TLDR: I have two different companies, same industry, trying to pay me more than the other for me to work full-time for them. Sorry it's a long post. I wanted to talk about this somewhere and I feel this sub would appreciate it.
So I started finally working in the field of my bachelor's degree (psychology) doing ABA therapy for children with autism in January. This is after a lot of time, (I graduated university in 2015) dicking around with other jobs like restaurant work, IT support, warehouse work, and a few others. I LOVE THIS WORK! I feel such great satisfaction, I could talk about it for hours.
ANYWAY, I wanted to dive head first into this field so I applied to a bunch of different companies that do this work. A few companies got back to me the next day because human services positions are super understaffed. I accepted 2 positions, one part time doing in-home therapy, let's call that B, and the fulltime position doing work at a clinic, let's call it F. B paid $2 more per hour, but the hiring manager stated they only allowed me about 10 hours a week for the first 6 months. Cool, so I'll need a fulltime job to make ends meet and they can work around that until the 6 months is up. Cue F: they allowed fulltime right from the get go. So I obviously went fulltime with F and part time with B. So for about 3 months, life is good, I'm making “enough” money and for the first time, I actually like my work and feel some satisfaction.
Fast forward 3 months, my supervisor at B casually drops the sentence when she's doing some observation, “You should really think about increasing your hours with us. You're doing really well!” And I was like….. what? Apparently the hiring manager was misguided and I could have started at B fulltime. THAT WAS SUPER FRUSTRATING. So being the “nice guy” I am, I talked to F and asked if there was any way I could get a raise to match it. (I'd honestly rather work fulltime for F as I live super close and the hours are set 8-430 M-F.) Also this sub and my previous work experience gave me more confidence as an employee to ask for this. After a couple days, they said I needed to wait to be more senior before I could get a raise. At that point, I let them know I'll need to drop to part time then. F says they understand. After like 2 weeks of phone and email tag, we finally got all the scheduling sorted out and I'm ready to start working fulltime at B and part-time at F next week.
Now this week; Monday, my supervisor at F conveniently says there is a company policy change that, because I have a degree in a related field, they will give me a $4 dollar raise, $2 more per hour than B. Well shit. My schedule is set… kind of, not set by either HR department yet.
I email B saying (paraphrased), “Hey, F is now paying me more than you do by $2 dollars. I need a 4 dollar raise from you to accomodate drive time and what not.” B emailed me back saying they reimburse mileage and drive time and possibility for career advancement. Yes, I know they do, but I don't want to drive. I tell them “I know you do. But F is only 7 miles away. To accomodate the inconvenience of the driving, I'd like to be paid another $4 an hour. Also F has the exact same possibility for career advancement in the exact same time frame.”
The ball is now in B's court. I genuinely feel giddy about having companies “fight” over my labor. It gives me a sense of power I've never felt before.