Job candidate refuses to settle for less than $65k salary, recruiter drags him through multiple interviews, only to give him a poor offer: 'The recruiter seemed genuinely shocked when he immediately decline'

It should not have to be reiterated that transparency during the job interview process is supposed to be a two-way street. However, far too many recruiters and hiring managers out there seem to take the concept of being upfront about salary, hours, and expectations as a slight suggestion.

This inability to take a candidate's considerations seriously could end up being a total waste of time for all involved, as it was for this author. He was transparent from the start that he was looking for a position that paid between $60k and $70k. The recruiter with whom he spoke for that first round interview insisted that he come in again for a second round despite his misgivings about the posted salary. The recruiter managed to convince him to come back in again and again, claiming that she had taken his proposed salary into consideration with upper management. Of course, she didn't actually honor his wish, and he ended up coming in for multiple rounds of interviews only to decline the offer in the end. Why? Because his honor was not taken into consideration!

This was clearly a tactic on the part of the recruiter to see if she could convince this guy to accept a considerable pay cut simply by wearing him down and charming him through these other interviews. Well, it didn't work, and now this lady wasted a ton of resources just to get the same answer she got in that initial phone screening.