Last week, I had a job interview. It was from a company that had cold-called me from LinkedIn, so needless to say, I didn’t have any particular interest in them upon finding out who they were and what they did. But they didn’t bat an eye when I dropped some inflated salary requirements, because I wasn’t really that interested, so I decided to take the interview anyway, because it would be good practice and who knows, maybe they would have wowed me in some way to make me reconsider.
The interview had several warning flags from the onset, specifically the fact that one of the guys on the call, I recognized their name, and I knew our paths had crossed at some point because if nobody’s ever told you, Atlanta isn’t as big of a place as people think it is, which is why it’s particularly important to burn your bridges with peril, because you just never know if you’ll run into people again. I just couldn’t place it, but I know that I knew this guy from somewhere. He didn’t seem to indicate that he remembered me, either.
Second, the nature of the company practically bored me to tears. Something about transaction technology, development of some apps and shit, and honestly, I was already hard leaning towards not wanting this job in the first place, since they had listed for a “UX Graphic Designer,” to which most people aren’t aware, the two things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but there’s a far bigger divide between the two than the working world is aware of.
Needless to say, the indication I got from the position is that the company doesn’t know what they want, and mashed two disciplines together, hoping they’d be able to find a singular person to do two jobs. But it also meant that for a company that doesn’t know what they’re looking for, I could’ve either gotten into the door and coasted to a good salary, or I’d fail to meet expectations that I wasn’t aware of and be in a disadvantageous position.
But it’s the third strike where I completely checked out and definitively knew that I was going to turn this opportunity down: the sample project. Basically, because “they wanted to get in my head and get a sense of my style,” they wanted me to reimagine and redesign one of their landing pages, “in my style.”
Basically do some work, for free. I have no problem with competency tests or assessments, because those are usually pretty quick, and can show a lot of insight. But to be assigned a multi-day project, for no payment? No fucking way.
In my mind, upon hearing this, I’m basically saying, bitch, I’ve got two kids and no time as it is, and you want me to do some fucking work for free? Fuck. That.
*no joke, I might not have written this post if I didn’t realize it was great opportunity to use this Sonic gif I made eons ago because I actually do like it that much
I don’t like my current job, but I really didn’t like this job opportunity. I smiled and nodded for the rest of the interview, but my mind was already made up before we disconnected, there was no way I was going do any free work, and there was no way I was going to pursue this position.
I’ve never been in the position to where I had the opportunity to turn down an employer, so this was kind of an exciting chance for me. Typically, like the vast majority of job seekers, we’re just used to getting ghosted after an interview or a screen, because the working world is full of a bunch of spineless fucks who are afraid to tell people no, regardless of just how useful it would be to them. But I was in a position where I could turn the tables, and I didn’t really know what to do.
I mean, I could’ve ghosted them, and after several days of no contact, they’d ping me and ask to see my sample project, to which I’d ghost the fuck out of them, as I’d just been recently ghosted myself by another company.
Or, I could message the people I interviewed with, or the recruiter, and tell them that this cowboy doesn’t work for free and they could go fuck themselves, and it’s no wonder why their position wasn’t filled, and was still on the table for 30+ days.
In the end, I split the difference, and reached out to the recruiter the following day, and was just civil about it. Thanked them for reaching out, told them to show my appreciation with those I interviewed with for their time, but I wasn’t interested in the position, and to withdraw my candidacy. Like I said, Atlanta’s not the city to scorch the earth with, no matter how deserving some are.
And despite taking a civil stance about it, I couldn’t believe how satisfying it felt to actually tell a potential employer no for a change. Job providers have had the advantageous position for so long, that I couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to reject them for a change. Still feeling smug about it, days later.
Anyway, it turns out that this guy worked for the state at the time I did, and I didn’t leave there on particularly good terms, so it’s all the better that I passed on this one. I would’ve had to have reported to this guy, and if he had any connections or still knew people there, there’s no guarantee that some false narratives about me could’ve been put into his head, if there already weren’t any.
Either way, job searching hasn’t been particularly positive for me, but at least I still have the wherewithal to avoid, really bad opportunities, instead of taking whatever just to get out of my current.
