Slight rant here, but, I’m pretty annoyed at the moment. I’ve spent 7 years working with individuals with Autism, mainly children but recently adults. I was injured and spent 5 years out of work due to a spinal injury and subsequent spinal surgery. It took me 13 months of physical therapy to get back to work at the beginning of this year. I found a company who jumped on hiring me and offered me a higher position than I’d actually inquired about. They said all the right things and I ultimately accepted a position. I was offered $17.25/hr, which I thought was low for my experience, but was just happy for the quick offer. I worked there for a little over 4 months and quit due to extremely poor communication within the organization. 10 days after I quit I was offered a management job at another organization with a $5,500 pay raise and a salaried position, so it all worked out. Today however, I texted a coworker from the last job site and during the conversation asked how much they were paid upon starting. They stated they were paid $17.50/hr. This employee was fantastic with clients and a great worker, however, they had 0 days of experience coming in and actually were working retail before starting. I came in with 7 years experience and educational background and got paid less… 6 months after the other person started. I’m glad I quit, got all the training and certifications from them, and gambled on myself but I’m just perplexed how this is fair, and makes me wish I’d asked people sooner their wages. Ugh…