Experiencing Experience

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they stop thinking about “if I could just land a job…” and they start thinking about “if I could just land a job that has benefits, will pay me what I’m worth, and will appreciate what I have to offer”. These times come with a price tag, however, which can run up an endless expense account in experience. When does it become ok to forego experience for a salary and benefits? I had an interview last week that answered that timeless question. It began just as any other “is this going to be the one” response to my resume. My qualifications were impressive, they said, and my background provided the niche that they were looking for. I packed up my portfolio, dusted off my nervousness, and headed for the interview. The actual interview itself was mentally placed into my top 15%. The questions were asked and answered, even though one or two were stumbled across and required a few quick-witted replies on my part. However, once we arrived at the “do you have any questions for us” portion and they started talking to me, I realized that my potential dream interview had turned into a new lesson in looking for the nearest exit, as quickly as possible, and being as polite as possible about the constant head turning and mouth dropping stares I was trying to hide from them. My first question, just like any graduate of the “school of how-to-interview properly” was about their company goals and what they hoped to succeed in and what they thought they had to fight for in the upcoming year. My second question was sure to come as well… “do you offer a benefits package?”. Their response stunned me. The two interviews gave a sideways glance and stated in a matter-of-fact tone “it’s on an individual, as-needed basis. If you need it, and we can afford it, you can most likely have it”. We’ll call that jaw-dropper one. I gathered my scruples and asked “what is offer for compensation?” We’ll go ahead and call this jaw-dropper two. They answered “your salary is paid out of our fundraising dollars. While we hope that we can meet our offer each year, it largely depends on contributions to our facility”. (You can go ahead and close your mouth now). This was my ephiphany. I realized no amount of experience could match a terrible, gut-wrenching fear each month that a group in our community would donate enough to match my salary and pay for my benefits package. I nodded politely and closed the interview with a smile. After all, experience has taught me that you never know when your interviewer/interviewee networking “interview” could provide fantastic benefits later on.