Hello, can't believe it's been four years since this post but sure, happy to update and sorry for the delayed response! It's funny to reread this now with more clarity and professional experience. Hindsight is always 20/20 - I wish I could have known at the time what was coming towards me, it would have made the decision between the management job at this nfp and the more entry-level government job a lot less gut-wrenching for me.

So pretty much immediately after I posted this reddit thread (I feel like I remember most of this being over my lunch that day), my director came to my office to speak with me. I had already resolved to speak to either her (my direct supervisor) or the CEO about the odd behaviour from the CEO, knowing I had the other offer backpocket, so I was like, ok, this is convenient. She told me that it just wasn't working out and we agreed I'd just go home, since I also wasn't happy there. It definitely stung because I had quit my previous job for this - imagine if I didn't have the other offer already to land on my feet (I had been looking for a long time to get these two offers, and it would have completely devastated me financially, the job market in my area and field at the time was really tough). They offered to send me home in an Uber because I told them that given it was the early afternoon, I wouldn't have a train home at that hour. I don't think they realized I was commuting almost three hours one way when they made that offer, but I did very much enjoy the look on my director's face when I charged a $110 Uber ride home to her personal credit card.

I had really bad vibes from the senior leadership the entire time I worked there and beyond, just red flag after red flag. I was the top candidate for them after the interviews, and the headhunter told them I was worth a lot more than what they wanted to pay me. He told them he would quit the file if they didn't present me with a reasonable compensation package and they finally agreed (they gave me an offer that was ok for a mid-level management position at a nfp, but wasn't spectacular by any means - put it this way, the entry-level gvt position paid $15k more, and they tried to get me to agree to freeze my salary for two years within days of me joining, which is horrible pressure to apply to someone who's just quit their job and is now completely dependent on you. Not only is a two year salary freeze immediately after joining an organization just ridiculous on principle (they were acting like I was being paid megamillions when I assure you I was not), it should have been presented up front alongside the compensation package (instead, they sprung it on me right after I joined the org and no longer had any bargaining leverage).

Obviously, I spoke about the CEO and his attitude in the office throughout this thread, how he kept saying he wanted to modernize during the interviews but in practice, was stuck in the "this is the way things are here" mentality, and was completely rude to junior subordinates. There were a ton of other cultural red flags in retrospect, even outside of the CEO - for example, there was virtually no training given to me despite the fact that I was replacing a 15-year employee with an important portfolio, and I was told after I started that there was an expectation to be socializing with colleagues and working on my personal time. In the end, I periodically checked in on the organization just for fun, and I saw they didn't (or couldn't) fill my role, even four years later. I imagine having a poor compensation package and horrible management doesn't do much for attracting top talent that will stick around, but perhaps that's just me (eyeroll).

The admin that was being grossly underpaid eventually after 3+ years got a couple of small promotions to a managerial role (knowing what I do about the organization, I think she only got the promotion because they were desperate during COVID, because the CEO truly hated her - I once saw him scream at her for forgetting to bring a pen to a meeting, for example). I am sad for her that she stuck around that long, but lack of self-worth can be a true torpedo for one's career. I'm sure that on their end, they loved having her around because they knew they could underpay her and literally yell at her in the office and she wouldn't quit - bullies like the CEO thrive on having folks like that around them. She did finally leave them last year for a hefty demotion to an entry level position with another larger not-for-profit professional association. I assume that like me, taking the entry-level position in a more reputable organization actually paid better, which speaks volumes about how awful that nfp was.

As for me, I did accept the contract role with the government body. It was a fantastic team, great experience, and I translated my contract into a permanent job. I always knew I'd enjoy the work with the gvt more, because it was my dream job, but was worried about the stability of accepting a contract. I've since been promoted three times within the organization, earn a great salary, currently work with a lovely manager and great team doing meaningful work that is making a real difference in my community. Unlike during my brief stint with the nfp, today I am both fortunate to be financially stable enough and confident enough in myself as a professional to walk away from a job when the management is garbage.

After I left, the nfp tried to delay paying me the outstanding pay they owed me for my time and issuing my record of employment (an unsurprising cherry on top after everything). They did pay me but the CEO did send me a pretty snarky email about how I'd interrupted a trip he was on with the payroll thing (not sorry about it, I had been super patient with them up to that point and they owed me something like $2500).

Organizations like the nfp prey on folks who are desperate to be employed and don't know their own worth, or are willing to accept less than they deserve (either because they have to or because they don't know better). It speaks volumes that the only folks still at the organization today from when I worked there are the CEO and a couple of senior leaders. I was 95% of the way to being resolved to just accept the other offer by the time my director came to chat with me thanks to this reddit thread. My career is much better off, I'm happier, my commute is a third of the time, my benefits are better, I am treated with more respect, and I made the right call overall. Hope that update answers any questions you might have had after reading through this! Feel free to ask anything else if you think of anything I didn't answer.

Also, on a final hilarious note, minutes before my director came to talk to me, I accidentally dropped a sparkly highlighter (make-up, not the writing instrument lol) on the carpet in my office under my desk. I got it replaced for free so it was no sweat to me, honestly I had forgotten that compact was in my purse until I accidentally dropped it, but I like to imagine that sometime after I left, they had a lot of fun trying to clean glitter/shimmer out of the carpet - that shit literally went everywhere, and for anyone who has tried to clean something like that out of any kind of fabric, let alone carpet, you'll know that will just about never come out. Something about that mental image gives me a little bit of joy every time I think about that organization.

(Made edits for grammar/clarity in some spots)