#tech #interview #cultureamp TL:DR - Felt like the recruiter ran me over regarding comp. Did the recruiter phone screen today. It went well enough overall. The talk about comp left a bad taste in my mouth though. They asked what my expectations were. I talked about them in general without giving a number and when I mentioned the listed base salary range on the job description ($75 to $80k non-tech), they cut me off: "Yeah, that's the range and we're not going to go over that." They then jumped all over me: "Oh, you sound hesitant?!?! Are you ok with that?!?! We don't want internal pay disparity blah blah blah it's fine if you're not ok with the salary (and go f yourself then if you don't like it)." They made it clear that they would rather hire someone with less experience and "grow" them (while paying less) as opposed to hiring someone with more experience who might cost more. I presumably have more relevant experience and skills than the average candidate for this role. Yes, I've been unemployed since April and I need a job. To be honest, if I need to take a pay cut (compared to where I was before) in order to have an income right now, I'll do what I have to. I'm willing to work with them and have a conversation. In the end, I told them the top end of the range works for me (because of the above). I just found the recruiter's "I don't give a shit" attitude a big turn-off. Something else to go on top of the crushing grind of job hunting.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. Sending some positive energy your way.
Leave.
Recruiters, we don’t want to waste time. When we know the hiring manager won’t go above a pay range, we need to know you won’t get to offer asking $50k more. And it happens all. The. Time. So I can’t blame the recruiter for shaking that tree, but there are good and bad ways to do it.
My problem is I didn't even to get finish what I was saying before they essentially tried to put words in my mouth and misrepresent what was happening. Again, I'm willing to have the conversation. I'm bringing a lot of relevant skills and experience to the role, so it's not unreasonable for me to look for more than someone who is bringing less. It's also not unreasonable for them to have a budget for the role. If the numbers don't work, they don't work. That's fine.
Low barrier to entry jobs result in low quality people
I had same garbage experience with Culture Amp. I was in an interview loop for 3 months and then in the end they lowballed me (lowest end of their range) and hired someone with half my experience (used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to figure out who took the job after I didn’t). Their managers are very inexperienced in general: overindexed on culture and no questions about the job itself. Job titles are very descriptive in some functions. All of them are in Australia so my calls were late (8-10pm Pacific Time). Garbage nepotistic management team. Probably going to be part of the SaaS apocalypse and they’re just hiring someone short term who can make sure the lights stay on until a merger or sale.
Bail