Do you negotiate your salary when you are trying to get a new job?
A recruiter (Mercedes Johnson) got herself in some hot water that was unexpected when she shared that she paid a woman exactly what she asked for even though the company she works for had the budget for more.
In her post she said:
I just offered a candidate $85,000 for a job that had a budget of $130,000.
I offered her that because that’s what she asked for and I personally don’t have the bandwidth to give lessons on salary negotiation.
Here’s the lesson: ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SALARY YOU WANT (DESERVE), no matter how large you think that might be. You never know how much money a company has to work with.
The post took a turn for the worse pretty quickly!
One Twitter user compared her sentiments to that of another recruiter who chose to pay a higher salary to someone who asked for low compensation.
See below:
There are 2 types of ppl in this world smh pic.twitter.com/dlHA3rXJWB
— ✨BOOBERELLA✨ (@TE_AMO_COURT) January 29, 2022
One of the issues many found with her tweet was her choice to deliberately contribute to the wage gap when she has the power to change things.
Facebook user Marquese Lewis shared her opinion saying in a world full of Mercedes be a Briana, see below:
She went further to pull Mercedes’ alleged employer into the conversation.
Honeywell:
We do not think Honeywell will have time to breathe with the barrage of tweets they are receiving on the issue.
If you’ve just been offered a job at @honeywell by Mercedes S. Johnson you can instantly demand $45k pay rise!
And if you’re asked why, just reply that you have no bandwidth to give lessons on salary negotiations. https://t.co/F3E1DHc6C4— Jakub Konecki (@JakubKonecki) January 30, 2022
Twitter was not here for any of it, some users making the point that this isn’t about feelings but still not able to get past the fact that someone would have the opportunity to do the right thing but choose not to.
I cannot believe this woman is a professional recruiter. I really hope her client saw this and realizes how underpaid their new hire is. Knowing these companies though, they probably will give Mercedes a bonus for this so I hope the new hire ghosts ASAP https://t.co/H7sNgEhVQT
— Andrea G ??⚖️???♀️ (@AndreaG114) January 29, 2022
and
“I don’t have the bandwidth to give lessons on salary negotiations.”
Im so CONFUSED. ? pic.twitter.com/iC21T00mPz
— Breakfast at Mica’s ? (@hood_ellewoods) January 29, 2022
and
My boss at my very first job out of school told me later ‘we low balled you and expected you to counter, that’s why you were underpaid for years’. The offer was more than either of my parents made, I had no concept that I was worth more. Still salty I was there for 7 years.
— Laura (@laurasue56) January 29, 2022
and
Imagine being in the position to make sure another woman is paid her worth and you — don’t ?
— LINDSEY ??? ? | UX/UI Designer (@LindseyCreated) January 29, 2022
and
Sad to see. Also, re negotiating, candidates should ask what’s budgeted for the role. In some states, when asked that question, the interviewer is required to tell. When asked to provide a salary range, the follow up should be: can you please share what’s budgeted for this role?
— Nakia Paula (@NakiaPaula) January 29, 2022
and
It’s about being ethical & decent. Pay for the work to be performed – this is one of the reasons businesses are suffering. This employee if hire, will be a part of their team & to build & keep a great team, you need to be fair and decent. Creating inequity at the door is not it.
— EncourageOneAnother (@EncouragedOne) January 29, 2022
and
The reason why people are upset is because she’s a woman, not ‘looking out’ for another woman. In REALITY, you don’t get what your worth.. you get what you negotiate. If she would’ve just began and stopped her statement with the first paragraph, the slander wouldn’t be here.
— FAKE LLC. BUSTER™️ (@FakeLLCBuster) January 29, 2022
and
First frame was me, I asked for a very low salary bc I was desperate for a job if I’m being honest. Now I’m doing a ton of work and feel underpaid, definitely looking for another job bc management/HR feel way too comfortable taking advantage of people.
— angel (@KabiahSeonaid) January 29, 2022
Mercedes tried to defend herself giving more context to her post.
She said, what the post didn’t tell was that she did ask the candidate if that was the salary she actually wanted and that she does her best with the 8 hours of the day she is given.
Read below:
As you can imagine that did not go very well:
and
and
and
and then there is this:
It’s crazy how she said she didn’t have the bandwidth to tell the new hire the lesson but then post the lesson in a tweet. When one read the lesson, it seem like only a minute would be needed to say what she tweeted. SMH
— Mikamouse (@Mikamou58016289) January 30, 2022
and
Mercedes Johnson just ruined her own reputation and career to say she flexed on someone with her soon to be former company’s coin.
— Lauren Thomas Quigley, PhD (@LaurenDThomas1) January 30, 2022
What is your opinion? Comment below!
This Mercedes girl is giving a bad name to the rest of us recruiters and I hope she changes careers. She should not be in this line of work as she is obviously demonstrating no conscience. How could she be so proud of herself when she knowingly robbed someone of the “opportunity” to earn so much more…. So unfair and disgusting, really I love the tweet from BREAKFAST AT MICA’S (@hood_ellewoods). Thank you for sharing all this detail.
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[…] less than what she had the capacity to pay and less than what the candidate asked for, because the candidate purportedly didn’t know her worth or wasn’t confident. Because many people have had the experience being offered less than their […]