[reefoctopus]

I was offered a salary. They waited until the day I started to explain that I would be paid an hourly wage based on a 50 hour week with time and a half for the overtime. I would have to clock out for lunch. I walked straight out of there and went home.

[keyboardhitter]

Ouch. I recently turned down an offer that was interviewed as salary then changed to "3 month ish contract" (verbatim) with no guarantee of full time placement. In your case that is terrible they waited until the first day. I guess not all bad offers can be screened just during interviews and negotiation.

[dabockster]

I was forced to take a position very similar to this out of a need for an income (interviewed for full time, told it was contract-to-hire when I walked in on the first day). I left after six months once I had some money saved. Researching a bit for a few days after I left revealed that the company had a history of taking first generation college kids (like me) and working them on contracts for time periods of a few months to a few years (depending on when the kid realized that he/she was being ripped off, from what it looked like).

[burfog]

Unless you were expecting 40, that looks like a good deal. Most places wouldn't pay you 150% of normal for overtime. They'd pay you 0% of normal and expect you to like it as a "team player".

[jboles]

Not necessarily; working after the 8th hour in a day you get 150%, and given a quoted annual “salary” that takes this into account, it means the regular 8 hours’ pay is correspondingly lower.

[keyboardhitter]

Fair point. It could be a great deal for some depending on lifestyle.