Picture this, you are being interviewed for a job position. The interview goes like every interview ever, and you come to the payscale part – the most interesting bit because it is not mentioned on the job posting. The interviewer tells you the pay and you’re aghast. The pay is low! And here’s the thing – you have your own set of responsibilities and bills to pay. So you tell your interviewer that you cannot work for that low a salary. End of discussion.

But then the hiring manager starts bashing you because you are being shallow for asking for a fair remuneration. 
It might sound far-fetched. But this is exactly what happened with this woman. 

Maysun Valles posted a video on TikTok of how she interviewed for the position of receptionist where the job posting did not mention the pay. In her now-viral video which has been viewed more than 2 million times, she says “I get to the end of the interview, and he tells me the pay. It’s low. And so he asks me how I’m feeling, and I’m like, ‘Frankly, the pay is low, and I can’t work for that. I gotta be honest.’ And I brought up that the pay wasn’t listed on the job listing.”

BuzzFeed

And to this, the hiring manager said, “Yeah, you know, here’s the thing…there’s a lot more here to gain than just money, and we are looking for people who are motivated by more than just money.” This comment by the interviewer made the woman realize a lot of things.

Very aptly she says, “I live in the real world where people need money to survive… How the f*** are you going to make me seem like the bad guy for needing f***ing money?”

While this incident took place in the United States, this phenomenon is not new. There have been numerous instances where people have taken to the social media to share how companies offer to pay less while offering free lunches, and “exposure” as employee perks.

Call it millennial work culture – but the current generation is not willing to work for low pay, work at odd hours, and work without employee benefits, and rightly so. After all, exposure and free lunch will not pay my bills, at least in this economy.