Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ugh. You totally got me on that flied vs flyed. So embarassed. I posted it at 1am so I was a little tired.
Quote:
Disagree. On one hand you are saying the employer is trying to screw her over by underpaying her even at her desired salary, and on the other you are saying treat that employer with gratitude and respect. Pansy-ass bull**** ass kissing like that is what is wrong the corporate world.
That's kind of how I felt. My dad was unemployed for a year after being laid off. I had to watch him deal with **** like this every couple weeks. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the way I had been treated after investing time with their management. As one poster said, they obviously have ****ty communication. Their COO had no idea what their going rate was for this position and forwarded me to Cleveland anyway. This after telling me that I wouldn't be hurting my chances simply by asking a certain salary. I didn't get personal, and I wasn't overly confrontational. The strongest statement I made was that I FELT it was unprofessional and discourteous.
I should stress that although they only very recently started mass-marketing this device. Maybe the phrase start-up wasn't the best description. This company has been around for 10 years. Many of their executives have 15-20 years experience in management positions at medical device companies. This isn't a group of twenty and thirty somethings trying to turn a profit after years struggling through clinical trials. They should all kind of have an idea on how to handle candidates who have made it to the final stages of a long interview process.
What's also odd was that being either a respiratory therapist or RN was a requirement, when I checked their two other clinical specialists Linkedin profiles, none of them had any clinical experience. They were both former sales execs. The only other therapist I knew of was the person I initially had the screen interview with. It's like they had no concept of the fact that being licensed kind of commands a certain salary. You are not going to pull one over on someone by low-balling them. There is still plenty of decent paying jobs in this field. Especially, if you live in a large metropolitan area, which was required for this job because you needed to be within an hour of an international airport. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the job might have required some international travel.
Am I not allowed to provide feedback? If anything, what I said revealed their true colors. They thought I was a young guy that that could completely low-ball on salary. The senior VP gave me the "free advice" that my asking price was some kind of character flaw.
As far a poor negotiation skills, I realize that I did sound unsure. However, there really isn't much to draw off. Their aren't exactly people in my profession, at the minimum level of education required to be licensed, that are traveling around the country assisting with surgical implants. Hell, there aren't many respiratory therapists that are actually salaried. The only exception MIGHT be hospital department managers. They also NEVER gave me a salary range. I was hesitant to ask because I read that it made you look money hungry, and I honestly thought I had made a fair request.
Just to give you an idea. I currently make $27/hr working 40hrs a week. No travel. No weekends. No holidays. Time and half for OT. I only need 30+ hrs a week to maintain all my benefits. I work at a skilled nursing facility. No ICU. Very little critical medical emergencies. Mostly pulmonary rehab. Most hospitals usually provide shift differentials of $2-3 additional per hour for nights and weekends.
My requested salary a this company would have put me at approx $36/hr for a 40hr week. From what I described in my initial post, does it sound like I'd be working 40hrs per week? If put in 60hrs of work in a week for them, which I don't think is two unreasonable, that would put me at approx $24/hr. The bonus would have been 10% of my salary. However, that was based on sales growth in my region. Of course, I was expected to promote the device, but would receive no commission. I should also mention that there was no company car, 10 days vacation and no 401k matching. I would be provided a phone, fax, laptop, internet,standard IRS reimbursement for mileage and out of town meal expenses.
I really think that I just got overwhelmed by the uniqueness of the job more than anything. I can guarantee that there probably aren't more than a few dozen of respiratory therapist that hold positions like this. I would have gotten to travel to different place and train with a world-renowned surgeon for the first several months. The networking could have been phenomenal. I wasn't desperate for a job. I just kind of fell in love with this idea, and totally sold into what sounded like a cool company. It all seemed like it was in the bank and then all of the sudden....nothing.
Truthfully, I think many of you are right when you say I dodged a bullet. I have spoken with some people I know in the industry and a few of my profession mentors, and they seem to think the same.
Unfortunately, I feel very jaded. I just don't think I'm cut out to work with these kind of people. The way they treat potential and current employees may be the way things are, but that doesn't mean I or you have to accept it. I don't regret what I said to the VP. Yes, it burned a bridge. Yes, at that point it was all just theater. But frankly, I'm glad I was completely honest with that prick. I mean, if we don't start speaking up to people like that because we are afraid they might not hire us in the future, then what kind of professional environment are we subjecting ourselves to?
The red flag to me is that you were asked to fly out on your dime up front. For them to prepray that they are risking what? a 1k? And the only risk is that you would flake out and not do the interview. If they could not risk 1k how are they going to sell the product when we all know they will have to make many sales trips wining and dining MD's to promote their product.
Sounds like a cool job (other than the travel, being at their beck & call, & lousy pay) but I'm wondering how you can go into the OR & advise the surgeons if you have no surgery, emergency or critical care experience yourself? Is that maybe why you weren't offered the position?
Also, regarding the device, even if it was recently FDA approved, it does not mean that the insurance companies or Medicare will approve/pay for it. It may very well still be considered investigational, and your job would be to "sell" it to the surgeons, who will then use it & write "case studies" about it's efficacy. Do you know if there have been any double blind clinical research studies on it? If so, how many? I'm really curious, can you reveal what the device is? what exactly is the purpose of the implant? I used to write medical policy so I know a little about these things...We rarely considered case studies (or even a single clinical study) to prove a device or procedure's effectiveness.
Last edited by caligirlz; 03-14-2013 at 10:00 PM..
My requested salary a this company would have put me at approx $36/hr for a 40hr week. From what I described in my initial post, does it sound like I'd be working 40hrs per week? If put in 60hrs of work in a week for them, which I don't think is two unreasonable, that would put me at approx $24/hr. The bonus would have been 10% of my salary. However, that was based on sales growth in my region. Of course, I was expected to promote the device, but would receive no commission. I should also mention that there was no company car, 10 days vacation and no 401k matching. I would be provided a phone, fax, laptop, internet,standard IRS reimbursement for mileage and out of town meal expenses.
That's total BS!!
When I worked PACU, we received an hourly % of our base salary just to be on call, and then we got time & a half when we did get called in. Your salary should be high enough to compensate for this.
No, I wouldn't have been in scrubbing up and actually IN the OR. There is a control center that maps out the muscle fibers in the diaphragm to see which illicit the strongest contractions so the surgeon would know where to implant the four electrodes. After implantation, you would then have to program an external device that provided electrical stimulation to kind of "sync" the patient's breathing with that device.
It's called the NeuRx DPS by Synapse Biomedical. I have to admit it's pretty awesome.
They have completed clinical trials for the device. I believe it was FDA approved for spinal cord injuries in 2006 and ALS in 2008. They received some kind of humanitarian status with MCR and Medicaid. It IS covered by government and private insurances.
My clinical expertise barely came up in the interviews. They seemed more concerned about whether I was willing to travel frequently and sometimes on short notice, and how I could interact with and persuade physicians.
Flew... You flew. Might be a good idea to run a spell check on your resume as well.
But at any rate, you took the chance, and it didn't work out. That's life. Time to move and figure out your next course of action. Simple as that.
Hopefully, crystal ball technology will evolve to the point that we can comfortably place our chips on the table while never incurring a loss, but that day has not yet arrived.
Keep in mind that the recruitment is like a courtship, employment is like a marriage. If they don't treat you well during the recruitment phase reject them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
