I have a theory that the majority of Black Friday shoppers actually lose money by hitting the stores early to get the "best" deals. I'd love to see a study reviewing lists of items shoppers go out with the intent to purchase with a comparison of the total cost of only those items before Black Friday, as well as the total cost of ALL items purchased during Black Friday shopping. I know, I sound Grinchy. I think all that beautiful marketing and crowd effect makes people forget if they even really want that thingamajig on the shelf.

This absolutely relates to job searches, by the way. During my first conversation with a candidate, I ask them what has prompted them to consider a new job and they always say something like growth opportunity, more stability, more interesting role, etc. I also ask them how much money they're making now and what their expectations are regarding compensation if they get to the offer stage with my client. It's amazing to me how many people will get an offer that meets their original compensation expectation (which is always more than they're making currently) and offers some non-monetary incentive that they said they were seeking, but their primary reason for not accepting immediately is that they were hoping for MORE money.

I think this is Black Friday Search Syndrome. Sucked in by the glittering numbers and utilization gets completely ignored.

And I'll be honest, we use it on the other side as recruiters too. I remind candidates that they're not the only one who wants this job; there are other candidates pending. (Crowd Effect.) And if they didn't get a big pay increase, I'll try to show them how it might be recovered in other benefits. (Marketing Hand Trick.) Mostly, though, I try to remind them about what they wanted originally and how it matches up with the offer in-hand. If it doesn't, we don't usually get to the offer stage anyhow. (The Truth.)

Don't wait until you get to an offer to tell me the only thing you actually care about is the money. Don't get up at 3AM to buy crap you don't need and didn't want until you got there, then tell me you saved money. Both are silly.

Grinch out.