I was pretty shocked how poorly this interview was run.
This company doesn't understand interviews go both ways. The candidate is interviewing you, as much as you’re interviewing them. Like employers, we look for hidden icebergs, red flags and do so by seeing how you answer questions we’ve prepared for you.
During the phone call the interviewer revealed two people once held this position. This made sense, as I discovered the office was comprised of two floors. Although many are working remotely due to COVID, the expectations were still unrealistic for one individual with their sq ft. Already wary, but there was one red flag after another.
The interviewer then “enticed” me by making the job sound even worse. In addition to running the operations of two floors, I was somehow to be the face of the company as the greeter, be “executive assistant” to the two CEOs; requiring me running in and out of the office for their lunches among other things.
What i found especially telling and inappropriate was the task of cleaning the employee's dishes. It was seemingly obvious the "office experience coordinator" would be grossly marginalized. I inquired why this was anybody else’s responsibility other than the adults who used the dishes. I asked if they had a porter bc she further listed responsibilities normally assigned to one.
It was evident this company wants hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work for free. This position compiled the work of not only that title, but the following full-time salaried positions: Office Manager, Executive Assistant, Receptionist/ Admin Assistant and an entire cleaning crew; duties that went well beyond “general office upkeep”.
Thus far, this job and company sound awful. I had been provided ZERO incentive to be remotely interested and given EVERY reason not to be. However, I inquired about salary, as they boasted “Competitive Salary” under this role’s benefits.
She tells me the salary has yet to be determined bc they were waiting to speak with all candidates and factor in experience. This is simply not true. Companies fabricate this excuse so they can refuse to give a number, but require the candidate to give one. It’s so they have the option of picking whoever lowballed themselves the most and will likely pay them less than that. This excuse doesn’t even make sense, (I recommend they come up with a better ruse, if they’re not going to be honest) especially when all experience details, references and dates are listed in the resumes. I then asked for salary range and she gave me this ludicrous answer that even a RANGE had yet to be determined.
This is dishonesty. I hope this company learns that no candidate whether they have experience or not, believes this. Everyone knows that every single job listing ANYWHERE has a salary the company budgeted for. How else would you know you could afford to hire someone? It sounds exceptionally absurd coming from a brokerage firm located in NYC’s FiDi that “handles over $1 billion in trades every day for sophisticated traders of all sizes”, as their website proudly states.
Most people like myself, screen out companies by how they answer the salary question. It’s easy to research the average market range for the position/city. If not listed on the ad, I ask salary range. Then I pay attention to how they answer the question. If you’re already being disrespectful of my time by actively withholding critical information pertinent to my decision making, I know this treatment will only worsen if I’m to be on-boarded.
It’s one thing if you don’t want to have salary negotiations until you’re ready to make an offer, but failure to disclose expectations about what a candidate should expect to be paid as a matter of policy, is the biggest red flag. Even more so during a global pandemic. This is a sensitive time when many people are simply trying to survive in a city made all the more challenging due to COVID.
I was genuinely confused how a company could be so brazen to expect this much from one person without incentivizing them to work there. It gave me the sense they might be attempting to capitalize on people’s desperation during these unprecedented times.
In the interviewer’s defense, I highly doubt this is her fault. I told her I wasn’t interested bc of reasons stated above. She said she would communicate my comments and concerns to her superiors. I later saw the same listing, but they had shortened the list of responsibilities and the section “We offer” that had previously advertised “Competitive compensation, benefits, and perks” had been redacted.
Transparency ensures whether a phone call or an on-site is necessary. It respectfully ensures we don’t waste each other's time. I strongly suggest this company change their approach as it treats applicants antagonistically as opponents, not potential contributors to your company.