So that was quick. The job that I applied for two days ago? They called me while I was at work on Thursday morning and had a telephone interview. Nothing like interviewing for a job while you are at work.

Two hours later, they called and offered me the job. The offer was laughable. The woman said “We are making this offer in consideration of your four college degrees, as well as your 22 years of experience.” Then she told me what they were willing to pay: $16 per hour.

I told her that this was FAR too low. An entry level job running a cash register at a convenience store in this area pays more than that. I know, because my high school students were getting jobs at that rate of pay. I don’t know what kind of medical employee you think you are getting for that, but it won’t be me. I would sooner not work at all.

So, the search for a job continues.

Categories: Uncategorized

12 Comments

Therefore · May 28, 2021 at 6:29 am

I wish I had my lady take pictures. Weekend before last we were on a longish drive. Passing through a small town there were “now hiring” signs everywhere.

A couple read “starting at $15”.

High school drop outs are being offered at least $15/he to flip burgers and say “do you want fries with that?” And they can’t get anybody…

Of note, an article I just read was that current unemployment is paying $15.45/hr. Funny know if that is true everywhere but it is an interesting point.

TechieDude · May 28, 2021 at 7:46 am

That’s happened to me at least twice.

Grueling Q&A, then proudly telling me the salary.

Both times, It was game-on. Both times I told them that was an insult, being around half what I was earning at the time.

Are these HR types really that thick?

    it's just Boris · May 28, 2021 at 9:01 am

    Re HR, one of their jobs is to get the matching skillset for the lowest price. Perhaps they’re at the start of the process where they are lowballing every qualified applicant; until the hiring manager starts to make a fuss about the delays, HR probably won’t start making reasonable offers. I’ve seen this play out where I work.

    Or they’re just that disconnected with the current market situation, which would also not be that surprising.

      Big Country · June 1, 2021 at 8:12 pm

      Concur with you Boris… HR types -need- to justify their own miserable ‘Karenish’ existence… Hire someone too quickly, and they run out of work to do, and possibly become ‘redundant’ theyselves and in need of being laid off… OR strrrrrrrretch out the hiring process, lowballing any and all, in hopes someone is either A) desperate of B) clueless then they get to claim the ‘good hire for short $$$’, showing how THEY saved the company X amount over time (and probably earn a bonus in the process… MANY HR folks get that sort of perk…) As long as ‘they get theirs’ they don’t really give a shit one way or another.

Ben · May 28, 2021 at 8:27 am

I got an offer like that last year. They offered me $30k less than I was being offered by other prospects but assured me that I’d have all the overtime I wanted.

Um….no thanks.

it's just Boris · May 28, 2021 at 8:58 am

Doesn’t sound like it’s close enough to even be a starting point for negotiation.

In situations like that I’ve simply said something along the lines of:

No thank you. Here’s what I would expect, as a minimum, given the job description. Please feel free to have a supervisor contact me should you wish to revise your offer.

ruralcounsel · May 28, 2021 at 12:27 pm

Seems like a common but sleazy practice in a lot of fields.

Contract legal jobs in the DC area were paying $40/hour a couple of years ago. Now they’ve dropped down to around $30/hour.

I suppose a lot of places are low-balling offers, testing to see just how desperate the job market is.

Jonathan · May 29, 2021 at 12:12 am

Um, yeah… that was an insult, by somebody who is either ignorant, or who thinks you are stupid.
The is no place or job in the country where $16 an hour is reasonable for someone with multiple science/ engineering/ or medical degrees. Would you consider them if they came back with a better offer, or does this offer turn you off to them entirely?
It reminds me of the people who offer to buy houses sight unseen – usually for half of asking price, or less.

    Divemedic · May 29, 2021 at 7:03 am

    I would consider a better offer, but only after taking a walk through the facility to see what the working conditions were.
    I don’t see that happening. They are obviously cutting corners to maximize profit. I already had an employer like that once. They were committing wholesale Medicare fraud, and I got a visit from the FBI as a result.

      Jonathan · May 30, 2021 at 11:32 pm

      I once took a job with a noticeably lower salary and the promise of more to come plus bonuses… I quickly found out that the boss was an arrogant idiot; in a company never larger than 4 people, he had gone through 18 people in 18 months… he believed he was never wrong, so always had to have somebody to blame…
      I won’t fall for that claim again…

    Mark J · May 31, 2021 at 12:38 am

    Agreed, street paramedics are earning that or more here as a starting wage.

Ygolonac · June 3, 2021 at 11:46 am

I is a high school gradjit (you can tell because I doesn’t say I *are* one), and the onply people lower on the totem pole than me are part-time/temp hires.

*I* make more than that, essentially for being literate and mobile – I sort, deliver and process inbound and outbound postal and interoffice mail, rare make copies, route incoming faxes (healthcare provider, so lol faxes) and also do the bullshit makework of refreshing the 200ppm bleach/water spray bottles.

If I had those degrees and experience, and was given that offer, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to report on it due to the massive fucking stroke I’d experience.

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