I was really excited to join PSLab London as part of the Lighting Design team. Unfortunately, the week before my start day I felt as things hadn't been planned and I was going to be the one suffering all the consequences. I communicated my concerns to the Directors and they decided to withdraw the offer a week before my start day. This was a real shock and I was left with no job after almost 5 months of interviews and emails.
Below you can read my story:
Wednesday (14th April) - I'm informed that the training will be in Antwerp around 7 weeks or possibly shorter (not for 4 weeks as previously mentioned during the interview process). I'm told it can be split in two, no problem.
Friday (30th April) - I see an email regarding accommodation in Antwerp, the first mention of specific dates, and I highlight that I am getting married on 25/05. I call Sammy in the morning and I found out that I need to fly the day I start to suit the planning 17/05. I accept to change my wedding to suit PSLabs planning. PSLab is not willing to cover of the cost of changing the wedding to another date, I find out the cost to be £250.
I accept and I am committed to move forward.
Monday (3rd May) - I receive the signed contract.
Tuesday (4th May) - I am informed that I will be in Antwerp from May 17 to July 9 (except for the week of June 24). I also find out that I will need to fly back home and back to Antwerp at my own cost. This would (in the current situation) be around £700 in PCRs not including the flight, plus extra self isolation. At this stage, I am concerned I'm being asked to pay £950 -excluding flights to UK and back to Antwerp. So probably around £1100 out of my own pocket to accommodate the training plan.
I accept and I am committed to moving forward.
Wednesday (5th May) - I am informed that travel dates have changed and found out for the first time that I am also required to go to Beirut for 3 weeks. However it clashes with a wedding I have in August, so I inform PSLab about it.
Thursday (6th May) - I'm informed that travel dates have changed again but there are still clashes with my commitments in August. So I understand I will need to travel back to the UK at my own cost. I convince myself (and my partner) that it would be great even though I'll spend most of the summer away, including 11 weekends of my personal time.
At this stage, I'm not convinced this plan has been thought through, I am conscious of having to travel back to the UK at my own cost, self isolate for around 30 days in total in the current situation (of the first summer after more than a year of lockdowns), and be away from home for 11 weekends.
This doesn't appear to be what I committed to when I signed the contract. I decide to write an email where I express my concern, expecting some empathy and understanding. Rising my base salary slightly would be enough for me to incur the cost for the trips and PCRs in the coming months along with other unexpected expenses associated with the job.
PSLab responds by offering nothing to address my concerns. I still accept and I convince my partner that it will be fine and that he will be able to come to Antwerp a couple of weekends.
I accept and I am committed to moving forward but feel the need to mention that would be good to have 2 personal days (considering im away 22 days/ 11 weekends of my personal time) so I can make my partner's trips to Antwerp worth it.
I get a call in the morning from PSLab to say that I have shown hesitation, that they want to withdraw the offer, and am told off for requesting 2 personal days in Antwerp to allow my partner to visit (one of which is a long weekend in the UK). In my opinion, I had shown nothing but commitment to this point, again and again.
After all this, I was lost for words to explain how disappointed I felt to not be able to continue my work relationship with PSLab. It didn't take me long to realise that this wasn't the start of a work relationship, It was the start of work ownership. Or at least that is what it felt like this last week.
I hope this helps understand my experience and I also hope PSlab takes some responsibility for the outcome so the next candidate doesn't go through this.
I believe prior to Covid-19 these arrangements would have worked, but I felt there was no consideration of the challenges created by the current situation.
