Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:59 am
OK, I'll bite.
I'm in Germany. My parents didn't pay for education from elementary through high school, and they payed for university basically because my father had a high enough income; otherwise, I'd have been eligible for a state loan to pay for my education (to be payed back later).
I could write a lengthy paragraph about why private insurance is not always better in this country, and why I would actually vote for disbanding private health insurance altogether, but I guess the way it works (or doesn't work) here is rather local.
Edit: Did I say my parents payed for university? That's BS of course, they didn't make you pay for university until recently. My parents payed for my living during university. Teaches you not to post in a hurry.
On the subject:
As for entry-level wages, they differ so much with job, location, and condition that it's next to impossible to make recommendations. (For example, I am sure some dudes on the globe earn more than me for the same work, but I get 30 days of payed hollidays, up to 6 weeks of continued pay in case of illness, 3 months' notice before layoff, free medical service - all of which are worth quite something in their own right.)
Don't believe the part that they won't look at your resume if you didn't give a number. Especially if you are new in the business, it's quite OK not to give a number in your first letter even if explicitly requested. If your resume looks good, they'll invite you for an interview anyway.
If they ask you for your expectations in the job interview, tell them in a few words you don't have a real idea on what's appropriate because you're new to the job, and state a number you believe to be appropriate (plus a mediocre fudge factor so you don't sell yourself too cheap), explcitly saying "...this might be wildly off but I honestly don't know better, so I'm quite prepared to hear what's actually believed appropriate."
I don't know what the Manual of Human Resources says to this, but it worked for me, repeatedly.
I'm in Germany. My parents didn't pay for education from elementary through high school, and they payed for university basically because my father had a high enough income; otherwise, I'd have been eligible for a state loan to pay for my education (to be payed back later).
I could write a lengthy paragraph about why private insurance is not always better in this country, and why I would actually vote for disbanding private health insurance altogether, but I guess the way it works (or doesn't work) here is rather local.
Edit: Did I say my parents payed for university? That's BS of course, they didn't make you pay for university until recently. My parents payed for my living during university. Teaches you not to post in a hurry.
On the subject:
As for entry-level wages, they differ so much with job, location, and condition that it's next to impossible to make recommendations. (For example, I am sure some dudes on the globe earn more than me for the same work, but I get 30 days of payed hollidays, up to 6 weeks of continued pay in case of illness, 3 months' notice before layoff, free medical service - all of which are worth quite something in their own right.)
Don't believe the part that they won't look at your resume if you didn't give a number. Especially if you are new in the business, it's quite OK not to give a number in your first letter even if explicitly requested. If your resume looks good, they'll invite you for an interview anyway.
If they ask you for your expectations in the job interview, tell them in a few words you don't have a real idea on what's appropriate because you're new to the job, and state a number you believe to be appropriate (plus a mediocre fudge factor so you don't sell yourself too cheap), explcitly saying "...this might be wildly off but I honestly don't know better, so I'm quite prepared to hear what's actually believed appropriate."
I don't know what the Manual of Human Resources says to this, but it worked for me, repeatedly.
