even then avoid letting this area become the all-consuming focus of
discussion prior to the job offer.
Once the job has been offered to
you, you should start asking benefits-related questions; if the topic
of salary and benefits has not been discussed earlier, you should
start the topic by asking about the salary range for the position. Try to
talk in terms of a range rather than a single salary figure. Discussing a
range will give greater flexibility for some negotiations. Usually, there
is room for some negotiation in arriving at a salary.
What argument should you give
for leaving your current job?
Every person strives for a better
living. If your today is not better than yours yesterday, then nothing you have
improved. Whether you are being interviewed or doing gossip among colleagues, give
positive reasons for leaving your current job, regardless of how negative
your situation may have been.
If you left the previous job because you were asked to resign or you were unhappy there, even then, try to discuss on positive aspects. Avoid using negative speech. You can say, “I have left my previous job or would like to leave my present job because I have gone through six (express in number of years if it was more than a year) years of progressive experience. As a small unit, my organization offered few opportunities for career advancement. I think I have gained experience as much as I could there and, therefore, decided it is time to expand my career further”.
The above job related questions
were asked to bank tellers and bank managers to get their views and they
responded on the basis of not disclosing their identity. Some views are being
shared here:
A bank teller exclaimed,
“In private banks, top-level management has a huge ego”:
In private banks, top-level
management has a huge ego but in government banks, there is nothing like that.
A few days back I went to a government-owned bank and I saw that their branch
manager was continuously helping his cashier by counting his notes to avoid the
rush. In private banks, the Branch Managers never do so. The work culture in
government banks is much better than in private banks.
The second teller asked for
the provision of motivation from the management:
I m a teller working rural bank
in my province. I would like to tell youngsters to try in other fields than a
bank because you might feel banks are safe and good to work but once you join,
you will feel the pain.
People nowadays don't respect,
they don't have the patience to even wait at the counter and they try to mock
the teller, they taunt the tellers especially if the teller gets posted to a
rural branch where people are illiterate and half knowledge, they will swallow
your brain with their sort of knowledge and arguments.
Being a teller, you will have the
risk of a shortage of cash while closing the cash. On the first day, I paid Rs
11000 for cash shortage because of my nervousness. I made a mistake and paid extra
money to some drawer and when asked him to return it he said, “No I have taken
what I wrote for”. I had no option but to fill cash in the bank with my pocket.
The teller needs to be
vigilant. I have witnessed bank tellers who had paid more than Rs 100000
for the shortage. People customers try to ask for a change of currency level
and they confuse bank tellers.
A teller is a one-man army,
one teller supported his bank:
A teller responded, that at his
bank, the tellers are universal. That means that the tellers are trained to do
wires, account maintenance, debit card maintenance, and opening all accounts.
It is pretty much everything a banker would do. It’s rare that these things are
done on the teller line but they occasionally pull us from the teller line &
put on a platform to run appointments if needed.
During your interview it is a good question to ask what your responsibilities will look like and if they will change after working there after a few months. Also, ask about referrals because most banks require that you talk to customers to try to set appointments for loan opportunities.
Ask questions, get
satisfied yourself, and then join; a bank manager’s perspective:
Upon reading the tellers
perspectives, a bank manager responded, “Remember, people quit bosses, not
jobs. As a bank manager myself, it sounds like you didn’t receive adequate
support from your management team”.
He said, “When you interview for
a job, it is not only a chance for them to know you but for you to make sure
you will have the support you need. Ask smart questions: being a teller can be
stressful at times. What does management do to make the teller team more
efficient and confident to overcome stressful situations? What kind of support
and mentorship does your company offer for career development? What is your
management style? How do you hold your employees accountable to achieve your
goals? Those questions will show you the true colors of what you can expect so
you can choose if that is a good company to work for. I can honestly tell you
my tellers love their job even in stressful situations”!
Comments