Out Of The Box
I Was Right
It was too good to be true…
I walked into the meeting with the publisher feeling confident about my presentation. I informed them that I had a powerpoint presentation but they did not make arrangements for it. That’s okay. I had printed out my presentation just in case so handed out copies to the publisher and her her assistant.
As I went through all of my points I could tell they were not expecting so much detail. I wasn’t long winded, just thorough in my explanation of the role of a freelance editor and my goals for the position and my vision for the content of the magazine.
After I was done, the publisher sat back and folded her arms. “Well,” she said. “That was a great presentation. After seeing all of this I have a better picture of what this position entails. But…looking at both positions that I have offered you, I think it would not be wise for you to take both since the editor position is obviously your area of passion and knowledge. Your ideas are excellent and you are on the money with your themes and story ideas so let’s have you concentrate on that.”
I shrug. “I’m sure you know what’s best for your company.” I tell her.
“Now for the editor position. How much do you think you should earn?”
I give her a number that is WELL BELOW the average for editors in this area. She looks surprised.
“Ma’am. This is a management position. Managing and recruiting writers, creating the direction for content and filling up the entire magazine with interesting information is a lot to do and takes time. This is not a simple 9-5 job. This is a lifestyle. I’m willing to put my heart into this.”
“Hmm.. Well that’s not in my budget this year. Maybe you could write a few articles for us and then write for other people too.”
“Sure,” I say and I understand. I walked into the meeting with two solid job offers and she has now rescinded on both of them.
I don’t get upset. Well, just a little. The office is 45 minutes away from where I live and I wasted a lot of gas riding up there.
At the end of the night I look at my missed calls and notice that her number is there. I call her phone the next morning.
“Hello, I just can’t seem to get you out of my spirit, ” She says. “I know you have the qualifications that I need to help get my office up and running. And we really need someone to do all of those things you talked about in your presentation. I was hoping you could come in for a couple of months as an admin assistant and do both. Just to have some income coming in and then you can go off and do whatever…”
“Are you offering me BOTH jobs for the admin salary of $25,000 a year?”
“Just for a few months. Just help us set things up.”
Wow. The old bait and switch. She first offered me two different positions with totally seperate salaries and NOW she wants me to work like a dog on BOTH jobs for only 25k.
That is more than 10k less than my last salary. PLUS I’ll be wasting all kinds of gas driving 45 minutes each way, EVERY DAY with only a promise of 2 months of employment, no benefits and being her personal assistant, her office manager and the editor of her magazine.
Sigh…
Black women business leaders. It happens everytime.
I tell her I’ll think about it and call her back. I email my friends explaining the whole situation and then I call my Mama for her opinion.
“That bitch tried you!” My Mama hisses into the phone. “If I were you I wouldn’t even call her back.”
I called her back and said, “Sorry, that salary is not beneficial to me.”
“Ok,” she said and hung up.
I saw her number on my caller ID yesterday. She didn’t leave a message and I didn’t call her back.
So…back to sqaure one for me.
Still looking and waiting for my chance to do what I was placed here to do. Sometimes I feel like an eskimo in the Bahamas, but I’m sure I’ll find my place one day.
“Some of the most wonderful people
are the ones who don’t fit into boxes.”
Tori Amos