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My internship is about to end in two months. I was under the impression that I'll start looking for a job towards mid August and then decide what to do. I didn't expect my company to offer me a position so early before my internship ended.

Initially I had liked the place. The work was pretty relaxed and I had quite a bit of freedom. Soon enough, I proved my worth and my team started respecting my opinions and suggestions. They even consulted me on multiple occasions.

The first thing I noticed on the downside was the company, despite being resourceful enough and having a decent turnover and important clients, was quite stingy in terms of employee welfare. There was no coffee. There was machine but you had to buy the capsule for yourself. And that sucks. I know I don't need to say more but the other problems were there was no enterprise subscription (or any subscription) to PhpStorm even though our team handled so many PHP projects. I know IDEs are personal preferences but not having any professional IDEs is not something to let slide. The lead dev uses NetBeans (and not because he loved it or anything). Even though I worked on WebDev and front end, I had no option to ask for a second screen. I had one display apart from my laptop. Usually most companies in Paris provides food tickets for internships and this company did not even give me that. And worst of all, there wasn't really anyone I looked up to. As much as I enjoy responsibilities and all, I don't think I should be in an environment where I have nothing much to learn from my seniors. For some fucked sense of security and certainty, I was willing to overlook all this when they offered me a position. But I recently had my interview and the regional manager, a fuck face who still makes me wonder how he reached his position, made a proposal for some quite a small amount of salary. What infuriated more than his justifications was his attitude itself. There was absolutely no respect whatsoever. It was more like "We'll give you this, I think this is more than enough for you. Take it or do whatever you want". I asked for more and he didn't even bother negotiating. I declined the offer.

Now this would have solved all the issues. But my manager and my lead dev like me a lot. Both of them are pretty nice people. They both were bothered with the fact that I had turned down the offer. My manager even agreed that the offer was too low and had already given me tips to help me negotiate. But after I turned down the offer, she went and discussed the issue with the regional manager and he offered me a new proposal. This time it was decent but still under my expectations. I'm pretty sure I can do better elsewhere. I said I need time to think about it. I get multiple advises from people to take it atleast so that I get my visa converted to a work permit. For some reason, I want to take the risk and say no. And find something else. But today my lead dev called me aside and asked me if was going to say no. He really tried to influence me by telling me a lot of good things about me and telling me about the number of different projects we're going to start next month and all that. Even though I'm fully convinced that I don't want to work here, just the sheer act of saying no to these two people I respect is sooo fucking difficult for me that I can already imagine me working here for the next one year. The worst part is I can clearly classify their words and sentences into stuff they say to canvass me, stuff they're bullshitting about and flattery just to make me stay. Despite knowing I'm being taken advantage of, some fucked up module in my head wouldn't stop guilt tripping me. I don't know what to do. If I only I could find a really better job.

Pardon the grammatical errors if any. I'm just venting out and my thoughts branch in 500 different ways simultaneously.

Comments
  • 2
    I would most certainly wait with your decision until you have other offers. They take you any time, so no rush on that end. After knowing your actual situation, you can show them what you deserve and negotiate from there. By the way, having a capsule machine and having to buy your own is much better than only having one coffee brand, without the option to use your own. Just sayin.
  • 1
    Just say yes for now and keep searching. If you find something better, tell them you have received a better offer and that they need to be competetive, or you'll take the other offer.

    Headhunting is a problem for companies that underpay their devs, and if they do that, they have to know the downsides of their payment plan.

    Also, you likely have a probation period where both sides can cancel the contract with just two weeks of notice.
  • 2
    @Fast-Nop can't do that. The company will spend a lot of money on me (apparently) to convert my student visa to employee visa so I have a moral commitment to stay there for a year atleast. That's that they tell me. And there's no probationary period because I've already worked 5 months as an intern.
  • 1
    @p100sch it's not just negotiating. I'm unsure if I want to work here regardless of what they might offer me.
  • 1
    @exceptionalGuy In that case just think about what you want to do in the future and if the conclusion is at least "definitely not working at that company" you simply move on and start the search for what you really like to do. If your colleges get offended by that, than be it. If they are that only means that they weren't worth staying for anyway.
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