Job Applicant Says Recruiter Was 'Flabbergasted' When He Asked For A Salary Within The Job Listing's Pay Range
They specified the range for compensation in their job listing, so why were they surprised when he asked for a salary in that range?
fizkes / Shutterstock; Reddit A job applicant on Reddit shared his experience on the job hunt when a company recruiter was “flabbergasted” by the salary he was asking for during an interview, despite it being within the listing’s pay range.
He claims that he hoped the company would be honest with him about the pay range, but has come to expect these same companies never to keep their word.
The job applicant was ghosted after he asked for a salary within the job listing's pay range.
He posted to Reddit’s “r/antiwork” subreddit, a place where many frustrated job seekers or wronged employees go to vent their frustrations with today’s work culture. He started his post by saying “Companies nowadays are a joke.”
“I recently applied for [an] account executive job with a job description that offers [a] salary between $90k and $110k and when asked about salary expectations in the interview I give them a medium the hiring manager acts surprised with my offer even when my credentials are outstanding,” he writes.
Photo: Reddit
According to FlexJobs, employers might hide their true salary from prospective candidates for a number of reasons, and one of the main reasons is to attract a wider berth of applicants — including this man who seems to be well overqualified, having more than 7 years of experience than the amount they were asking.
“Job seekers are consistently less likely to apply to a posting without a listed salary,” FlexJobs writes, adding that “It seems like it would be beneficial to both you and the employer if they offered more salary transparency upfront.” That definitely seems to be the case since our fellow job seeker here feels as though he’d been wronged.
“I did this because I know these idiots aren’t going to stick to their word, as almost 90% of these companies lie in their description, and I’m hoping for one that actually has a moral compass,” he continued. “There is absolutely no merit in being an honest job seeker.”
He even claims that if companies are lying about their job postings, then he sees no reason job applicants shouldn’t lie about their qualifications.
He claims that he hasn’t heard back in two weeks, even after following up with them.
“I also followed up with the recruiter and asked where we are with the next steps, she said ‘the hiring manager is out [of] office this week,’” he explains. “Yeah right, haven’t heard a peep in two weeks.”
Many people in the Reddit comments wrote and suggested that he probably should have mentioned the job description to them, but he didn’t think to because “I thought they were honest.”
He claims he would have been “wasting my breath” trying to call him out for their deceptive job listing because he doesn’t think it would have helped.
“I was trusting them to know. I can’t help a company, company themselves if you know what I mean,” he wrote. “It was a mistake on my end, and many highly intelligent people have suggested [bringing] your job description with you. Please learn from my mistake.”
Others in the comments shared similar experiences they’d had where companies lied in their job descriptions, with everyone ending their post echoing the same bit of advice that should be followed on either side of the negotiation table — stop wasting everyone’s time.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.