Recruiter scouts employee for office job, gets annoyed when they tell her they want to earn more than their current $110k salary: 'That is not a realistic expectation'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 14, 2026 9:15 AM EDT

Money is everything when it comes to changing jobs.

While not everybody derives most of their work satisfaction from their salary, there is no getting away from the fact that it is the reason for most of the workforce doing what they do. For every individual whose professional life is a passion project, there are a hundred people who have a job purely because they need the paycheck.

Although the likes of hiring managers and recruiters like to dance around how much compensation means to job applicants, it is always a crucial part of the discussion. While some employees are ready to take a pay cut for a role they really love or that has good room for progression, most only want to job hop if there is the promise of a larger salary. It makes sense; moving to another company always involves an element of risk, and it is nice to have some perks to mitigate that.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies that are not willing to put in the investment to impress the best candidates. The result of this is that they miss out on hires that could have done good things for them if only they would pay them well.

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    via Christina @ wocintechchat.com M

    A model representing a female employee sitting on a windowsill and holding a closed laptop in her lap

  • An employee who was making a living from temporary work was surprised to get a message from a recruiter about a role after leaving their resume on some job boards. They were not actively looking for a job, but they were willing to consider an arrangement that was more stable than their current one.

    However, the opportunity soon looked like something they didn't want when they enquired about the salary range before meeting. They told her that they expected a salary that was higher than they were currently earning, and she claimed that this was unrealistic. They wanted to vent about the experience.

  • A recruiter reached out to me about a job, then got upset when I told her what I'd need to leave my current job

    I'm not actively looking for a job right now, but I was looking about 7 months ago and my resume is still on a few job boards. I've left the alerts on for things in my field because I'm curious and like to know what the market looks like.
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • Right now I'm a gig worker. I move from job to job, but I'm also in a union. On average, I make about 95-125k a year. Through my union, my health insurance premiums are fully covered as long as I'm working regularly, and I also have a retirement account and a
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • pension plan. I'm generally happy with the work. The only downside is that hopping between jobs can get a little exhausting, so I occasionally look at something more corporate/stable in my field.
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • A recruiter reached out to me through one of the hiring sites I'm on. It was a regular office job and seemed pretty well matched to my skills. She said she was interested in speaking with me and wanted to set up an interview. We
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • emailed back and forth a bit, and honestly the job looked good enough for me to hear them out. I also did the usual checks to make sure it wasn't a scam listing.
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • Before scheduling anything, I asked about the pay range. She came back with one of the things that annoys me the most: "what compensation are you looking for in this position?" A garbage tactic, either to lowball someone who doesn't know better, or to make someone who knows their worth feel like they're asking for something unreasonable.
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • Since I don't need this job and had basically nothing to lose, I told her honestly: "Right now I make about 110k/yr, have a pension plan, and my health insurance costs are covered by my union. So for me to be interested in interviewing, the offer would need to beat that in some meaningful way."
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • What I got next was an extremely irritating email. I won't quote it word for word, but the gist was:
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • "That is far outside the range for this position and frankly not a realistic expectation. We will not be moving forward with you as a candidate due to these demands. Going forward, I suggest making yourself more attractive to employers by adjusting your expectations to better match your experience. You won't get hired with this mindset."
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • Lady, I literally just told you what I'm currently making. If it's not in your budget, fine. Say that and move on. But don't tell me I'm not worth the number I'm already being paid. FFs
    via Current-Chocolate320
  • A model representing an employee sitting at her computer, holding a pair of glasses in one hand and rubbing her temple with the other
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A model representing an employee sitting at her computer, holding a pair of glasses in one hand and rubbing her temple with the other

  • Background_Radish238 Can't believe these recruiters behave like that. What is wrong with these folks. She should have congratulated you for having a top of the scale pay.
    via Background_Radish238
  • ThePlatinumPaul Yes, so sorry for not immediately jumping at the chance to make less money.
    via ThePlatinumPaul
  • Tzukiyomi This happens alot. I laughed at one once that tried this over the phone. Like, you are asking someone with a current job to take yours for less. Screw off.
    via Tzukiyomi
  • unknown-random-nope I have seen this many times. I recommend that you block this recruiter, their entire company, and move on.
    via unknown-random-nope
  • Budget-Document-5501 Had the exact same experience. This was after the recruiter had cold-contacted me at work by pretending to be a client with an urgent request to get me on the phone too. Outstanding stuff.
    via Budget-Document-5501
  • SuperRonnie2 Recruiters these days are just awful. Worse than realtors.
    via SuperRonnie2

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