Let’s be honest, cracking the first interview is quite difficult. And, even if the interview goes well, the last round with human resources seems like a tough job. There’s forever a concern about the numbers and the entire negotiation process because it’s rare that a fresher knows all about finance.
In several threads, human resources representatives answered several questions about finance and we have compiled them for our readers. Let’s take a look at them, shall we?
1. “HR and hiring managers do not have the permission to spend company money ‘at will’. They are given a budget, which includes payroll, to manage. More for you means less money available for the next hire.” –Educational_Lobster6
2. “HR is often on a tiered bonus schedule. So, if the branch/local level is within a certain block of profit, their personal quarterly bonuses go up, sometimes by thousands. They can either push the current employees by not hiring more people or cut corners, or both, then get an extra bag of cash in the end.” –Krystle00
3. “I’m a senior hiring manager, and I don’t get to negotiate pay for the people I hire. When I have a position that’s open, the CFO gives me a salary range, and when I have an applicant that I want to give an offer to, an outside firm does the market analysis and tells me the minimum I’m allowed to offer them. If I can offer anyone any advice, it’s to negotiate your pay. Never accept the first offer. I’m saying that not all managers have control over pay nor do all of us benefit when people aren’t paid enough.” –lynnedew
4. “Low pay is fine as long as bonuses and incentives are in place. They usually go to management and employers.” –in-car-nate
5. “Some managers get evaluated on how much they give out. Also, some managers literally have someone on top of them limiting the amount they can give.” –everyoneistriggered
6. “HR specializes in protecting the company from lawsuits and other liabilities. They also can save the company from spending their revenue “excessively” on labor. HR hires 100 people who get low-balled.” –vertebraejones
7. “Never sign anything. HR can never legally make you repay what you already earned under contract.” –LongSpoke
8. “It is not illegal for HR to ask for the money back or to give you the options. It becomes illegal if they try to decrease your pay without a signature confirming a different pay amount.” –bethems388
9. “HR does not decide the pay increase limits, they only create and apply processes, and manage systems that do it. The budget is always set by the CEO/Finance Director, with advice from the Reward Director/Chief People Officer. The way they set budgets depends on many financial factors: estimated growth, employment market analysis, shareholder returns, future business investment, cost-to-earnings ratios, risk appetite, etc.” –FatFart777
10. “A lot of recruiters will ask what salary you are interested in, partly to see if you are within their budget but also this is a huge opportunity for you to sell yourself short, especially if you don’t fully understand the scope of the role yet. Recruiters will frequently ask how much you currently make as well, again, partly to see if you fall within their range and again a huge opportunity for them to take advantage of you. Don’t tell the recruiter your salary! It might be way below what they were going to offer you in the first place and will immediately minimize your negotiation attempts.” –Anonymous
Well, we bet that you didn’t know about these facts, did you?
