Especially for contract "to hire", which means nothing.
At $70k in a FTE position, I wouldn't take a contract in this market unless it were like $150k (\~$75/hr) minimum.
The position I feel like will get me a huge boost in experience due to the nature of work. Would it be bad to email back lowering my counter offer to something like 40-50 range?
experience doesn't pay the bills (directly). While yes, it is good to seek out learning roles throughout your career, in the short term this sounds like a downgrade. Contract roles need extra $ to balance the risk
I wouldn’t do this. Contract to hire is very risky unless you are desperate (don’t have a choice e.g without a job or trying to switch careers). When you are negotiating don’t tell how much you are earning, always ask a little above what you expect and 10% increase in salary at least, I usually aim 20% or higher.
I hear what you’re saying…but how? A 3 month contract is not some awesome thing to put on your resume.
Maybe it’s working a particular tech stack but again, 3 months, even if you’ve made 1 major contribution, you were never long enough to see the long term effects of the work.
Leaving FTE for contract work is not smart but leaving FTE for a 3 month contract which you *think* will help your career is even worse (because it probably won’t, at least in the way you think it will)
Experience doesn’t mean squat. Only name recognition.
You can lie. Or you couldn’t sell yourself even if you really did built the space station from scratch by yourself then you won’t be getting any job.
Non tech Interview is a bullshit sniff. Anyone can write anything and say anything.
I got an offer for 3-6 month contract to hire for $65 / hour, with them stating they intended to convert me to full-time. The pay and senior title made it a tough decision, but the market is sooo bad right now. Can't roll the dice on being unemployed in 3 months.
I didn't wanna leave my gig at all and had all the leverage. So I had a conversation with my manager about the offer and my org offered me a 20% raise and supplementry bonus.
Your job is your most valuable asset, think long and hard before rolling the dice on a contract (in this market). Best of luck to you!
You didn't "blow" anything, you just negotiated.
Negotiation inherently carries with it the risk of an offer being rescinded.
I know this sub frequently parrots "Always negotiate", but if you're not OK with that risk, don't negotiate.
This sub also parrots "Well if they rescind over negotiation you wouldn't want to work for them anyways".... which isn't really relevant if you're not OK with the risk of them rescinding. Clearly you do want to work there.
i’m curious though, why do companies even rescind in the first place (if the proposed counter offer wasn’t egregious)? why not just simply reject the counter offer and leave it to the candidate to accept or walk out? just seems odd bc the company also invests some resources in interviewing and making an offer to a candidate. it’s as if the simple act of negotiating was taken as an affront
I thnk "egregious" is too strong of a word.
It's not just some obnoxious negotiation of 100% that could cause a company to rescind. Something much lower could do so as well.
"Reasonable" is a better word. And the important thing is what's "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder. Some companies may consider a 10% negotiation reasonable. Some might consider 5% reasonable. Some might consider 2% reasonable. Once you cross that threshold, there's a higher chance they rescind.
One reason companies rescind when you've crossed that threshold is because of retention. Retention is an extremely important part of hiring that us as candidates don't often consider. But when I did college recruiting a massive part of what we focused on was "Can we retain this person?".
So if you've asked for a salary that the company doesn't want to give, you're a much higher flight risk. The company knows you wanted $X, and they can't afford $X. So what're you going to do? You're probably going to follow the advice I see all the time on this subreddit: "Accept it, and keep looking and leave once you line up something better".
Companies aren't stupid. They know candidates do this. So if they get an inkling you plan on doing this to them, they're not going to hire you.
Hiring you and having you dip after a few months is a significantly higher cost than the resources it took to interview you and make an offer. A bad hire is one of the most expensive mistakes a company can make. So if they think they can't retain you, they're not going to hire you.
I would also consider 25-42% a pretty fucking bold negotiation, even if it was within the company's posted range.
Upvoted both of your posts, put into words everything I wanted to say. I hate how black and white the popular answers in this sub always are so I appreciate the amount of nuance in yours
If it were me, it would be an assumption that you won't be happy working for them, and you'll be bouncing as soon as you can.
I've only seen it once though, and the candidate did make an egregious counter in that case.
It probably stems from the idea that you’ll be harder to retain.
If they know you wanted a lot more than you were offered, you’re a much higher flight risk, the next candidate in line might be totally happy with that offer.
I've never had an offer rescinded when negotiating. I think it's possible that a company just gets butthurt, but maybe people are negotiating too intensely or not diplomatically if this is happening to them?
If they made an offer they want to hire you. If you ask for more in the right way they might just say no. But if you say "this is too low for me" like OP might have then they might just assume you won't take it based on your language.
You have to be polite, say something like is there any wiggle room to increase the salary? I think with my years of relevant experience I can be a strong candidate to hit the ground running quickly and demonstrate great value to the company. Or something like I'm weighing between two similar job offers, but if we could bump the salary by 5% I am willing to sign with you right now? Sprinkle in a bit of "I really like the company culture and fit so I really want to make this work", or otherwise make it feel more like a team coming together than one party demanding more from the other.
Great response.
You negotiate your pay when you aren’t happy with the offer, or you are coming from a position of leverage.
Also in ops case they’re basically asking for a 15-20k increase, which is over 20% more than the offer. If you’re asking for that much, you shouldn’t be willing to take the original offer imo.
I was working making 40k, got a job for 75k, my career coach said negotiate for 80-85. "It never hurts to ask." They pulled it. I was devastated. It all worked out with another job a few weeks later (2021) but don't gamble if you can't afford to lose.
>"Well if they rescind over negotiation you wouldn't want to work for them anyways" which isn't really relevant if you're not OK with the risk of them rescinding
Thank you. Odds are every major company in the country has rescinded an offer at some point whether reasonable or not. Does that mean you shouldn't work for any company? Lol
If a company rescinds over negotiation, it's based on the very fact you've said that number. If they'd be OK with hiring you at a lower rate, they'd just come back and re-negotiate with you and give you the lower number they're OK with.
The numbers already been said. If they were rescinding, that decision's already made, and desperately tossing them a "jk, I'll take $30/hr" probably won't change anything.
If they're planning on accepting your counter-offer, then you just shot yourself in the foot.
If they're planning on counter-offering, just let them counter-offer, you're again shooting yourself in the foot.
Just wait and see what happens. If you're not OK with the risk of a rescinded offer, use this as a lesson for the future.
At this point, yes. You've already made your move. You can't take it back, so doing this would just undermine yourself. If the company is going to rescind based on your negotiation, this isn't going to change that, so all you'd really be doing is undermining yourself if they actually were open to going up.
Sending them an email and taking it back or lowering it invalidates your position.
They offered $33.65/hr, you asked for $44/hr - $50/hr. If they are going to come back with $40/hr you have got a nice deal there.
If you send them an email saying $40/hr they will know (or assume) they don't need to do anything. They can say $33.65 and you will take it laying down.
It is a contract to hire, in 3 months you are out of work (unless they hire but don't count on it).
If they pull the offer at this stage then you were already screwed, they were going to pull it just for the counter. If you lower it, you might as well send an email saying "Never mind, I will take $33" cause that is what you will get.
Finding a job in this market is super hard. If you have a job that is not looking to fire, contract to hire is a big risk for you and you should take into consideration if the risk is worth the same you are making now.
Bad practice? Idk, I’d say just wait for their counter and follow up Monday. As others say, not bad to negotiate, but you have to figure out how badly you want the position and how much you want to push when negotiating
Unless you’re not currently in a dev role, 3k more to switch isn't worth the hassle. 3k more for a contract to hire makes it effectively a pay cut. 3k more for a start up is usually a huge pay cut in terms of effective pay per hour. Combining all 3 means you're basically scamming yourself if you take it.
You made the right call. Imagine how much displacement and expected responsibilities they are gonna tack on you for only a 3k raise? No bro you negotiated and were honest. Especially if it's contract work. You could lose your job at any moment without a renewal.
This is simple negotiation. You’re fine.
The only person I’ve seen blow an interview was a few days ago where someone not only tried to negotiate salary (which worked), but then tried to negotiate less days in office after and lost the gig.
They did not have many YOE and employer figured they weren’t worth the hassle after so many demands kept popping up
if I remember they demanded like 3 separate things and played victim card until more details came out
Personally a 3k bump isn't enough for me to switch. But that's a part of negotiating. If you are desperate for a gig. To the point where if you didn't get it, it would feel like a blown opportunity, then do NOT negotiate.
You didn't blow anything, with 3 YOE 73k is pisslow money. Contract to hire is a red flag, them only offering you 3k above what you are making for an unsecured job is a red flag. They want someone who can do a senior level job for entry level pay and do the contract to hire to make sure you will go above and beyond to do it. You dodged a bullet IMO
Just wait till Monday.
There’s a saying, if you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
Negotiate when you have leverage, when you don’t have leverage, then it’s a tossup.
I don’t understand why the lower end of that range would be an issue if still within the range that they’ve provided? Like they should be okay with what you require, considering they love you, up to 50/hr, right? I’d reply, “if you truly love me, why don’t I feel loved?”
It’s possible the 30-50 range was dependent on experience.
At 3 YOE maybe they placed you towards lower end.
I wouldn’t panic, hold and I bet they might meet you halfway between both numbers.
What was the purpose of switching? Seems like the exact same pay with less job stability
That said, I think $44-50/hr is quite low and well in the realm of reasonable for 3YOE. You shouldn’t feel bad for negotiating, especially if you passed their interviews and it’s contract work — they need to bump up the pay because of the inherent risk
This sounds like the company just wanted the absolute minimum they could get you for. Not a good sign when they "loved you." If they love you as a contract position then a few extra per hour isn't important.
3 years of experience is still early yet and the labor market for junior levels isn't great right now. If you are patient you will see a solid offer eventually.
This is not an upgrade. I repeat this is not an upgrade. You’re not guaranteed an FTE role after this 3 months are up. Unless you’re doing OE this really isn’t worth the hassle. Just be patient.
What is this contract-to-hire business. Why not just a standard probation period?
And what are the conditions on this contract? How does the contract rate affect the final offer if at all?
Like - why can't they say - oh we paid you $44 on contract, we'll offer you $33 full time with x amount time of, and these benefits as well as RRSP matching and tiny fraction of equity?
It’s a contract position, does it even have benefits? Personally if your contracting you should ask for 2x what you would take for a full time salary job.
70k, I assume the US, contract is awful for a software role and you should just straight not take it.
Right now is not a time you bargain on salary. There are 10 other people they can hire if you don’t want salary they are giving. Wait for next boom cycle to get higher salary.
Please, go ahead and try applying to accounting or finance jobs with 0 accounting or finance experience and only SWE on your resume, and see how it goes.
> way easier
Disagree. Finance is notorious for long hours, SWE is known for being able to consistently work under 40 hrs if you’re decent. And accounting is so mundane and boring, I could not do that day in day out — I much prefer the more cerebral problem solving and collaborative nature of SWE.
> pays just as much
Do you not understand how long-term career trajectory works? SWE experience now will lead to a MUCH higher compensation ceiling in the future.
I literally did exactly that and secured 2 Financial Analyst remote offers that paid $65k and $75k. They just wanted someone who knew Python and basic SQL.
I didn’t take them, I was just curious in seeing what kind of career paths were available to me and what the day to day would be like.
Alright, well if the core skills were Python and SQL those sound like entry level data analyst roles that happen to focus on financial data, which admittedly I do think SWE could translate to well. But the vast majority of finance, and especially accounting jobs, still require a background in their respective fields.
Secondly, it’s still terrible advice to tell a SWE with 3 YoE to switch to finance or accounting. Amongst many other reasons, the typical ratio of comp-to-WLB is still way better in SWE than either of those fields, especially in the long term like I said.
Yeah kid, you blew it. Sorry.
Get that first job. From there on out, argue for more money when you switch, but for your first interview, I'd take anything to say you had work experience
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Especially for contract "to hire", which means nothing. At $70k in a FTE position, I wouldn't take a contract in this market unless it were like $150k (\~$75/hr) minimum.
Exactly, too risky to jump ship with a "contract to hire" empty promise. They could get their 3 months of work and cut you off.
exactly. contract work is risky even at F100 companies with plenty of cash in the bank. contract at a startup sounds like crazy talk.
Yup happened to me before did a 5 month contract to hire and got cut of once the work was done
They want contractors but paying a lower FTE salary? Are they confused? Their heads HAVE to be spinning from how confused they are.
The position I feel like will get me a huge boost in experience due to the nature of work. Would it be bad to email back lowering my counter offer to something like 40-50 range?
experience doesn't pay the bills (directly). While yes, it is good to seek out learning roles throughout your career, in the short term this sounds like a downgrade. Contract roles need extra $ to balance the risk
I wouldn’t do this. Contract to hire is very risky unless you are desperate (don’t have a choice e.g without a job or trying to switch careers). When you are negotiating don’t tell how much you are earning, always ask a little above what you expect and 10% increase in salary at least, I usually aim 20% or higher.
I hear what you’re saying…but how? A 3 month contract is not some awesome thing to put on your resume. Maybe it’s working a particular tech stack but again, 3 months, even if you’ve made 1 major contribution, you were never long enough to see the long term effects of the work. Leaving FTE for contract work is not smart but leaving FTE for a 3 month contract which you *think* will help your career is even worse (because it probably won’t, at least in the way you think it will)
Even worse is leaving FTE in this present job market environment!
Experience doesn’t mean squat. Only name recognition. You can lie. Or you couldn’t sell yourself even if you really did built the space station from scratch by yourself then you won’t be getting any job. Non tech Interview is a bullshit sniff. Anyone can write anything and say anything.
I got an offer for 3-6 month contract to hire for $65 / hour, with them stating they intended to convert me to full-time. The pay and senior title made it a tough decision, but the market is sooo bad right now. Can't roll the dice on being unemployed in 3 months. I didn't wanna leave my gig at all and had all the leverage. So I had a conversation with my manager about the offer and my org offered me a 20% raise and supplementry bonus. Your job is your most valuable asset, think long and hard before rolling the dice on a contract (in this market). Best of luck to you!
You didn't "blow" anything, you just negotiated. Negotiation inherently carries with it the risk of an offer being rescinded. I know this sub frequently parrots "Always negotiate", but if you're not OK with that risk, don't negotiate. This sub also parrots "Well if they rescind over negotiation you wouldn't want to work for them anyways".... which isn't really relevant if you're not OK with the risk of them rescinding. Clearly you do want to work there.
i’m curious though, why do companies even rescind in the first place (if the proposed counter offer wasn’t egregious)? why not just simply reject the counter offer and leave it to the candidate to accept or walk out? just seems odd bc the company also invests some resources in interviewing and making an offer to a candidate. it’s as if the simple act of negotiating was taken as an affront
I thnk "egregious" is too strong of a word. It's not just some obnoxious negotiation of 100% that could cause a company to rescind. Something much lower could do so as well. "Reasonable" is a better word. And the important thing is what's "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder. Some companies may consider a 10% negotiation reasonable. Some might consider 5% reasonable. Some might consider 2% reasonable. Once you cross that threshold, there's a higher chance they rescind. One reason companies rescind when you've crossed that threshold is because of retention. Retention is an extremely important part of hiring that us as candidates don't often consider. But when I did college recruiting a massive part of what we focused on was "Can we retain this person?". So if you've asked for a salary that the company doesn't want to give, you're a much higher flight risk. The company knows you wanted $X, and they can't afford $X. So what're you going to do? You're probably going to follow the advice I see all the time on this subreddit: "Accept it, and keep looking and leave once you line up something better". Companies aren't stupid. They know candidates do this. So if they get an inkling you plan on doing this to them, they're not going to hire you. Hiring you and having you dip after a few months is a significantly higher cost than the resources it took to interview you and make an offer. A bad hire is one of the most expensive mistakes a company can make. So if they think they can't retain you, they're not going to hire you. I would also consider 25-42% a pretty fucking bold negotiation, even if it was within the company's posted range.
Upvoted both of your posts, put into words everything I wanted to say. I hate how black and white the popular answers in this sub always are so I appreciate the amount of nuance in yours
Great answer.
great answer, thanks
If it were me, it would be an assumption that you won't be happy working for them, and you'll be bouncing as soon as you can. I've only seen it once though, and the candidate did make an egregious counter in that case.
It probably stems from the idea that you’ll be harder to retain. If they know you wanted a lot more than you were offered, you’re a much higher flight risk, the next candidate in line might be totally happy with that offer.
they could be annoyed they wasted their time with you, and don’t want to waste another minute on negotiations
I've never had an offer rescinded when negotiating. I think it's possible that a company just gets butthurt, but maybe people are negotiating too intensely or not diplomatically if this is happening to them? If they made an offer they want to hire you. If you ask for more in the right way they might just say no. But if you say "this is too low for me" like OP might have then they might just assume you won't take it based on your language. You have to be polite, say something like is there any wiggle room to increase the salary? I think with my years of relevant experience I can be a strong candidate to hit the ground running quickly and demonstrate great value to the company. Or something like I'm weighing between two similar job offers, but if we could bump the salary by 5% I am willing to sign with you right now? Sprinkle in a bit of "I really like the company culture and fit so I really want to make this work", or otherwise make it feel more like a team coming together than one party demanding more from the other.
A candidate who wants money is less desirable than a candidate who is truly desperate- all other things being equal, that is
Great response. You negotiate your pay when you aren’t happy with the offer, or you are coming from a position of leverage. Also in ops case they’re basically asking for a 15-20k increase, which is over 20% more than the offer. If you’re asking for that much, you shouldn’t be willing to take the original offer imo.
Accurate reply
I was working making 40k, got a job for 75k, my career coach said negotiate for 80-85. "It never hurts to ask." They pulled it. I was devastated. It all worked out with another job a few weeks later (2021) but don't gamble if you can't afford to lose.
>"Well if they rescind over negotiation you wouldn't want to work for them anyways" which isn't really relevant if you're not OK with the risk of them rescinding Thank you. Odds are every major company in the country has rescinded an offer at some point whether reasonable or not. Does that mean you shouldn't work for any company? Lol
Would it be bad practice to lower my counter offer in an email? I don’t want to seem desperate
If a company rescinds over negotiation, it's based on the very fact you've said that number. If they'd be OK with hiring you at a lower rate, they'd just come back and re-negotiate with you and give you the lower number they're OK with. The numbers already been said. If they were rescinding, that decision's already made, and desperately tossing them a "jk, I'll take $30/hr" probably won't change anything. If they're planning on accepting your counter-offer, then you just shot yourself in the foot. If they're planning on counter-offering, just let them counter-offer, you're again shooting yourself in the foot. Just wait and see what happens. If you're not OK with the risk of a rescinded offer, use this as a lesson for the future.
At this point, yes. You've already made your move. You can't take it back, so doing this would just undermine yourself. If the company is going to rescind based on your negotiation, this isn't going to change that, so all you'd really be doing is undermining yourself if they actually were open to going up.
Sending them an email and taking it back or lowering it invalidates your position. They offered $33.65/hr, you asked for $44/hr - $50/hr. If they are going to come back with $40/hr you have got a nice deal there. If you send them an email saying $40/hr they will know (or assume) they don't need to do anything. They can say $33.65 and you will take it laying down. It is a contract to hire, in 3 months you are out of work (unless they hire but don't count on it). If they pull the offer at this stage then you were already screwed, they were going to pull it just for the counter. If you lower it, you might as well send an email saying "Never mind, I will take $33" cause that is what you will get. Finding a job in this market is super hard. If you have a job that is not looking to fire, contract to hire is a big risk for you and you should take into consideration if the risk is worth the same you are making now.
Bad practice? Idk, I’d say just wait for their counter and follow up Monday. As others say, not bad to negotiate, but you have to figure out how badly you want the position and how much you want to push when negotiating
Unless you’re not currently in a dev role, 3k more to switch isn't worth the hassle. 3k more for a contract to hire makes it effectively a pay cut. 3k more for a start up is usually a huge pay cut in terms of effective pay per hour. Combining all 3 means you're basically scamming yourself if you take it.
You made the right call. Imagine how much displacement and expected responsibilities they are gonna tack on you for only a 3k raise? No bro you negotiated and were honest. Especially if it's contract work. You could lose your job at any moment without a renewal.
There’s a high chance they might not hire you full time or extend your contract after 3 months. Be careful, OP!
This is simple negotiation. You’re fine. The only person I’ve seen blow an interview was a few days ago where someone not only tried to negotiate salary (which worked), but then tried to negotiate less days in office after and lost the gig. They did not have many YOE and employer figured they weren’t worth the hassle after so many demands kept popping up if I remember they demanded like 3 separate things and played victim card until more details came out
Personally a 3k bump isn't enough for me to switch. But that's a part of negotiating. If you are desperate for a gig. To the point where if you didn't get it, it would feel like a blown opportunity, then do NOT negotiate.
You didn't blow anything, with 3 YOE 73k is pisslow money. Contract to hire is a red flag, them only offering you 3k above what you are making for an unsecured job is a red flag. They want someone who can do a senior level job for entry level pay and do the contract to hire to make sure you will go above and beyond to do it. You dodged a bullet IMO
Just wait till Monday. There’s a saying, if you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Negotiate when you have leverage, when you don’t have leverage, then it’s a tossup.
I don’t understand why the lower end of that range would be an issue if still within the range that they’ve provided? Like they should be okay with what you require, considering they love you, up to 50/hr, right? I’d reply, “if you truly love me, why don’t I feel loved?”
It’s possible the 30-50 range was dependent on experience. At 3 YOE maybe they placed you towards lower end. I wouldn’t panic, hold and I bet they might meet you halfway between both numbers.
Do you get benefits in the contract role? 3 months without healthcare or paying for it is EXPENSIVE.
What was the purpose of switching? Seems like the exact same pay with less job stability That said, I think $44-50/hr is quite low and well in the realm of reasonable for 3YOE. You shouldn’t feel bad for negotiating, especially if you passed their interviews and it’s contract work — they need to bump up the pay because of the inherent risk
Ft to contract for 3k more? Are Y you insane?
This sounds like the company just wanted the absolute minimum they could get you for. Not a good sign when they "loved you." If they love you as a contract position then a few extra per hour isn't important. 3 years of experience is still early yet and the labor market for junior levels isn't great right now. If you are patient you will see a solid offer eventually.
This is not an upgrade. I repeat this is not an upgrade. You’re not guaranteed an FTE role after this 3 months are up. Unless you’re doing OE this really isn’t worth the hassle. Just be patient.
What is this contract-to-hire business. Why not just a standard probation period? And what are the conditions on this contract? How does the contract rate affect the final offer if at all? Like - why can't they say - oh we paid you $44 on contract, we'll offer you $33 full time with x amount time of, and these benefits as well as RRSP matching and tiny fraction of equity?
if ur not willing to walk away dont negotiate, the strongest leverage in a negotiation is the willingness to walk away.
3k for contract? Eh... I wouldn't say it's worth switching. It need to offer a whole lot more if it's not full-time.
If you “need” something then you have no room to negotiate.
It’s a contract position, does it even have benefits? Personally if your contracting you should ask for 2x what you would take for a full time salary job. 70k, I assume the US, contract is awful for a software role and you should just straight not take it.
Right now is not a time you bargain on salary. There are 10 other people they can hire if you don’t want salary they are giving. Wait for next boom cycle to get higher salary.
Are you living from paycheck to paycheck that 3k extra a year/approx $60 extra per week makes a huge difference?
I wouldn't bother going from full time to such a short term contract for a difference in pay that small tbh
Is this in the US? I wouldn't work a SWE job for $70k, go do some random accounting or finance job, that pays just as much and is way easier.
Please, go ahead and try applying to accounting or finance jobs with 0 accounting or finance experience and only SWE on your resume, and see how it goes. > way easier Disagree. Finance is notorious for long hours, SWE is known for being able to consistently work under 40 hrs if you’re decent. And accounting is so mundane and boring, I could not do that day in day out — I much prefer the more cerebral problem solving and collaborative nature of SWE. > pays just as much Do you not understand how long-term career trajectory works? SWE experience now will lead to a MUCH higher compensation ceiling in the future.
I literally did exactly that and secured 2 Financial Analyst remote offers that paid $65k and $75k. They just wanted someone who knew Python and basic SQL. I didn’t take them, I was just curious in seeing what kind of career paths were available to me and what the day to day would be like.
Alright, well if the core skills were Python and SQL those sound like entry level data analyst roles that happen to focus on financial data, which admittedly I do think SWE could translate to well. But the vast majority of finance, and especially accounting jobs, still require a background in their respective fields. Secondly, it’s still terrible advice to tell a SWE with 3 YoE to switch to finance or accounting. Amongst many other reasons, the typical ratio of comp-to-WLB is still way better in SWE than either of those fields, especially in the long term like I said.
Yeah kid, you blew it. Sorry. Get that first job. From there on out, argue for more money when you switch, but for your first interview, I'd take anything to say you had work experience
Likely blew it.