My apologies if this post doesn't belong in this subreddit. Please let me know if thats the case
I am in my last semester of graduation and looking for jobs in startups
One startup responded to my application and the HR told me that since I am still in college so they would hire me as an intern which is fine with me
She then asked my salary expectation and I responded with a pretty low amount since I was being hired as an intern (I would have asked for more if I was being hired for a job profile)
The HR upon hearing my salary expectation asked me to come for an interview in the office (1.5 hours away) and I agreed
In the interview they gave me an assignment to do which I couldn't finish but the senior developer at the company helped me out in the assignment and simplified it a lot for me but still I was unable to complete the assignment 100%, I finished it 80-85% and submitted it
They then decided to hire me anyways but for a job profile and asked my salary expectation again to which I replied with a higher amount than what I said earlier since I am not being hired as an intern and also the workload was going to be ginormous (I was being asked to work on weekends as well along with 8-9 hour workshifts 5 days a week and also go to a different country to clients for a few days if the situation arises)
The HR then took me to another room and said that she only called me here for the interview because of my previous salary expectation and also that my skillset is very poor and not good enough (which is true) for the job at this salary, she also said that I wasted the companies' and my own time by coming for the interview with a high expectation
I agreed to lower my salary expectation a little bit but still she wanted me to come down to my previous commitment but I decided not to take that job because the environment felt very condescending from the start and on top of that working on a low salary with a workload that huge along with college felt very overwhelming
I feel like they only wanted to hire me because of my low salary and my skillset had very little to do with it, they were constantly trying to simplify the assignment and telling me how to proceed (maybe so that they can show their boss that I completed the assignment)
I made this post to share my experience and maybe hear from you guys whether I made the right decision or not