A job interview is usually the moment when both parties seem to like each other. The applicant talks about their talents, the recruiter tries to brag about the advantages of this particular company - especially if the applicant's skills are well suited to the position. But this, of course, is in an ideal world, and reality is like the night in "Game of Thrones" - dark and full of terrors.
Among such terrors are definitely stingy business owners. How many times in world history has stinginess been punished, and very severely - these lessons, unfortunately, few people learn. Indeed, why think about the financial benefits that a new, talented employee will bring to the company if you could save a couple of dollars on their salary here and now?
In the story we are about to tell you, the company owner turned out to be not only stingy, but also rather rude, and the post in the Reddit Antiwork community, where the author described what happened to them during a job interview, has already gained almost 14.5K upvotes and over 500 different comments. And yes, judging by them, rude and stingy bosses are a trend nowadays. But let's just talk about everything in order.
More info: Reddit
The Original Poster left their job in June and had been searching for a new one for two months
So, the Original Poster left their previous job in June and started looking for a new one. They successfully passed the first interview in the company and moved on to the second, which was supposed to be attended by the owner. According to the OP, everything started very well - the superiors noted that the applicant's skills and competencies even exceeded their expectations for this position, so they would be a valuable asset for the company.
Image source: Jasoncav82
Everything went well during the job interview - right up until the wage negotiation started
And then came the very moment when it was necessary to determine the salary. It must be said that the OP had not updated their CV, so the employers did not know that they were currently unemployed. And when the recruiter asked how much the OP wanted to make in their company, they simply named the amount of the advertised compensation for the position.
Image source: Jasoncav82
When the managers found out that the applicant was jobless at the moment, they offered an incredibly low salary
There was an immediate question as to whether the job seeker was currently working, and the OP admitted they had been looking for a job for two months. This obviously had a big impact on their perception from management, because the OP ended up being offered a salary that was about $6K a year less than the lower end of the range in the job description.
Image source: Jasoncav82
Of course, the OP didn't agree, so they asked for a larger amount in response - but still within the lower end of the range. They referred to the fact that literally just now, the company's superiors highly appreciated their work skills. In the OP's own words, they understand that it takes time to get more, but they are willing to work hard.
Image source: Jasoncav82
The company owner claimed that the OP should be happy to get literally any offer as any amount is higher than zero
And then the owner of the company showed themselves in all their glory, saying that since the OP had not been working for two whole months, then literally any offer would be much more than what they make now. Therefore, according to the owner, the OP should be just happy to receive this particular offer - and not a cent more!
Image source: Jasoncav82
The OP just stood up, replied that in that case, they would be better off spending their own time going back to school to finish up their degree program, and left the room. According to them, company representatives have already called twice after this conversation, but the OP hasn't picked up the phone. Now they are back to studying and no longer want to be toyed with and undervalued by any employer.
Image source: frankieleon (not the actual photo)
Most people in the comments slammed the stingy and rude boss, though admitting that such situations are, alas, rather common
We must say that most of the commenters were literally delighted with the OP's smart decision, and even thanked them for the excellent solution to this situation, which will definitely help many job applicants. And, of course, according to people in the comments, behavior like this from bosses during job interviews is a fairly common thing.
In addition, people were completely outraged by such the company's management using tactics like this - after all, the fact that an applicant is currently unemployed does not mean at all that they are apparently worthless. The boss probably just thought the OP was in a financial bind and decided to save money by taking advantage of it.
By the way, stranger things often happen during job interviews - for example, no one even bothered to meet this applicant, who arrived right on time, and they had to wait for a whole hour. And whilst you open this post to read it, please write here in the comments what you personally think about this story.