[hypertext7]

After going through all the steps with a big corp, I was "offered" to do an additional interview if I wanted to be assessed at my current level (they leveled me lower). I stood my ground and respectfully declined, and eventually they made me an offer for the correct level. What I learned the hard way was that you need at least one more competing offer, otherwise you won't have any leverage.

[firstplacelast]

Well duh, your salary is more tightly correlated to your leverage than the value you create.