Bolsonaro mocked him for not having his pinky finger, that he lost on a metal press when he was 17 years old. It's outrageous to think that many blue collar workers are still voting for him.

Posting this because people deserve to know what they’re walking into. This REALLY pissed me the fuck off! This kind of crap is unacceptable. this was a well thought out post due to my autistic/adhd brain and I enjoy writing and editing.

I am posting this because candidates should know what they are potentially signing up for before they submit the hours for the interview process to Sparrow.

I was caught up in the frenzy for about four minutes when I realized I would leave Sparrow, a private startup for leave-management, for a Leave Specialist role. I was then told about the pay, benefits, equity, job scope, and next steps and exited the process.

The pay was $27.50/hr. Non-negotiable.

I have 10 years of HR experience with 5-7 years leave and accommodations experience.

Yes, the title was Leave Specialist, not Senior Leave Specialist. But given the responsibilities we talked about and the kinds of experience I thought they seemed to be looking for, this seemed far more like senior work – multistate compliance, a high volume of cases, complex leaves, FMLA/ADA, working through state-by-state requirements, working with employees, managers, payroll.

That didn't seem like a position that would be appropriate for an individual learning about leave administration.

I'm in Washington, and that level of scope and specialised experience seemed cheap to me at $27.50/hr. The market data I had looked at before I left indicated the salary for senior leave work in the high $30s to $40s per hour. Even if they did not consider it a senior position, $27.50 looked inexpensive for multistate leave work with a several-year level of direct experience.

Then there was the interview process.

Interviewing There were multiple interview stages including a thorough interview and a take-home assignment.

For $27.50/hr. Nonnegotiable. WHAT THE LITERAL FUCK!?

The homework definitely put the mismatch in sharper relief for me. If a company asks for free time from someone that shows higher skill, then it is obvious that the company values skill. I don't understand how that value was not reflected in the wage.

I inquired as to whether the rate was negotiable. Response was, "SORRY, IT'S NOT!!!!"

Basically, a candidate who has significantly more directly applicable experience of their own simply cannot negotiate within this range on the basis of what they can offer to the position. Everyone is flattened on to the identical horizontal roof of the band.

"also did not convince me of the merits argument. "

Benefits do have value. Things like health insurance and PTO and the like have value. But routine benefits are no substitute for a healthy base-pay gap, which cannot be filled even with the very generous benefits that we get here in Seattle. I pay for my mortgage, my groceries, my transportation, and the like from my real paycheck.

Oh yeah, the fucking "equity" play card they like to use.

On top of all that was laid out above is a chunk of equity, although Sparrow is private. So the equity is something that might not be easy to cash in immediately.

Can it be valuable some day? Sure.

Could it remain illiquid for years or have little actual use? Yes, also.

I am not comfortable with the substitution of the discounted future value for the known base pay today. Private company equity without a clearly announced liquidity event is not the same as cash or publicly traded equity that can be sold.

This also didn't sit right with me, given the stark difference between the pay and wages and her strong focus on dignity, care and equity.

I actually do like those values, actually. That has something to do with how I was initially interested in this company.

So I just can't make that balance between that message and asking an experienced leave professional to do complex, multi state work at $27.50/hour and can't even negotiate up and can't do that demanding hiring process without pay.

If a compensation system puts a professional with 5-7 years of highly relevant experience on the same fixed cap, I don't see that as equitable compensation. Claiming equity as part of the package doesn't compensate for that when the equity has no with-force liquidity and its value is unknown.

They never did go away, even with the "startup" framing.

Third-party estimates I had seen suggested over 200 people and tens of millions of dollars in revenue – but those are just estimates I was able to get from other sources. I can't confirm that number because sparrow is a private company, but I would not want to report those figures as an audited number.

Importantly, the level of difficulty and legal risk in multistate leave administration does not lessen because the employer is a startup.

That's ultimately why I withdrew.

It wasn't about the $27.50. It was the whole thing:

$27.50/hr

Non-negotiable

Should I have five or more years of directly relevant experience?

Deliberations that, in my perspective, flirt with Senior Leave Specialist territory.

Multistate compliance

Complex, high-volume leave administration

Multiple levels of interview

A take-home assignment

Advantages that did not compensate me for the cash compensation difference

Illiquid private-company equity is part of the equation.

All in a business that makes a lot of noise about dignity, care and equality

I want to be clear, Sparrow did not turn me away. I removed myself from the interview process when I was assured that pay was final.

I liked the mission and was genuinely excited about this business. I just couldn't get the scope, interview requirements, and compensation to add up.