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I was approached to fill a position in an organisation, and during salary negotiations, I was told that they wouldn't budge on the salary because employees were expected to get a pay raise in April the following, and if you were to add up the bonus, the annual package would be sufficient.

Given this, I took up the job, but when I started, HR told me that I wouldn't actually be eligible for the salary raise NOR the bonus till April 2021. Which would meant that I took a severe pay cut taking up this job.

And the organisation + job isn't turning out like what was mentioned in the interviews/job description at all. People are stubborn and are not willing to change what I think are serious breaches in governance (e.g. finance and procurement lumped together).

It's only been 2 weeks, but I feel that because I was misled into the job, it would only be right for me to leave. To what extent should I tell my future job interviewers about my reason for leaving?

200_success
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user109895
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3 Answers3

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It's only been 2 weeks...

I'd argue that you don't have to mention this job at all. When asked why you're job searching you can explain why you left your previous position.

If for any reason you can't omit a job from your work history no matter how short (locale, the type of job you're applying for, etc.), you can be honest without going into details:

I'm leaving my current job because the position changed significantly after I started.

This is true: you took the job because you were expecting a raise and now that raise isn't going to happen. But this wording allows you to avoid saying it was about compensation if that's what you're concerned about.

This is a common enough situation that I think some employers will leave it at that. However, it's been pointed out in the comments that others will worry that what you consider significant might be normal to them.

So if you're asked to elaborate, you'll need to say that the significant change was to your compensation. Borgh and Bilkokuya have already suggested alternate scripts in the comments.

BSMP
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  • What if the OP needs to apply for a job that requires a security clearance where any lying is verboten? – nick012000 Sep 17 '19 at 04:09
  • @nick012000 I don't understand what part of this you think is a lie: the suggestion that the OP doesn't need to mention a job they haven't been at longer than 2 weeks or the suggestion that not giving them the raise or bonus they were promised constitutes a significant change to the position. – BSMP Sep 17 '19 at 08:02
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    "during negotiations I was promised several things which turned out to be impossible in practice" is both neutral and a more detailed answer to a interviewer pressing on. If they don't accept that you'd better be interviewing for a nuclear missile silo and might as well give the full answer. – Borgh Sep 17 '19 at 08:39
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    @BSMP For a security clearance application, you have to mention all jobs no matter how quickly you left them. Of course, the clearance application happens after you get your conditional offer, and it might be the case that something needs to be listed for the clearance but you don't need to bother for the actual job application. – cpast Sep 17 '19 at 11:02
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    There are times when I wouldn't want to mention compensation - to avoid suggesting it's the motivation for wanting a job. However, as a reason for leaving a job after 2 weeks I'd suggest "they significantly altered the agreed on compensation package, after I started", is both truthful and less damaging (it's very different to "they didn't pay me enough"). Saying the position changed would make me nervous that they weren't flexible enough to work outside a rigid job specification, or that they simple couldn't cope with the workload (and decided to sweeten up their description). –  Sep 17 '19 at 12:18
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    @cpast I've been in OP's situation before. No need to bring up the job in interviews or put it on the resume, but when filling out any clearance paperwork you'd disclose every position regardless of duration. – JRodge01 Sep 17 '19 at 14:11
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    @Borgh if you're "interviewing for a nuclear missile silo" you're in the military, the interview goes along the lines of "Sgt. Borgh, your next posting is Nuclear Silo 423. Here are your orders and travel papers. Been nice working with you let's grab a beer before you go." - you don't get much say about where they post you. ;) Other than that, spot on! – FreeMan Sep 17 '19 at 15:57
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    @Bilkokuya Absolutely. It's not that at all that they aren't paying enough; it's that they reneged on their part of the deal. At that point, you can't trust them, and most people don't like working for someone they can't trust. – Monty Harder Sep 17 '19 at 17:21
  • For a security clearance application, you have to mention all jobs @cpast That's covered in the 2nd half of my answer, though I can edit it so it mentions other reasons OP might have to mention the job. – BSMP Sep 17 '19 at 20:24
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    Saying the position changed would make me nervous that they weren't flexible enough to work outside a rigid job specification... @Bilkokuya I don't know about the OP, but I wouldn't be happy if a job I was told was a step up from my previous position was actually a step down or a programming job suddenly won't involve any programming at all. So in this case I'd actually want to be weeded out: I don't want to be hired for Job A and then be told I'm actually doing Job Z. – BSMP Sep 17 '19 at 20:34
  • @Borgh If you want to admit you don't know how to negotiate an interview ... during an interview ... then yes that's a great idea. – corsiKa Sep 18 '19 at 04:35
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    @corsiKa yes because if the other party flat-out lies that is definitely an issue with your negotiation strategy :eyeroll: – Borgh Sep 18 '19 at 07:35
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    @Borgh More that you accepted a verbal promise in a negotiation instead of getting it in writing. What's going to happen when they go to manage a project and people do the exact same thing to stakeholders who don't follow through? They're going to say "what? I never said that!" - all because OP didn't get it in writing. And telegraphing the fact that you do that not just with projects but your own career path and salary expectations isn't going to sit well with the manager across the table. Eyeroll if you want, but it sounds like a really dumb move to me. – corsiKa Sep 18 '19 at 07:38
  • @BSMP I wouldn't be happy if a job I was told was... the problem is, if you say "the job changed significantly" the interviewers are just getting your evaluation, and don't really know if your "significant" changes are really significant or not. No one wants to be totally deceived, and good employers don't set out to deceive people on job changes. But when someone says "the job changed significantly" the interviewer doesn't know if the candidate is just really stubborn and was thrown off by a reasonable change, or if the job actually changed significantly. – dwizum Sep 18 '19 at 13:03
  • @dwizum OK, I can see how not knowing what someone considers significant can be an issue. – BSMP Sep 19 '19 at 10:39
  • I did upvote your answer and I don't want to sound critical, just trying to point out a potential pitfall with that wording. I agree with you that if it comes up, the answer should be kept non-accusatory and generic. It's just a matter of playing word games with how you achieve that without potentially painting yourself in a bad light. – dwizum Sep 19 '19 at 12:27
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I have been in a similar situation quite a few years ago. I lasted 4 months with company X before I reached tipping point and called short on my probation.

A few years later I was looking to switch jobs again (not out of choice this time) and the recruitment agent that was contracted by company Y insisted that my 4 month tenure with X looked bad on my CV and removed it without my knowledge. I got the job (still there today) so no harm, no foul.

My take is; employment is a two-way street. You get something out of it and the boss makes money out of your skills. You should be able to defend a situation like this in an interview with the simple words

"It didn't work out for me"

Elaborate on why if asked. But unless your CV is full of short tenures, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

If anything it shows your prospective employer that you want something out this employment. And that you're talking to them today in that interview means that you figured they have something to offer that sets them apart from other employers.

iwarv
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The other answers give good advice on how to present the 2 weeks at this company in future interviews. I won't repeat what they say.

Instead let's go to the general lesson from this: you weren't cheated, what actually happened was you failed to negotiate the deal you wanted.

Let's look at the known facts here

  • I was told that they wouldn't budge on the salary

  • I took a severe pay cut taking up this job

And now the hypotheticals & conditionals

  • employees were expected to get a pay raise in April

  • if you were to add up the bonus, the annual package would be sufficient

Notice how the second list is everything you want, and the first list is everything you don't. You were more naive than misled here. The deal was what it was. The things you think you were promised weren't really promises, because they weren't written into the contract with specific dates and amounts.

Next time, if you have minimum requirements to be happy with a salary package, be very clear what these are and that you need them written into the contract.

It's actually win win - if the company truly has the intention of fulfilling promises on future salary they'll of course do that. If they don't, they won't, and you can walk away. Nobody's time is wasted, like it was in this situation. Good luck in your next move!

davnicwil
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    Others have already commented “next time get it in writing.” You can argue that the employer’s deception may not be actionable in court, but user109895 certainly was misled, even if it was done with weasel words. And I’m not sure assuming a company has a culture of trust and cooperation rather than backbiting is “naive.” – VGR Sep 18 '19 at 12:06
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    The naivety I'm talking about isn't about trust, it's about leaving things you need from the agreement open to (mis)interpretation by you or the other party rather than agreeing them clearly and unambiguously up front. Perhaps the interviewer meant expected as 51% chance, and OP took it as 99%. We don't know, not even the OP knows. The contract is the mechanism for clarifying expectations in a business relationship - use it! – davnicwil Sep 18 '19 at 12:24
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    It’s however unlikely that you get a bonus guaranteed. However if it is company policy that you get no raise/bonus in the first two years that would really be malicious – eckes Sep 18 '19 at 21:31
  • Not getting the bonus guaranteed is fine, as long as you're happy with the base salary. The bonus should be, literally, a bonus – davnicwil Sep 19 '19 at 05:25
  • Obviously they were cheated. It was said they'd get a raise and they didn't. The bonus I wouldn't have believed as yearly bonus within 2weeks of work makes no sense. Not actionable without proof this was said. – user3445853 Sep 19 '19 at 14:41
  • I respectfully disagree that it was obvious. How do you know? Again, it's just about interpretation. OP interpreted what was said as a promise. The interviewer may have not intended it to be a promise, more a possibility. The interviewer could have been at fault, communicating poorly. They could have been maliciously lying. It doesn't really matter. The point is, to clarify such important matters so there is no room for misinterpretation later, make sure they get written into the contract – davnicwil Sep 19 '19 at 15:27
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    "expected to get a raise" is a long, long way from a guarantee. – deep64blue Sep 20 '19 at 09:51
  • OP was led to think bonus and raise were solid possibilities, while they in fact were not even on the table, and shouldn't have been mentioned at all, or if mentioned then OP should have been told to not be disappointed when others get these but the OP won't. It does not matter what the exact words spoken during the interview were, they were said in order to make the OP choose this job, while they were untrue. There is no excuse which makes this not misleading. – hyde Sep 20 '19 at 10:43
  • @hyde please read my comment above, respectfully I'm not sure you're addressing the point I'm making. I'm not claiming the OP wasn't misled, they may well have been. I don't know, you don't know, the OP might think they know but then again, they may have just misinterpreted the likelihood of the raise based on what the interviewer said. The point is, it doesn't even matter, really. Getting what you think are promises written into the contract is the only way to solve this. It would have worked this time, it will work in future. It's something to learn from this situation! – davnicwil Sep 20 '19 at 13:03