When Job Recruiter Gets Mad at You for Making More Than They Offer

[Chris Pascale]

Saw this Reddit post and thought the Mustachian community would appreciate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/

[gooki]

Thanks for sharing.

[Travis]

My favorite comment:

"Senior responsibilities, junior title, sophomore authority, freshman pay.

90% of job postings these days"

[FireLane]

I suspect that 90% of Reddit stories are someone's creative writing project, but the good ones are incredibly satisfying to read nonetheless.

Also: If you're a recruiter and you reached out to me, you'd better be prepared to tell me upfront what the job pays! None of this "well, what are you looking to make" bullshit that employers only say because they're hoping they can lowball you.

[Sibley]

That post may or may not be real, but the scenario absolutely does happen. It's part of why you hear  all sorts of moaning about "no one wants to work anymore". Well no, not for the pay you're offering.

[PDXTabs]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

[BlueHouse]

I've had so many recruiters contact me about jobs that have nothing at all to do with my specialty.  My specialty is a very small niche profession and unless you've heard of it and are in the field, you really wouldn't know what it means.  But I've had people tell me to consider their jobs because I seem like such a good fit.  haha. 

I haven't changed my LinkedIn profile to read that I'm retired yet, because...just in case I guess. 

[FireLane]

And, as I expected:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/iciobwd/

But yeah, I don't doubt this kind of thing happens. Employers are used to holding the whip hand, and they're insulted when prospective employees aren't grateful just to be offered a job. They haven't adjusted to the new reality that there's a labor shortage plus inflation, and workers have the power right now.

[clarkfan1979]

Saw this Reddit post and thought the Mustachian community would appreciate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/

During my last year of grad school (2011), I applied for a researcher position to do experimental studies for an environmental non-profit located in Washington, D.C. The work was academic, but it wasn't an academic position.

When I applied for the job, the salary range was not posted. I flew out to D.C. and was interviewed over the course of 1.5 days. They paid for airfare and 1 night of hotel. I interviewed well and before I got on the plane, they offered me the job at 65K. I responded and said that the absolute bare minimum I would be willing to accept was 82K and permission to teach one class a semester at a local college for an extra 8K/year. I also asked for a 3K moving budget and a 5K signing bonus. They countered at 67.5K, 2K moving budget and no signing bonus. When I turned it down, they were upset and said that my expectations were not realistic.

A head hunter called me in 2015 and tried to get me to interview for the same position again. I told her "no" because the salary was too low. She was excited and said, "Oh, they re-budgeted the position. Based on your current education and experience, you could get an offer in the 120K range and could negotiate it a little higher (125K?). I thought about it for about 15 seconds and politely said, "If that was offered to me 4 years ago, I would have taken it. I actually asked for 82K and they turned me down. However, I'm very happy with my current job, so I will have to respectfully decline." She was disappointed, but very polite and respectful and simply said, "I understand".

If she asked, "What would it take?" My answer would have been 250K/year and this was 2015. I know that number might seem ridiculous, but it's the truth. Part of the reason for the big salary request would be that D.C. is expensive and I don't like the weather. I would be willing to take less (200K?) if I could live in city that I enjoy and was lower cost of living (Denver, Reno, Portland).       

[Sugaree]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

[PDXTabs]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

[Sandi_k]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

That seems like a very specific number. ;)

[Villanelle]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

I'm embarrassed. I read through it quickly and thought something about that number seems odd but didn't pause enough to think it through. Oh well.... Maybe one day another opportunity will present itself.

[moof]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

Dennis?  Or maybe there are two people here in PDX that use that in casual conversation?

[Travis]

And, as I expected:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/iciobwd/

But yeah, I don't doubt this kind of thing happens. Employers are used to holding the whip hand, and they're insulted when prospective employees aren't grateful just to be offered a job. They haven't adjusted to the new reality that there's a labor shortage plus inflation, and workers have the power right now.

Too bad the OP appears to be full of shit. The rest of the comments section had plenty of their own stories though.

[jinga nation]

And, as I expected:

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/iciobwd/

But yeah, I don't doubt this kind of thing happens. Employers are used to holding the whip hand, and they're insulted when prospective employees aren't grateful just to be offered a job. They haven't adjusted to the new reality that there's a labor shortage plus inflation, and workers have the power right now.

Too bad the OP appears to be full of shit. The rest of the comments section had plenty of their own stories though.

A lot of reddit posts are karma farming.

[MayDay]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

I immediately thought "chemist or chemical engineer, mole, hahaha

[AccidentialMustache]

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

A lot of folks will catch a reference but few will say anything.

I've got a t-shirt that references counting on your hands in binary to produce the finger and I've seen a number who look, laugh, and then friends look and laugh, but only once has anyone actually flipped me off in a way I could attribute to them getting the shirt. I used to work in/nearby to the computer science building on a college campus (and wore said t-shirt to work), so I had a population who were likely to get the joke.

Unfortunately now the shirt is so worn and faded that basically nobody'll get it. I guess at 15+ years old for a dye-printed t-shirt I can't complain too much.

[Fomerly known as something]

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

A lot of folks will catch a reference but few will say anything.

I've got a t-shirt that references counting on your hands in binary to produce the finger and I've seen a number who look, laugh, and then friends look and laugh, but only once has anyone actually flipped me off in a way I could attribute to them getting the shirt. I used to work in/nearby to the computer science building on a college campus (and wore said t-shirt to work), so I had a population who were likely to get the joke.

Unfortunately now the shirt is so worn and faded that basically nobody'll get it. I guess at 15+ years old for a dye-printed t-shirt I can't complain too much.

Grumble, grumble MF Binary.  Sorry I’m currently in a Computer Forensics class and last week we got to covert this number from Hex to a signed number section.  I actually get the process, but my Math skills left me. 9+8=15 wait I’m not right shoot.

[markbike528CBX]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Quite the mole-y comment.

[PDXTabs]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

Dennis?  Or maybe there are two people here in PDX that use that in casual conversation?

I'm not Dennis. But I will buy the first round for you and Dennis if you ever want to get together.

[PDXTabs]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

I immediately thought "chemist or chemical engineer, mole, hahaha

Ironically I'm computer science. I just paid attention in school. I'm a nerd that way.

[Chris Pascale]

Saw this Reddit post and thought the Mustachian community would appreciate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/

If she asked, "What would it take?" My answer would have been 250K/year and this was 2015. I know that number might seem ridiculous, but it's the truth.

Had a similar scenario. Guy looking for accountants to go to NYC in 2018. I said that for a 2 hour commute each way, I'd need $250,000 take-home so I could have a 3-bedroom place near the job where I'd sleep Monday-Thurs (fam would be city-folk on school breaks).

He was very confused in thinking that I was confused, and said that the jobs pay more like $88,000.

I let him know if he ever became an executive recruiter, or was placing ambitious people into over-funded hedge funds, I'd be around.

THE MATH: Give up the best of your weeks to sleep on a train, then cram into a subway while wearing dumb clothes you don't like for enough hours to get rank with BO as you change environments multiple times while making what I was making from my house.

[Sugaree]

I get recruiters contacting me fairly regularly to fill a role that I haven't worked in over 10 years that pays less than my current role. I think that they just send 6.02x10²³ messages and hope that one sticks.

Like a mole of applicants?

I'm so glad that someone caught that. I've been using Avogadro constant for a joke reference to an arbitrarily large number for decades and I think that you are the first person to ever comment on it!!!

I immediately thought "chemist or chemical engineer, mole, hahaha

Ironically I'm computer science. I just paid attention in school. I'm a nerd that way.

Same.  Though I do actually have a biology degree that I'm not using.  I once went to a job interview at a crappy chain restaurant and at the end of the interview one of the people I'd be working with jokingly asked if I knew Avogadro's number.  I was in the middle of a chem class and rattled it off.  I won't say that's what got me the job, but it couldn't have hurt.  Too bad the job SUCKED.

[clarkfan1979]

Saw this Reddit post and thought the Mustachian community would appreciate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/

If she asked, "What would it take?" My answer would have been 250K/year and this was 2015. I know that number might seem ridiculous, but it's the truth.

Had a similar scenario. Guy looking for accountants to go to NYC in 2018. I said that for a 2 hour commute each way, I'd need $250,000 take-home so I could have a 3-bedroom place near the job where I'd sleep Monday-Thurs (fam would be city-folk on school breaks).

He was very confused in thinking that I was confused, and said that the jobs pay more like $88,000.

I let him know if he ever became an executive recruiter, or was placing ambitious people into over-funded hedge funds, I'd be around.

THE MATH: Give up the best of your weeks to sleep on a train, then cram into a subway while wearing dumb clothes you don't like for enough hours to get rank with BO as you change environments multiple times while making what I was making from my house.

When the manager for the D.C. job asked why I turned down the job in 2010 for 67.5K, I told him that D.C. is expensive and I didn't think 67.5K was consistent with the cost of living. He told me that housing gets much cheaper once you get about one hour away from the city center. He was trying to convince me that a 1.5 hour commute each way (multiple trains) isn't that bad. No thanks.

[Chris Pascale]

Saw this Reddit post and thought the Mustachian community would appreciate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/vd3xmu/had_a_recruiter_contact_me_for_a_job_and_when_i/

If she asked, "What would it take?" My answer would have been 250K/year and this was 2015. I know that number might seem ridiculous, but it's the truth.

Had a similar scenario. Guy looking for accountants to go to NYC in 2018. I said that for a 2 hour commute each way, I'd need $250,000 take-home so I could have a 3-bedroom place near the job where I'd sleep Monday-Thurs (fam would be city-folk on school breaks).

He was very confused in thinking that I was confused, and said that the jobs pay more like $88,000.

I let him know if he ever became an executive recruiter, or was placing ambitious people into over-funded hedge funds, I'd be around.

THE MATH: Give up the best of your weeks to sleep on a train, then cram into a subway while wearing dumb clothes you don't like for enough hours to get rank with BO as you change environments multiple times while making what I was making from my house.

When the manager for the D.C. job asked why I turned down the job in 2010 for 67.5K, I told him that D.C. is expensive and I didn't think 67.5K was consistent with the cost of living. He told me that housing gets much cheaper once you get about one hour away from the city center. He was trying to convince me that a 1.5 hour commute each way (multiple trains) isn't that bad. No thanks.

If you go to the south side of Baltimore, it gets REALLY affordable.

And there's lots of Mustachians, as you'll find many adults enjoying the day from their front stoops at noon while spendy-pants idiots are at their dumb jobs.

[PDXTabs]

I may have, hypothetically, replied to a recent recruiter with "I'd rather sleep under a bridge than work there again."

They need people because everyone left. But they left for a good reason.

[Hypersion]

I always try and get the recruiter to give me a number first. I've wasted too much of my time on phone calls with them telling me I was unrealistic about salaries. Even when the job paid less than my current job.

[jinga nation]

I always try and get the recruiter to give me a number first. I've wasted too much of my time on phone calls with them telling me I was unrealistic about salaries. Even when the job paid less than my current job.

I don't pick up recruiters' calls. Only deal in written comms via email or LinkedIn. I always ask for the compensation range upfront, telling them I don't want to go through the process, wasting both parties' time, if the numbers aren't right. If they are uncomfortable with being open, then I know I don't want to work for them. LinkedIn jobs will either state the pay/range or state "Pay range unavailable". I always hit Yes on the follow-up Q asking if I'm interested in salary info. I've had recruiters reach out to me when I hit yes. And if they couldn't provide salary info, polite decline.

[Hypersion]

I always try and get the recruiter to give me a number first. I've wasted too much of my time on phone calls with them telling me I was unrealistic about salaries. Even when the job paid less than my current job.

I don't pick up recruiters' calls. Only deal in written comms via email or LinkedIn. I always ask for the compensation range upfront, telling them I don't want to go through the process, wasting both parties' time, if the numbers aren't right. If they are uncomfortable with being open, then I know I don't want to work for them. LinkedIn jobs will either state the pay/range or state "Pay range unavailable". I always hit Yes on the follow-up Q asking if I'm interested in salary info. I've had recruiters reach out to me when I hit yes. And if they couldn't provide salary info, polite decline.

I gave the recruiter my salary range that I'm looking for and she schedule a phone screen. I assume that the position was within the range I ask for otherwise why bother scheduling the next step in the interview processes. During the phone call she just berated me for asking for too much money. What a waste of everyone's time.

[gooki]

Wowsers. That's one douche filled recruiter.