Reading Your Employment Contract - Make Sure You Read The Fine Print!

There will be times when you will find yourself on the market looking for a job or a change of job. If this is your first time you are going out in search of work then there are a few things you must look out for. Remember the interviewer – or Human Resource Executive interviewing you, is there to get his employer the best deal. And this means the best worker as well as pay out the lowest possible salary.
Now we do not know why, but when it comes to companies they are not consistent with their salary packages. People with the same job profile will get varying salary packages and this leads to a lot of discontentment on the part of the employees. The employer puts this down to varying abilities of the individual and they get paid accordingly. The truth is they ones getting better pay packages is because they were better bargainers.

Apart from being able to bargain efficiently for a good pay package you should know a lot of tricks the employer will use to nick you for a buck or two. After the bargaining is over you should read the offer letter very, very carefully. This is where they take back a lot of what they offer you.

Many people, in their excitement of being told that they are hired, will just want to rush out after the interview and celebrate with friends and relatives, then a couple of days into the new job they begin to realize that they have been 'had' and that other colleagues have managed to get themselves a better deal. This is the first mistake any one can make. So read every word in the employment contract before you move from the interview room.

One thing to keep in mind when you are appearing for an interview is that this is not the end of the world. Like this opportunity you will get many more. You just need to be free to take them up as and when they come. So bargain for the best salary you think you are worth and then read the fine print. The interviewer will very sweetly agree to your demands for say a salary of 25,000 per month and then put it down as 300,000 CTC (Cost To Company). This means that it is going to cost the company 3 hundred thousand to employ you for a year. When your salary slip is presented to you will find deductions and they will explain this as transportation costs, meals, PF, Gratuity, employee well fair fund etc. etc. You end up getting about 18 to 19 thousand where you bargained for 25.

This is just one way they can rope you into signing the contract. The other things you need to look out for is the term of the contract and if it is renewable, what is the notice period you need to give when you resign and when they will process your dues. So beep these points in mind and you will be better equipped to deal with an interview.