Meet Brianna, a 28-year old from Atlanta, Georgia with a background in consumer finance, working to transition into a freelance writing and personal finance career. Brianna is a pseudonym to protect her identity. Here’s our conversation (edited for length and clarity).
I was looking at a bunch of different contract and part-time positions so I could get into personal finance writing. I applied to this position and it took them about two weeks to get back to me. They’re like, “Okay, We want to move forward with an interview.” The interview was great. They were very accommodating. And after the interview we did an assessment where I would have to do what I would be doing if I got hired. Did the assessment, submitted it, and it actually took them a long time to get back to me – almost three weeks.
They told me, “Oh, sorry for the delay. We’re going to be reviewing this.” Then finally, maybe a week and a half later, they gave me the position. They sent it through email and they said, “We’re gonna put together an agreement. I’m going to send that over to you today, and then the next step would be for us to coordinate the call to get you up to date on our process”.
They told me how much they were going to pay me, which was fifty five dollars an hour. But I knew that their budget was up to seventy dollars an hour. So I fell in the mid-range.
How did you know they had up to seventy dollars an hour to offer?
Because they were very transparent in the beginning. They put it in the description.
They told me, “Oh, we want to extend the position to you. We’re gonna meet on Tuesday [which was the next day] to go over our system so we can get you started”.
I’m like, Oh, wow, they’re moving fast, probably because this took so long.So I’m like,Okay, this is great. but let me make sure I negotiate.
I was like, “Hey, I would like to get his higher rate due to my skills and experience. However, if you can’t do that, I’m okay with the current rate as long as we can look back in ninety days for renegotiation”.
So either way I’m going to accept it. I just want to negotiate because I feel like I always should.
It took like a week for them to get back to me, and they sent an email saying, “Hey, we’re not hiring for this position anymore, after further discussion”.
And I’m just like, that literally doesn’t even make sense because you were hiring for it for this whole time. The position was just poof, gone, into the air, just like that.
What did you say in response?
I told them that I was looking forward to joining the team. That I had started sharing their newsletter with my friends and family. I said it’s disappointing, but I just want to thank you for your time, an opportunity to interview, and also thank you for your future considerations.
There were other things I wanted to say, but I decided to keep it very professional and just like whatever, because I don’t need the job. I don’t need the money. I don’t need the experience. It was really just a fun thing for me because I love writing and I do that every day.
I just couldn’t imagine if somebody needed this and they were just like “Oh, my gosh, I’m never gonna negotiate again.”
I’m pretty sure this company encourages their clients, consumers, readers to negotiate, But then in real life you’re over here like, Oh, no, we’re not offering you this position.
You could have easily just said, We’re going to stay at this current rate. But, Oh, we’re not hiring? That doesn’t even make sense.
I’m wondering how much time you estimate you spent on the whole process.
I would say almost ten hours, especially because of the assessment – researching that stuff, it definitely took some of my time.
It was a kind of a intense you process for it to just be like a part time contract position
Now that you’ve been through this experience, how are you thinking about things moving forward?
It definitely made me, not necessarily reconsider negotiating, but to consider that this could happen in the future.
I always tell people that “Hey, if a job ever rescinds an offer after you try to negotiate, then you didn’t want to work for that company. That company wasn’t for you anyway.” But it just sucks because I thought it was a great company. I was excited to work for them.
I was definitely upset for about a good three days, but it just made me redirect my energy into my own personal goals and career goals that I can achieve by myself without a company. So that was, I guess, the bright side of it.
I’m just like, You can do this for your own business. So why would you be upset about somebody not wanting you to join their business when you are capable and can provide the same results yourself?
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If you like this weeks’ diary, you might also like these:
My Job Didn’t Burn Me Out – But My Fight For a Fair Salary Did
When Ambition and Cultural Expectations Intersect – And Clash
What Happened When I Asked For More in a Male Dominated Field
I Was Their First Choice – Until I Asked For More
I’ve Asked For More and Been Rejected – More Than Once
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And if you have a story to tell about how ambition has played out in your life – let us know in the comments.
Image: Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via GettyImages
