I am a professional educator. I have a family of four kids and an amazing wife. It is cheaper for her to stay home, so I am the sole income of the household.
The first problem is that my Master's Degree required job is not enough money to live in this economy. I can't buy a house, so 40% of my check goes to rent.
The second problem, though, is what prompted this post. I went to interview for a night stocking job at a local grocery store. In the application it asked what pay I wanted. I put $15/hr. Working part time with that pay would allow my family to get by and have a little bit extra.
I get to the interview. The guy is nice. He talks like we are friends and makes a few jokes. Well the end of the interview comes, and he asks, “Do you have any questions?”. I am used to a world where asking for the pay is considered rude, so I ask a few questions that I don't care about. I then say that's all. He says his last piece, offering me the job, then gets up to leave. He never said the pay.
So I ask. He says starting pay is $9.80/hr. I immediately say that does not work for me. I begin walking out the door, and I can't help myself. I turn and say, “Did you see how much i was asking for?” He said he did. So i said, “I have some advice for you; The next time you see a grown man walk in here for a part time job saying he is doing it for a little extra income to get by and he has a full time career, start with telling him that you are not paying what was asked cause you just completely wasted my time.”
I may be just venting here, but this story is what is wrong with our workplaces. Everything, from the taboo speak about pay to the fact that a Master's degree job can't support a family or be enough to get a house loan.
Just thought I'd share.
TLDR: I applied for a second job cause my career doesn't pay enough. Dude wasted 40 minutes of my time to lowball me on pay knowing what I wanted and why I wanted it.