Bad Advice from Friends

When NOT to Listen to Your Friends

This particular scenario happens way more often than you might think, so I’m sharing a recent experience in hopes of saving someone else.

One of my candidates was offered a job. The salary offered was over the top of the original salary range. By the way, this is a clear indication that the company really, really wants to hire you. It is extremely rare for an offer to come in at the top of the range, let alone more than the top of the range.

I found out after it was too late that the candidate took the advice of a “friend.” The friend advised my candidate to push for more money with specific instructions to avoid the recruiter and go directly to the hiring manager with the request/demand. The friend’s point was “What have you got to lose?”

And the answer to “what have you got to lose” is: The job offer. It was withdrawn.

This particular candidate had already exhausted his unemployment benefits and had told me he was desperate to find work. The salary that was offered was more than he had ever earned in any past job and he was convinced by his friend that even what was offered was lower than he could get if he just pushed for more money.

If you are working with a Professional Recruiter, you may want to consider this person actually knows what she is doing and will be able to advise and guide you in a way that your friend can’t.

After all, your friend truly does have nothing to lose when you lose the job offer.