With a salary less than what you'd hoped for, how can you keep the job and negotiate to do freelance work to earn money in other ways?
You redefined quality at your interview, so they made you an offer. It's just too bad that the highest salary you've been able to negotiate is small potatoes compared with your last stint.
You may have a mild inclination toward charity, but you still need to make ends meet. You have a lifestyle to maintain. And frankly, your skills are worth more than their offer.
Do you pack up, raise anchor, and set out for smoother sailing? Or can you strike a deal that'll let you accept their job on the condition that you're free to take in some cash from other avenues?
This may not be a concern that comes up for everybody, but a lot of the companies in desperate need of qualified, dedicated technology pros may be simply unable to compete with the big bucks of hot-to-trot venture capital-backed startups or stock market darlings such as AOL and Yahoo!.
First and foremost, make sure you have some idea of how your future at the new company is scheduled as far as raises go. How often can you anticipate an increase in your salary? How high an increase each time? And can your new employer promise any incentive raises or bonuses? You may want to work your side jobs only until your compensation at the new gig is enough on its own.
Am I my brother's keeper?
Once you've established all you can expect from the employer's end, there is really nothing stopping you from seeking funds elsewhere. "What you do in your spare time, away from work, is your own prerogative," says Patricia Van Zandt, owner and publisher of asktheemployer.com, a career-advice Web site.
What options do you have before you? If you're a people person, you might offer your expertise at a local community college, an adult education class, or technical school. You could drop your business card around town and promote yourself as a consultant or technological troubleshooter. Hire yourself out on a part-time, temporary, or per diem basis. There's nothing stopping you from picking up some evening and weekend hours at another local firm just as hungry for your skills as your regular employer.
If you've got really impressive credentials, you could register at an online expert community, and sell your advice and services online to members who have questions about this and that.
Heck - you could even flip burgers, or you could go the retail route and steer customers toward PCs and print cartridges at you local office machine superstore.
"When you leave work each day, your time is your time," stresses Van Zandt. "I would suggest, however that you schedule a face-to-face meeting with [your] potential employer and be up-front about your desire to moonlight."
Heart to heart
Just tell your boss-to-be that in order for you to maintain the sort of lifestyle you're used to, you're going to have to take in some washing, so to speak, she suggests. "Being candid with your employer can help you avoid a conflict in the future, and will hopefully ensure you are an ethical employee with nothing to hide."
Van Zandt offers some words of caution, however, with regard to crossing the line many employees with extracurricular activities are prone to cross: "Be sure not to take time away from your job duties to perform personal business on the side, or take customers away from your employer."
What she's getting at is non-compete agreements. If your employment depends on you sticking to a set of guidelines of practice set down in a non-compete contract, you could be in some legal hot water if you take the consulting or contracting route recklessly. High-tech employers want to be assured that, if you ever were to leave the company, you're not going to throw open their cages and let all their trade secrets fly free.
Firm grip or strong arm?
According to an article written by Detroit attorney Kurtis R. Dumaw, "A typical non-compete provides that [after termination of employment], for a period of one to three years, the employee will not engage in any competitive business nor accept employment with any competitor of the company."
Further, according to Dumaw, many employment agreements contain "nondisclosure covenants," which prohibit employees from using confidential or proprietary information for which the company has made significant investments to develop.
So you'd better be careful not to reveal anything in your great American novel that your employer doesn't consider public knowledge. At least not until the agreement expires.
Even if the non-compete only covers actions you may or may not take after you leave the company, you can bet your boss won't be thrilled with the idea of you aiding and abetting the opponent while you are working there. So you need to know who your new employer's competitors are, because you might need to stay away.
Again, it's best to be upfront. If they find out on their own that you've been sleeping with the enemy, it might not sit well.
What - me worry?
On the other hand, some legal experts say that IT pros should not be so intimidated by non-compete agreements, because more and more states are beginning to regulate them.
"Non-compete agreements are illegal in Georgia, they're severely limited in Montana, and they're almost impossible to enforce in employee-friendly California," reports Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bob Weinstein.
In Weinstein's column, Washington employment attorney Jerry Panaro indicates that not all con-competes are written in stone. "Non-compete laws are getting more and more difficult to enforce because so many of them are deemed too restrictive," he says.
Panaro describes the "blue pencil rule," which means that a state can modify any non-compete agreement a court finds too strict. Not all states subscribe to this rule, however, so you might want to do some homework before you start thumbing your nose at the boss' lawyers.
If you think the non-compete your new employer wants you to sign will prevent you from enjoying life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, think before you acquiesce. If it's too restrictive, negotiate a better deal. "Identify the scope of the restriction," writes Sanford Michelman in a recent Los Angeles Business Journal article. "The non-compete cannot be too broad as to cover areas not applicable to the employer." And if you can't work something out, maybe no job - no matter how sweet - is worth clipping your wings.
