How would you have handled this?

[Just A Girl2]

Okay, this is sort of "in the past" but I'm just curious what others here would have thought of the situation, and how they would have dealt with it.

 

About 3 weeks ago, while searching for a job, I was offered what seemed like the job of a lifetime. About 10 minutes into the interview (she was impressed by my resume/years of experience), she asked what my salary expectations were, so I told here that at that point, I had had 3 other job offers and the "best one" of those paid "X" amount per year (a fair amount). She quickly said, "we can definitely match that salary." (to note: she's the president of this large company). The position, I was told, was a full time senior management position. It sounded too good to be true, almost.

 

She wanted to take me on a tour of the place I'd be managing, and we arranged to do that the next week. Which we did. I met the other upper management staff, etc, got a tour, bla bla.

 

At this meeting, she asked me how many other job offers I had..I told her I had 4 including hers. She asked which I was leaning toward, I honestly told her I was leaning toward her offer.

 

So, to recap: she told me it was a senior mgmt position, full time, full benefits, "X" amount/salary.

 

The next day, she calls me.....leaves a voicemail......this *sudden* song and dance about how she's "doing some number crunching" and due to (insert BS here) some things related to the company, it didn't seem she could afford to pay me the salary I was seeking, then tried justifying it more with some other lame reasons.

 

Needless to say, I was crushed and p*ssed off. After only a week, NOW the story changes. My first thought was that she lied to me initially just to "lure me in"...then knowing I needed to begin working 2 weeks later, she'd wait til the last minute to tell me that she couldn't pay me the agreed upon salary.....hoping I'd be "desperate enough" to take her offer, regardless.

 

Then she leaves another voicemail that afternoon, informing me she's doing her best to keep "number-crunching"..more lame excuses and elaborations of the previous lame excuses....and THEN she goes on to say that she really thinks I'd love the job, they'd love to have me and that "it could LEAD TO FULL TIME."

 

HUH? I was originally told it WAS A FULL TIME POSITION...now that's changed, too?

 

So I was now really p*ssed off. I wasted an entire week, drove all over the city to meet with her at ungodly hours, and all for what?

 

I decided that based on the "funny feelings" i had, that no amount of backpedalling could ever get me to trust her again...hell, even if I did agree to take the job, what ELSE would suddenly "change"?

 

She called a few more times, almost begging me to call her....wanting us to have a "heart to heart" talk about what she could work out for me.....and I was so insulted that I didn't return her calls, I simply accepted one of the other offers.

 

My Dad says I should have called her back but I felt like I didn't owe her a damn thing. I felt she was being dishonest and deceitful from the start and I simply didn't trust her. I felt I didn't owe her any kind of explanation whatsoever, not even to tell her that I was very disappointed at the way the story ended up 'changing' as a week had passed.

 

This area of my profession and this type of business / management stuff is foreign to me (which I'm sure she'd have known and thought she could use to her advantage)..........so not sure how else I could have handled it. Frankly, I didn't want to give her the opportunity to 'talk' because I didn't think I'd trust one damn thing she'd have to say.....had this feeling she'd "say anything" to get me to accept the job, then likely change something else afterward.

 

Also, she knew from the time i contacted her and submitted my resume, and at the interview, that I was ONLY seeking FULL TIME employment......so for her to string me along for a week, THEN tell me it wasn't even a full time position (but that it could "lead to one"), she boldly lead me on and wasted my time.

 

Thoughts?

 

Would you have just blown her off too? If not, what would you have said to her? Would you have confronted her about the apparent "game"?

[clia]

I think you were absolutely right in how you handled it.

 

Look at it this way:

 

(1) She lied to you in the first interview. I'm sorry, but IMO, when hiring decisions are going on, they know exactly how much they can offer. She should not have agreed to your price if there was any question. There was no reason for her to do so. If she was unsure, she could have simply said so. IMO, it's a rare job interview where you actually get an offer like that on the spot.

 

(2) She continued to lead you on and lie to you, in the hope that you would think it was such a great job that you would agree to it, despite what it really turned out to be. I think she was trying to get you and your skills for cheap. And maybe she thought if she brought you in, if you liked the people and environment, etc., that you just might agree to it. And what a bargain for her!

 

I don't blame you at all. I would've taken the other offer, and I would've never called her back. I would never want to work for someone who was as dishonest as that from the get go. If you accept jobs from people who are dishonest like that in their first impression on you, imagine what it would be like later. I think you made the right decision.

[Tony T]

I would have returned her final call and told her to go screw herself...if she could find something handy to do it with!!!

[Just A Girl2]

Believe me, I had seriously entertained thoughts of leaving her a snarky voicemail, telling her what I thought....but I thought it might get her more if I simply ignored her, leaving her to realize I'd simply taken someone else's offer.

 

I don't know if this kind of thing is common, do you think it is?

 

Dad really got on my case to call and talk to her, if for no reason than to kindly but firmly let her know that due to the every-changing-details of the job, I decided to accept someone else's offer.....but I told him that based on "principle", I couldn't even do that........because I figured she'd just give me more BS, I'd lose my cool and then end up telling her off...which could be detrimental in the long run ....her company's been around many years, is well known and she could perhaps make negative comments about me, fearing I'd do the same about her/her company, thinking she'd "get to me first."

 

That second day I met her, for the (grand) tour ....what struck me as odd was, she'd told me during the interview that this was a "senior management" position....even going so far as to say that as far as how many hours a day I'd work, "senior managers work until the work is done" (in other words, be prepared to work tons of overtime and not get paid for it). Oops, off track. Anyway, I was merely "looking for a job" when I contacted her, I'm not one to need some fancy smancy "title". But as it turns out, the place I'd have worked didn't even have a cubby hole or cubicle for me....don't most managers have a small office or at least their own desk/area? So it seemed to me that this fancy "title" was bogus...just one more way to lure in the 'new grad'. I would have been working along side all the other staff (who supposedly would have been below me), doing everything they did...which I surely wouldn't have minded..but let's not use big fancy titles to try and entice someone.

 

Pretty unprofessional and unethical of her, I'd say. Maybe this happens more than I think?

[ThisGirlNameKD]

Don't feel bad. She was trying that foot-in-the-door tactic where they tell you anything just to get you in there, and once you're in there, suddenly things change.

[HokeyReligions]

I think you did exactly the right thing. No decent employer would handle things this way.

 

As for titles, etc., they don't mean that much. They vary from industry to industry, and even within industries-from company to company. I've been a manager, supervisor, coordinator, team leader, administrative department head, senior supervisor, and project director. I did basically the same job within each title.

 

I am a salaried employee which does mean that no matter how many hours I put in, I get paid the same. But that works to my advantage too. I can take time off (come in late, leave early) sometimes and I don't lose any money or have to use up vacation time. During crunch time I put in more than 40 hours a week, but it all balances out, and as a salaried employee I get decent annual bonuses, whereas the hourly employees at the last couple of places I worked, get very small bonuses - if any.

 

This place you interviewed doesn't sound like a legit company, or maybe its some kind of boiler-room with a big turnover. How did you find the job opening? Was it thru a paper or the internet? If it was through a headhunter or college placement department, you should notify them of what happened. They might investigate them or drop them as a client. If you do go to a headhunter, and you have a good relationship with your account manager there, you might just ask them if they are familiar with that company.

[Amazon22]

In all honesty, I think you father was correct in saying that you should at least return her phone call. She may have been feeding you constant BS, but if this company has been around for a while and has a decent reputation, then you may want to keep in some form of contact with that woman, or someone else with that company.

 

She may have been leading you on and lying to you, however, if you just let her know (in a professional attitude) that it's not what you are looking for right now, but would like to keep in contact for future oppertunities, then she will most likely get the picture that you don't take sh*t from anyone...and that you don't give in easily. Maybe next time a more promissing offer comes along from that company she will contact you. Just remember to get it all in writing!

 

Then again, you never know when you might be out of a job and be desperate enough to take part time.

[Just A Girl2]

I'm all for making sure not to burn bridges, but in this case, I wouldn't take any job from this kind of smarmy, deceitful, unethical individual if it was the last job on earth. Trust is critical, in any relationship...and in my opinion, that includes an employee-employer relationship....and if I feel that I was blatantly mislead and screwed around, I want nothing to do with that kind of establishment. I would flip burgers if that was my only other alternative.

 

If anyone burned a bridge, she did.

 

I think she was merely trying to take advantage of someone just out of school, who was really needing a job....hoping I'd end up being so desperate that I'd "settle." Shame on her. I'm a person of principle and based on the principle here, there definitely wasn't any bridge to burn.

[Amazon22]

JAG2,

 

I guess I misread your views about this woman. You are right, she burned the bridge first and you deserve MUCH better! Good luck with the offer that you decided to take!