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female
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anonymous
writes: I was offered a position I really want. My offer is pending based on passing a background check etc and also references. She mentioned when I say its ok, she wants to call me supervisor. So basically I would have to give in my notice and ask for a reference etc What I am very worried about is on my resume I placed executive assistant as my title b/c I support one director and 3 vp's etc. The title I officially had was ----- assistant. It was related to the department. Alot of people weren't sure what this role was when I used to place it down and would ask me more questions. It just didn't seem direct. I figured since I did support those in senior positions, i can say executive assistant. I placed duties down on my resume from those I may have done once to those I have done numerous times..such as updating certain things, confirming appointments, car rentals(only did this once or twice but it isn't hard), basic data entry of course and basic admin duties like filing, faxing, copying etc. I am just worried my boss is not going to agree with this if asked over the phone about my title. Is this there such a big difference here? I was thinking of talking to my boss and just sort of rehashing the duties I had so they remember and won't be suprised out of memory if these things comes up. I am considering explaining that I placed EA on my resume b/c in the past people didnt understand what type of assistant that was and ask if that is ok. I am really nervous..i don't want this job offer taken away from me over something silly i did and then I would have to quit my old job as well..but i honestly figured it shouldn't be the worst thing to do since I was an admin to those in senior positions. In the description explaining what i do on my resume, it says providing administrative support to: Another thing is..i lowered my salary to get this position..i didn't want to be passed up bc maybe it was too much for them..money wasn't my priority..it was the job. Is all of this going to ruin my chances?? I am really scared.
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female
reader, chocoholicforever  +, writes (16 September 2011):
Yes I think you should talk with your boss before the HR person does, to inform your boss of this. Just tell your boss you're giving him/her a heads up that you've been offered another job and someone will be contacting them as a reference and you want to clarify something in case it comes up. Give your explanations for why you listed the title as it is - because the official title is ambiguous and you feel that the duties you perform are more accurately represented by the title 'executive assistant.' Explain that the title you put in your resume was for descriptive purposes only.
If your boss is a reasonable person and doesn't have any personal vendetta against you, I don't think this should be a big deal. In the end it is the actual work experience you have (as reflected in your resume and from interviews and references) that will determine if you get the job. If you're concerned that this change of title might be misconstrued as dishonesty, I think the way to combat that is to be the first one to bring it up, before the HR person or whoever is doing the background check does. And to have convincing reasons for why you did it (and I do think your reasons are convincing and valid).
regarding the salary - I assume you mean the salary for the position being offered, not your current salary. There's different philosophies about whether it's a good idea to voluntarily take a pay cut and it just depends on the circumstances. Certainly in a difficult economy a lower salary is better than no salary at all. But whether this applies to your particular sector or if your job sector is doing fairly well in terms of hiring and you're a strong candidate with options beyond this one particular job then maybe you can afford to look further ahead to the fairness of the salary and not be in a hunkered-down "do whatever it takes to get the job" mode.
this is assuming that the salary is not lower because the new position is in fact a "lower" position than your current one. (like if you're going from a high-up position now to an entry level position in another industry then the pay cut is to be expected. In other words in this situation you may be making less than you're accustomed to but it doesn't mean you're being underpaid for the position)
but I'm not sure what you mean when you say you lowered your salary to get this position. Do you mean that they made you an offer which is lower than what you're currently making or which is lower than what is commensurate for the position, and you accepted it? Or do you mean that you proposed the idea to them of lowering your salary hoping that this will make them choose you over other candidates?
I think if it's the latter, it might help you to get the job but could undermine the way that your future bosses see you once you are in the job. They might use your lower-than-normal starting salary as a further reason to continue to underpay you in the future so you might never catch up. Money may not be a priority for you right now, but in the future it might once you've been in the job awhile and become aware of what your peers are making, or if your personal finances start to suffer from the pay cut.
that's not to say that it will turn out this way, you could certainly secure the job first using whatever you can to your advantage even if it means lowering the salary, and then once you are in the job hopefully you can impress them and successfully negotiate for a higher salary. good luck.
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