The second interview, at the 3PL company, was the one that taught me something I needed to know.
The hiring manager was named Patricia. She was thorough in the way of someone who has made a bad hire before and has decided to be very careful. The first interview was forty minutes. The second was a panel. I was in front of four people who asked me operational questions with the specific detail of people who know the field, and I answered them with the specific detail of someone who has lived in the field, and I left feeling genuinely confident, which is a state I do not often reach after an interview.
The offer came by phone. Patricia said she was excited to make the offer, which I thought was a good sign. The figure she named was $54,000 annually.
I had been earning more than that. The role was director-level. The market range for an operations director in this region was $62,000 to $78,000, and I knew this because I had done the research before the first interview, because doing the research is what I do.
I did something I had never done in my professional life. I told Patricia I’d expected to be in the $62,000 to $78,000 range for a director-level role, given my experience, and asked whether there was flexibility.
There was a pause on the phone. Then she said they had some flexibility and would see what they could do.