An absolutely appalling and embarrassing hiring process that was an absolute waste of my time. After a month from the time I submitted my resume, I had my initial interview with the PI, toured the lab, and got a verbal offer. I was very excited to start working -- I loved the lab and the research was very relevant to my prior experience as a biomedical engineering student.
HR called me and began to discuss the details of the offer, which started with the individual quickly glossing over the measly <$20/ hourly salary before trying to quickly change the conversation to the other benefits. I was absolutely shocked. For one, the posted salaries on the OHSU website are all yearly, making them seem as if they were salaried positions. The HR rep told me the wage was technically too low to legally qualify as a salaried position in Oregon. The salary range was not posted in the job interview, but this was lower than the lowest estimate I received from any external website. When I asked him if this was what he normally offered people with this title, he replied that it was "less than what most researchers make" and remarked about the ongoing researcher's unionization efforts in an effort to sway me before again changing the subject.
I have to say, I was not in this for the money at all. I was happy to take a lower paying job as I've heard that OHSU was a great organization and the work was absolutely something I was passionate about. But as someone with a Bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering (not to mention several tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt), I asked them if I would be able to negotiate the salary higher. $20/hr in Portland (or anywhere, for that matter) would not cover my basic living expenses anywhere near the city, or my growing student loan debt.
After professionally outlining my experience and education while trying once again to negotiate this offer, I was immediately shut down with a one-sentence reply "I'm sorry, but due to equity I cannot raise the salary". This makes entirely no sense to me, as everyone has different qualifications, education, and experience levels, which correlate to different salaries. That is how that works, not the condescending and patronizing reply I received: "If I raise the salary for you, I'd have to raise it for everyone..." That sounds much better to me than paying engineers near poverty-level wages.
All in all, I am absolutely heartbroken. I do not blame the professors at all. They do not get a say in the offer we receive and according to the PI, they are no longer able to petition to raise our salaries either. This is a corrupt association that is relying on students and recent college grads being too desperate to turn down their lowball offers. After a month-long process of interviewing several positions, I am back to square one in my job hunt.
If I could, I would post this non-anonymously, but unfortunately I don't feel as if I am able to due to pressure from the university. I also can't afford to lose any future offers. Apologies for the long rant, I am still absolutely furious with this organization. I cannot stress enough -- DO NOT APPLY FOR A POSITION HERE. It is not worth your time and you are worth much more than any lowball offer they throw at you.