*RED FLAGS AND HORRIBLE COMMUNICATION*
First I applied to a school on the east side of NY through email and was given an informal video interview. I was told that another applicant was being interviewed. I never heard back from the woman at the school who interviewed me.
I applied online to another location in NY and within a week or so, I heard back from the HR over the NE area of the U.S. She seemed quite kind and thorough with the interview, but later found out I was wrong. I passed the initial interview and was asked to do a written one. I breezed through that interview and was told I’d be put in contact with the head of school for west side of NY.
I finally interviewed with the head of school, but the interview started a few minutes late. Then I realized I was speaking with the assistant head of school instead of the head of school. That’s fine, but I wasn’t warned ahead of time. In the interview, I wasn’t told the reason why the head of school wasn’t there. She did join the meeting, but later than the already late time the interview had started.
The head of school was a bit curt, but got straight to the point. She asked me what I wanted to get paid and I flat out told her. She said she couldn’t afford that, but offered a lower pay which was still good. This video meeting was on a Friday.
The following Monday, I get an insincere email from the head of school stating that due to “budget”, she has to lower my salary by $12,000. That’s an extreme change and when I emailed the HR for an explanation, she never emailed me back (it’s been a week now). I tried to negotiate the pay or other benefits with the head of school, but she wouldn’t budge and wrote another insincere, short apology. I told the head of school I’d get back to her, but she also never emailed me back.
Please do not work for this school, or at least for any of the branches in New York. They’ve shown a lot of unprofessionalism and I need more than a one-worded explanation of why someone’s salary would be lowered by a staggering $12,000 just for the “budget”. A company or head of school that either lies and/or makes such a HUGE miscalculation is not somewhere I would feel safe working for. It’s a shame because I’m sure other locations in other states may be great.
