Imagine that you are the general manager of a football team and you really want to get a star into your squad... let's say Patrick Mahomes. You make contacts for a long time, persuade him to meet, offer him the opportunity to move to your team, and when he finally voices his expectations for salary and bonuses, you suddenly say something like: "Listen, man, but this is way too expensive!"
Sounds silly even if you're not a football fan? So it is, but on the other hand, thousands of job recruiters around the world behave exactly this way. It would seem that if you need a specialist, you should study the level of their current salary and offer something significant to lure them away, but no.
Recently, blogger pbsquamer made a video on TikTok based on a conversation with one such recruiter. The video instantly went viral with 338.5K views and 41.4K likes. It is obvious that the topic raised is very close to many people.
More info: TikTok
The Original Poster made a video after a meeting with a hapless job recruiter
Image credits: Alan Cleaver (not the actual photo)
The Original Poster himself admits that he is often approached by job recruiters, about once a month, and this one was no exception. He slid into direct messages, described the vacancy, and offered to meet and discuss everything. According to the OP's own words, he is completely satisfied with his current job, but he is still considering proposals - perhaps there will be something incredibly interesting.
Image credits: @pbsquamer
When the OP voiced his salary expectations, his interlocutor immediately told him that it's way too high
So, in the process of discussing the vacancy, when it came to the OP's salary expectations and he voiced them, he received a response that this was way too much. The OP was ready for something like this, but still surprised. Firstly, this recruiter was the initiator of the meeting himself, and secondly, the OP has this amount already at his current job.
Image credits: @pbsquamer
Accordingly, in order to lure a candidate who is satisfied with his current position, something more must be offered. Like... money? More money? At this point, the recruiter, like some of his colleagues, made an important mistake - instead of negotiating, he started arguing and gaslighting the candidate.
Image credits: @pbsquamer
The recruiter ended up trying to gaslight the candidate, which looked really unprofessional
For example, assuming that, in fact, he does not in any way deserve the money he's asking for, and that his expectations are really too high. In response, the OP was pleased to note that he already makes about the same - and quite logically would like more, if he were to be given a reason to switch to a new employer.
Image credits: @pbsquamer
Image credits: @pbsquamer
Turned out, the employer's budget just couldn't afford an employee like the OP
The recruiter explained that he represents a government contractor and his budget doesn't allow him to pay more. The OP also had an answer ready for this - the fact is that he now also works for a government contractor, and already gets quite a lot of money.
Image credits: @pbsquamer
In general, as the OP summarizes, the conversation with the hapless job recruiter ended with his advice: "If your budget does not allow you to invite me, just invite someone whose salary expectation is within this budget. But not me."
Commenters recalled lots of similar cases based on their own working experience
People in the comments, admittedly, had a lot of fun, recalling similar cases from their own practice of communicating with job recruiters. One of the commenters recalled how they ended a similar conversation with the phrase: "You're not very good at negotiating, are you?"
By the way, there were also quite wholesome tips - for example, to voice one's salary expectation even before the meeting is scheduled, just in order not to waste your precious time. However, the OP probably understood perfectly well how such a call would end, and agreed to talk just for fun.
We wonder if you've had similar conversations with job recruiters, and if so, how did they end? In fact, recruiting is a real art, even if the offer is very tempting. Perhaps any football manager is likely to readily confirm.