Sidenote: not from the US.
I am currently in the process of looking for a new job. Currently I have 4 years of experience in my field, but ‘only’ with one company. I am currently a level II, but am looking for a senior function. At my current job, I already do senior tasks, but of course without the pay and title. Most job adds request 2-3 years of experience for the senior function.
So I talked to 3 companies already. 1 said I am not experienced enough for the senior position (even though I have double the experience compared to what they request). Whatever, their loss.
The second company is not clear on the level. I applied for the senior function, however, the recruiter cannot confirm that the company and I are on the same level of expectations.
Now the third has offered me a job. I applied to this company through a headhunter. The headhunter and I discussed what I was looking for and what I can expect. She mentioned I can definetly go for the senior function and we applied to this company. The interviews went very well, the salary expectation was clear and only the senior function was discussed. No ‘level II’ was mentioned.
To my surprise, the headhunter congratulated me with the following offer:
-salary which is 50€/month lower then we agreed
-cra level II instead of senior
-sign on bonus which you will recieve after 2 months.
We have in writing that they will train me to become a senior. However, they will evaluate me after 6 months to see if I would be eligble after another 6 months. This means they can decide that I am still ‘not ready’. On top of that, if I decide that I want a new job withong 2 years after employement, then I have to pay back the sign on bonus. (Sidenote: the bonus is taxed almost 50%, but if you have to pay it back, you pay the full 100%). So I am basically stuck with them, and they have all the power.
But again, congratulations with the job offer.