A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred

Day 200 - Compromises

I had a “final” interview for a job today in Bellevue.  In our conversation where we set up this meeting, the friend who would be my boss led me to believe that this was a negotiation over details; however, when we sat down together, he told me they had narrowed the field to two.  My competition is a woman who has been a Director of Catering at a downtown Seattle hotel for 20 years.  Anyone who has been in hospitality sales for any length of time will make some assumptions about anyone in a “sales” position at one property for 20 years, and since my friend’s hotel had a significant need for an assertive sales person, I figured I had the upper hand.

I have had misgivings about the position, though.  I am concerned about the fact that this hotel is in a very upscale part of town and pays about $20,000 less per year than the market in a hotel of this size.  It is an older hotel, whose market has gone away, and they don’t plan to renovate their meeting space until later in the year.  I have the impression that this hotel - and maybe the management company - isn’t doing very well financially.  I’m also concerned that I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet with a salary that low in an area that expensive.

I was also concerned about the aggressive sales goals they had for this position; they only have one catering sales person, so this job would require attention and effort for both inbound and outbound sales; in other words, I would be taking on the duties of two full-time jobs.  That’s OK - I know everyone is working harder with less, but I wondered if their expectations were realistic.  After all, one person can only do so much, and it sounds like they need a superhero.

Still, the prospect of having a job and being self-sufficient again was enough to make me feel very excited.  I left the negotiations feeling pretty good, feeling as if I could accept the terms even if they came in low.  I would do my best to make them proud and see where the future leads me.

Ignacio arrived by ferry about 90 minutes after I left the hotel, and we drove in the pouring rain back to Portland.  It was nice to talk about some good news.  I felt as if the compromises would be worth it.