u/NorthPrestigious1888

I (M, 51) went to a third interview at a small but well-known company a few weeks ago. The owner of the company was something else. I'm still trying to figure out if it was a prank. Here are some of the things he said verbatim:

"Official working hours are from 9 to 5, but no one leaves on time. I want 11 net working hours from you every day. I monitor the cameras, and I know who works hard and who messes around. So, 55 hours of work a week, that's the minimum."

"The salary is a fixed $70,000. That's what I have."

"Look, working with me isn't easy. Consider me like that nagging sergeant in the army."

"The thing that annoys me most is speculation and guessing. I work with facts only. If you start 'assuming' things, you'll cause me problems, and then you'll have a big problem with me. So, it's better to avoid it."

"Our culture here is amazing. We had a company bowling day last year."

"Oh, you'll be working with Steve. He's a bit of a mix. He's a genius, but sometimes he's arrogant because he thinks he's the smartest person in the room."

"You have a small web design business on the side? You need to forget about that. I need 100% of your focus here if I hire you."

"Honestly, you're my first choice for the position."

So, to be clear, he's offering $70,000 for a normal work week, but in return, he wants me to give him 780 extra hours of work per year for free. The man was unbelievably difficult and clearly a first-rate micromanager. I don't understand how he even has employees. And the kicker? His wife runs HR.

When I got home, I sent him a polite email withdrawing myself from consideration. The surprise was that he replied asking if I was interested in doing some freelance work for him. I replied and explained in detail why I withdrew, and as I expected, he didn't answer again. I dodged a bullet.

I applied for a role that required a very strange and specific mix of experience. I mean, it was clear they were looking for some mythical candidate who would be impossible to find, and somehow I matched almost everything they were asking for. As I was reading the posting, it felt strangely familiar, like it had been taken from my resume. So when they contacted me about an interview, I honestly thought to myself: okay, this makes sense.

The interview was supposed to be 25 minutes with the hiring manager, but she talked for about 18 of those minutes, and I probably only got 6 or 7 minutes to answer anything before she had to jump into another meeting. Then this morning I got a rejection email saying they wouldn't be moving forward with me.

This whole job search process has become really hard. I've been looking for several months, sent out way too many applications, and in the end I've only gotten a few interviews. So getting rejected from something that seemed like such an obvious match, without even getting a real chance to speak, really hurt. I kept replaying everything in my head - was it the way I spoke, how I looked on camera, what I said about pay, everything. Job searching is honestly exhausting and incredibly discouraging.

Hey everyone, I'm in talks with another company, and it looks like they're definitely going to send me a job offer. The numbers are very tempting: they're talking about around 110k, which is a huge difference from the 85k I'm getting now.

The problem is, I'm genuinely happy where I am right now. The job is stable, I know everything about it, and our team is great. But this increase is hard to ignore. Plus, this new role is entirely remote, which is a big advantage compared to my current job where I go to the office every day.

And then if we look at the long term. My current company gives good annual raises, usually a guaranteed 7k, and sometimes even more. I suspect the new place might be less in this regard, maybe around 4-5%. On the other hand, their bonus system seems better than what I'm getting now.

There's another important factor: company size. My current company is a small team, maybe 50 people. This new organization is massive - we're talking over 12,000 employees and billions of dollars in revenue. I'm not exactly sure how that will change the day-to-day work, but I think having a big, well-known company name on my CV could be a strong boost for my career future.

Has anyone else been in this situation? I'd be very grateful to hear your experiences or any advice you can offer. Thanks!