I got the call on the one job yesterday morning. And I asked the magic question : “What’s your IP clause? How about non-compete?” thinking “it’s no big deal, it’s negotiable.”
WRONG
Their legal department doesn’t have one, HR may not care to invent one, and the manager has given HR authorization to rescind the offer. Look, I just want to know my rights. And those rights pretty much break down into “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but if we find out and it can make money, we’ll most likely take it away from you.”
And so Renee is PISSED. Apparently this job is the magic bullet – if I get it, everything will be magically better my first day on the job. But since I didn’t get it, we’re naturally going to loose the house, fall into debt, and be street people. (This is why I don’t let her handle the bills anymore – every week would be a bitch-fest on how we spend too much money and need to change our lifestyle and pack lunches and do this or that…I got tired of hearing it)
And, of course, I fucked it up, because I asked the question – never mind that they aren’t interested in answering it, or negotiating.
Ah well, it’ll blow over by this morning.
Is one of the sleaziest, nastiest, most corrupt places you could hope never to work for. If you do end up working for them, watch your ass every single minute, protect yourself any way you can, and never let your guard down. Don’t trust anyone.
I found out the hard way.