This has never happened to me before at work. What are the things I need to get in order before the meeting? I expect my access will probably be shut off immediately afterward.
I applied to a payments company (remote). They asked me what salary I was looking for. Honestly, I didn't know the range, so I put $105k assuming they'd come back with a lower number or ask to discuss it.
They didn't. The recruiter replied basically like: "yep, that's fine."
And now my brain has gone into the usual spiral:
- Did I ask for way too little
- Was that just their normal budget
- Or did I somehow guess the right number by accident
The weirdest thing is there wasn't any back-and-forth at all. I feel like they know the whole pay range and we're all just throwing numbers into the air hoping we don't mess it up. How do you decide what number to say when they ask first?
Honestly, I realized I need to check salary bands much better before casually writing down a number like that lol.
A few days ago, my manager called me into his office. Turns out someone saw me doing app deliveries and decided to go tell him. He started rambling about "loyalty" and how working another job means I'm "not invested in the company." Like, man, you pay me $75 a year in a place where a one-bedroom apartment is now $2500 a month. What exactly did you think was happening?
He even told me I should be spending my Saturdays "thinking of ways to contribute more to the team" instead of making extra money. Honestly, that level of entitlement is really weird. I told him my offer letter says 38 hours, Monday to Friday, and what I do outside that time has nothing to do with the company. He was not happy with that answer at all.
Now every little thing has gotten weird. He keeps making comments about me having "divided focus" and asks me on calls whether I'm "fully engaged" or not. It's very obvious he's trying to create a paper trail so he can pin something on me later or push me out.
I got hired almost right away a few weeks ago at a used car dealership. They were annoyed when I told them I needed a few days before I could start. This morning was my first day, and I showed up at 8:45 like they told me to. It's now a little past 10:15 and no one has done anything with me. They know I'm here, and I'm sitting and waiting in the waiting area. Not exactly the best way to make a new person feel like their time has value.
I left. I went to the sales desk and spoke to the manager there, the same guy who had been ignoring me the whole time and hadn't even bothered to introduce himself. I told him: "I appreciate the opportunity, but I've been sitting here for about an hour and a half and no one has welcomed me, greeted me, shown me where anything is, or even given me an idea of what I'm supposed to do. This isn't a place I'm going to work at. Have a good day."
This is absurd!
That’s why I actually prefer working from home. At least if you’re sick, you can work from your bed. I encourage everyone to try switching to remote jobs, especially since there are lots of tools that can help during the process: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for updating your CV, and InterviewMan for boosting your confidence during interviews and giving you instant answers that can help you get accepted more easily.
Okay, I've been working at a fairly large retail company for about five years now. This job was my first real step into the world of corporate finance, starting in the Accounts Payable department as an 'entry-level finance assistant'. I understood that the initial salary was low (around $17 an hour) because I was new and just wanted to get my foot in the door. I've consistently put in effort and always received the highest ratings in my annual reviews, yet, when I finally got promoted to a senior team member position (not a manager yet, mind you), my raise was barely a 2 dollar and half. On top of that, our standard annual raise was only 4%. This barely covers inflation, and when a colleague brought this up with our manager, she simply dismissed his concerns, stating they were striving for fairness.
My company offers tuition reimbursement, and I'm committed to them for another 11 months before I finish my bachelor's degree, so leaving now isn't an option. I had an associate's degree when I started, and I figured it made sense to continue my education when they offered to cover the costs. The company culture is very good, and I'm happy with the people I work with, but the salaries are a real weakness. I know I've been too lenient. Currently, I'm making about $22 an hour after more than five years here, despite handling all incoming shipment forecasts for the entire company, detailed reporting, budget preparation, and many other complex analytical tasks.
I have a meeting with my team lead today. How can I politely yet firmly explain that my salary needs to reflect my true performance and the value I add? I have less than a year left to get my bachelor's degree, and fortunately, there's no commitment requiring me to stay with them afterward. My hope was to at least earn a salary somewhat closer to my true worth, even during this final period. So, I think I'll continue to advocate for myself now.
Also, if anyone has any advice on securing a job in data insights or business intelligence, I'd be very grateful to hear if I might find better opportunities there. I'm completely open to learning SQL, and frankly, finance isn't my life's passion. However, I genuinely enjoy researching and delving into large datasets. A role in marketing has always been a quiet thought in the back of my mind, especially since my bachelor's will be an accounting degree with a marketing concentration.