A story about my experience interviewing with a company that doesn't support its potential employees bettering themselves via grad school.
I'm paid poverty wages at my current job and after I was denied a raise last year due to company financial struggles, I started looking for another job in January. The job market is brutal, so I haven't found anything yet, but I've made it far in several rounds of interviews.
A few months ago, I began interviewing for a company that we'll call BS. I had 4 really great, really successful interviews, and after round 3, anytime I would communicate with them, they told me I'd hear the following week about a job offer. The job was basically what I've been doing for 4.5 years post-grad, but with a new company and new (higher) salary, though the salary was def at the bottom end of the range my experience should be getting. It was still $25,000/year more than I'm currently making though, so I would've taken it.
The week after the 4th interview, I got a call from the head of the marketing department (I'm a graphic designer). I was sick with COVID at the time, so my voice was totally shot, but I tried really hard to talk clearly, as this basically turned into a 5th interview even though I had already interviewed with her. I feel that alone showed my dedication.
She brought up that she found out I was in grad school and didn't understand how I could juggle FT grad school with FT work. I've been doing it just fine (and at this point, I find grad school to be easier than undergrad because I'm actually enjoying what I'm studying). I told her as much and that I wasn't at all concerned about my ability to work at BS company and do school and that I only have a year and a half left.
She asked about time commitments to grad school. I told her I do my homework at night after work and during my lunch break and that I have 9 day residencies every 6 months, which would require 7 business days off. BS company has an UNLIMITED PTO policy. She also asked if I could work during my residency (which involves 12-15 hour days). Obviously I said no.
She said she didn't know if that would work, despite my having asked about blackout dates, length of time most people take PTO, etc (no blackout dates, typical time off). She asked me to email her the dates of my residencies (I only have 3 left before I graduate) so she could consult with the team.
The following week, after 5 interviews, I received a no-reply automated rejection email.
The next day, I emailed the dept head I had spoken with the week before, as well was the recruiter I had first interviewed with, asking for feedback on why I was rejected and mentioning that it was really surprising I hadn't received a personal rejection considering how much time and energy I had put into 5 interviews. I sent it to both of them because I had received NO emails back the entire 2 months I had been interviewing, regardless of content (thank you emails, emails with requested materials attached, etc) so I wasn't sure who would or wouldn't receive it. My email was unbiased, professional, and non-emotional. I had multiple people read it to make sure it sounded okay, as I didn't want to burn bridges.
I then got a 2 emails, a text, AND a phone call from BS company telling me they were so shocked to hear I had a negative impression of the situation (their words, not mine) and asked if I would be willing to meet with their Head of Recruitment to go over my experience so they can improve the experience for future candidates. Ie, they wanted more free labor from me.
This was all on top of Glassdoor reviews stating people had been overworked to the point of losing chunks of hair, not getting PTO approved or having to work on PTO, losing weight from the stress, etc. Anytime I had asked about work-life balance, they had given 5 minute answers explaining how sometimes busy seasons happen and we all have to work extra sometimes, but that work-life balance is “super important to them”, and that the dept head often tells them to get up and walk away/take a break, which was a red flag to me, but I was willing to overlook it because I'm so desperate for better pay.
It's really sketchy to me when a company takes issue with a potential employee bettering themselves on their own time and taking 7 business days off once every 6 months when they have an unlimited PTO policy.