I’m a teacher looking for work in a new private company I have 7 years of experience and a Masters. I recently interviewed for a position and I felt it went really well.
A few days later, I got a call and was told, “you’re not our top choice, but you could be if you were willing to come in with only 4 years of experience.” I could not say any fast enough! This would be an almost $8,000 deduction in my annual salary and it also would have impacted my extra/co-curricular stipends (which would be based on my salary) shorting me over $10,000 annually.
The posting said their ideal candidate would have 5+ years of experience and a master’s degree in either education or your content area. Yet, they’re only willing to pay for 4 years of experience? There’s already a teacher shortage- crap like this doesn’t help.
I know that this is a common thing for teachers. Usually if a company does this, they include it in the staff handbook, bargaining agreement, and/or contract. Those are all documents I review before even applying and avoided districts with language that suggested they would not honor years of experience. These companies didn’t have anything of the sort in those documents so I was annoyed/insulted when they asked me to accept a lower salary than I am worth.
I would never have interviewed if that was a possibility and I took time away from my life to prepare for an interview and meet with these people. Thankfully, I was offered a position elsewhere that honours all of my experience and education.