A Nairobi-based digital marketer who goes by the name BrandSprout turned down a job offer at a Westlands company after the interviewer named a gross salary of KSh 50,000 for a role that would have required him to build and lead an entire department.
In a TikTok video captioned “Rejected a 50K salary 😳: Part 1”, BrandSprout recounted the experience in a conversational, selfie-style clip filmed outdoors, walking viewers through every stage of the interview from the moment he received the invitation to the point the offer fell apart.
BrandSprout said he received an email two weeks before the interview, inviting him to apply for a digital marketing position at a company he later discovered specialised in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems — software that helps businesses automate functions such as payroll processing and other administrative tasks.
Nairobi man meets CEO
The company, part of a larger organisation operating outside Kenya, had reportedly been in business for approximately 15 years.
He arrived suited up and well-researched, only to find that three other candidates, all women, had also been invited.
He was called in second. Inside the interview room, he met who he believed was the company’s CEO or director.
What role was the Nairobi man given?
The interviewer explained that the business was looking to establish a fully operational digital marketing department — an idea reportedly inspired by his son.
At the time, the company employed just one digital marketer handling content creation and social media.
The role BrandSprout was being considered for was more substantial: managing paid media campaigns, generating leads for the sales team and overseeing the new department.
Nairobi man agrees to three-month probation period
He said he felt the opportunity sounded genuinely promising, and he had no objection to the proposed three-month probation period either.
The turning point came when the interviewer disclosed the compensation: KSh 50,000 per month, gross, not net.
BrandSprout was direct about his reaction.
Is KSh 50,000 gross salary too little for digital marketer?
“I immediately knew that the offer would not work for me,” he said, adding that he told the interviewer plainly, “With all due respect, the responsibilities you want to assign me and the budget you have set for the position are not in sync.”
He pointed out that a gross salary of KSh 50,000 leaves considerably less in hand once statutory deductions are applied, making it a difficult figure to sustain a living in Nairobi, let alone justify taking on the pressures of building an entire marketing department.
The video closes on that note, with BrandSprout signalling that the story continues in a follow-up instalment.
