Last week, a young Canadian woman named Taylor Byrnes went for a job at a food delivery company.
The Winnipeg resident made it through the first phone interview and was busily preparing for a second face-to-face one, when she dared to enquire what she might expect to be paid for her work, and what the conditions were like.
“If I do end up filling the position, how much do you think I’ll be getting paid and hour? Benefits will also be included, right?” Byrnes asked an HR staffer from Skip The Dishes via email on Sunday.
She then apologised, thanked them for their time, wished them a lovely day and signed the message off with a smiley face. The gall of it.
Understandably, her prospective employer found the youngster's obvious, unchecked ambition so off-putting, they labelled her entirely unemployable and told her not to come in for the meeting.
Over two return emails from recruiter Victoria Karras, Byrnes was told she was"not in sync" with the company's priorities would not be a good fit within its "unique" corporate culture.
"As a start-up company, we seek out those who go out of their way to seek out challenges and new opportunities. We believe in hard work and perseverance in pursuit of company goals as opposed to focusing on compensation,” Karras explained in the second email.
Skip The Dishes wanted "proven self-starters" with "intrinsic motivation", you see, not money-grubbing millennials willing to scoff at invaluable 'foot in door' opportunities.
*ahem*
Byrnes shared screenshots of the responses on her Twitter account with the hashtag #BoycottSkip and people were rather unimpressed.
Her original tweet has now been shared some 4,600 times, leaving Skip The Dishes with little choice but to respond.
In a tweet on their own account, the company offered "heartfelt apologies" and said they'd love to have her in for a second interview, after all.
Skip The Dishes also gave assurances to others thinking of working for them that they would be remunerated and it was OK to ask about it.
Byrnes has yet to reply, but one imagines she'll be seeking opportunities elsewhere.