Woman Canceled Interview Salary Benefits Question

Photographed by Nina Westervelt.

Looking for a job is already incredibly stressful. What if something you say or do turns off the recruiter? Still, that doesn't mean you should be afraid of inquiring about important things like salary and benefits. Right?

Well, apparently, that's not always the case. Taylor Byrnes, a woman in Winnipeg, Canada, had an infuriating experience when she asked a seemingly standard question about the wages her prospective job would offer — and the company then canceled her follow-up interview, CBC News reports.

Byrnes was applying for an internal office position at SkipTheDishes, which is basically an online food delivery service in the same vein as Seamless and Grubhub. During one of her email exchanges with Victoria Karras, a talent acquisition coordinator, Byrnes asked about her potential salary.

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"If I do end up filling this position, how much do you think I'll be getting paid an hour?" she wrote. "Benefits will also be included, right? Sorry, I just thought I should ask now. Thanks for your time and have a lovely day."

That should be a totally normal question in the job hunt process. But her inquiry didn't seem to sit well with Karras. In her reply, she told Byrnes her questions showed that her "priorities are not in sync with those of SkipTheDishes."

She then added that, “At this time we will not be following through with our meeting this Thursday."

Take into account that Byrnes had already passed the first round of phone interviews and this would be a second-round interview. She was understandably angry, and took to Twitter to share screenshots of the exchange.

Applied for a job at @SkipTheDishes. They cancelled my interview b/c I asked about wages/benefits @CBC @CBCNews @ctvwinnipeg #boycottSkip pic.twitter.com/CjBdnFvY1P
— . (@feministjourney) March 13, 2017

The tweet quickly went viral. Many users stood with Byrnes and said that getting the salary talk out of the way early in the process is important. Others said they would stop using SkipTheDishes as a result of the exchange.

@feministjourney Questions about compensation and benefits should be answered before people have to ask @SkipTheDishes.
— Michael Oman-Reagan (@OmanReagan) March 13, 2017

.@feministjourney How ridiculous. While wanting passionate employees is understandable, the reality is most of us work bc we need $$.
— Keisha (@grlnxtdoorisblk) March 13, 2017

@feministjourney Hey @SkipTheDishes , ensuring one gets paid for work they do IS a sign of a motivated person -signed, a former customer.
— Sue (@PseuSue) March 13, 2017

The company ultimately apologized, and posted a screenshot of the message one of the co-founders sent to Byrnes.

"The email to Taylor does not represent #SkipTheDishes team values. We have followed up to offer heartfelt apologies & a 2nd interview," the tweet accompanying the screenshot reads.

They also added that, the company "[does] share compensation & it’s OK to ask" and also that they're "coaching internally to ensure this doesn’t happen again."

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(1/2) The email to Taylor does not represent #SkipTheDishes team values. We have followed up to offer heartfelt apologies & a 2nd interview. pic.twitter.com/XKYWsHXj7P
— SkipTheDishes (@SkipTheDishes) March 14, 2017

(2/2) We do share compensation & it’s OK to ask. We are coaching internally to ensure this doesn’t happen again. @CBC @CBCNews @CTVWinnipeg
— SkipTheDishes (@SkipTheDishes) March 14, 2017

It's unclear if Byrnes is now back in running for the job.