Woman has iconic response after recruiters accidentally reveal their plan to lowball her

Some companies are losing sight of professionalism, especially during the hiring process, where their lack of care can reveal red flags to candidates. Reddit user u/Komeandgo shared an experience where a potential employer accidentally CC'd her on an email discussing plans to lowball her salary even before the second interview.

In a comment, she mentioned that the role was in IT, noting the irony of such a technical field having recruiters make this mistake. She also shared a screenshot of the email, which read: “Here is the candidate my team likes as an alternative to ___. ___ is looking for $55k-$60k and lives in ___. I think she would accept $53k. She has committed to a second interview with you. Sending you the resume.”

In another comment, the employee elaborated, “We discussed pay and I said my minimum was 60K (I was already leaving an entry-level job in the same field, so lower wouldn’t have been beneficial)." She added that the recruiter had considered her range and hadn’t said anything but “okay.” The woman confidently spoke up about receiving the email at her second interview and the recruiters apologized. However, she mentioned, “I told them I feel they wouldn’t have my best interest at heart if they’re already undervaluing me and that I didn’t want to continue forward with a team that’s likely to stab me in the back.”

She also pointed out that the person who lowballed her would be her boss and it meant that “they would not be looking out” for the employee if she took up the role. The woman added that their lowballing was unprofessional and out of line. “The city that I live in has a very high cost. You can barely afford a room for $53,000,” she mentioned. She also noted that the job was on-site and was very hard for many candidates to commit to. “I’ve had interviews where they communicated up front saying, ‘I don’t want to waste your time or mine, the job pays x amount, does that work?’ I would say yes or no and we’d move on or negotiate from there.”

However, the company’s carelessness was a downer. After much consideration, the woman decided to take up another job where she was offered more than what she had initially suggested. u/DizzyEye5257 wrote, “That lowball is such crap. I get a company looking out for itself, but this is a calculated move to undercut you.” u/RevolutionaryTell668 added, “Trying to penny pinch, and caught red-handed. Funny.” u/Bridge23ux pointed out, “To offer below that range seems insulting. If I tell you my salary requirement is $50k and you bring me in for an interview, if you intend to offer any less than 50k you’re wasting my time. And yours.” u/oldcreaker added, “Amazing how businesses that will throw money here and there can be so intent on scrapping a couple thousand out of a person's yearly salary.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 20, 2024. It has since been updated.