Job Interview again.

So I had another job interview set up today and to be honest, it wasn't really an interview I had planned to take very seriously.

Even though I don't enjoy my current job, the stable salary is something I am still not prepared to give up, so I went to the interview today only to listen to what Interior Design companies are offering in terms of commission. The company itself is definitely a company I wouldn't mind working for because they have a very similar design language as me and if the offer was enticing enough, I would consider quitting my current company to join this one.

So the interview was done by the director and my first impression of her was that I didn't like her, it's nothing that she did, but just her general mannerism that rubbed me the wrong way because she just didn't come across as a very friendly and approachable individual. 

When she started talking about the job, she was sharing with me how the company works, what I am expected to do as a designer in their company and I just felt really stifled by the SOP the company had in place, seeing how I had quite a bit of freedom with the way I did things at ID4, I then expressed my thoughts with her company's SOP and told her it felt a bit rigid. I am not sure if she took offense to how I expressed my thoughts but she reiterated that "it isn't rigid to have those SOPs" in place and that was when I decided I didn't want to work under her. 

She is constantly disagreeing with me, when I ask if I could do my own 3D renderings since I have experience doing that, she says no, when I ask if I can use my own sub-cons, she says no, she doesn't even entertain the thought first and just says no to everything. The other ID firms that I have interviewed for would always be open to my style of working, when I ask other ID firms if I can do my own 3D, they will tell me to go ahead as long as it looks similar to what their own 3D Drafters prepare and when I ask if I can use my own sub-con, they would encourage me to introduce them to the company. 

And as if her rigidness isn't bad enough, the commission scheme is worst.

When I was working in ID4, the commission scheme was a 40/60 split, this meant I would get 40% of the profits whilst the company gets 60%.

So just to break down how that would work.

Let's say I managed to clinch a $11,000 project,

Project Cost - $10,000

Total Profit  - $1,000 (10% Profit)

The total project is then split between me and the company, so I get $400 and the company gets $600 base on the 40/60 arrangement.

This new ID firm on the other hand has a 45/55 split, which means I would get 45% of the project whilst the company gets 55% of the project, it sounds better, but there is this additional requirement that states the company will always be taking a commission worth 10% off the project cost regardless of how much the total commission is.

This means that if I were to clinch an $11,000 project.

Project Cost - $10,000

Total Profit - $1,000 (10% Profit)

I don't get any commission because that 10% will be taken by the company as their share.

Let's say a project that I have has a cost price of $30,000. this means the company would automatically pocket $3000 worth of commissions even before the project starts. If I charged the customer $32,000 for the whole project, and I only end up having $2000 worth of profit, I don't get share of that $2000, in fact, I would end up owing the company $1000 because of their commission scheme. 

Out of all the ID companies I have interviewed at, this honestly is one of the worst project sharing scheme I have heard of because you will get punished by the company if your profit margin is below a certain percentage. I guess my search for the next ID firm to join continues!