[JMTQp8lwXL]

When it became evident to a recruiter I didn't like the initial compensation package offered, they immediately de-prioritized me. They somewhat at first said they'd help negotiate, but then had to tend to other things. We were so close to a deal, but my recruiter didn't want to go that extra mile. So, they made $0 since no conversion. (And I was only looking for 15% additional compensation -- I wasn't asking for the moon here).

They went so far, to only drop the ball at the very end. I understand third-party (kind I was working with) and in-house recruiters operate a little differently, but I still found this surprising.

[x0x0]

I'm an employer, and we're open with recruiters about our limits. I bet you passed the limit the employer was willing to pay.

[jdhn]

It would’ve behooved the recruiter to at least mention that the pay he was asking for was above the limit.

[JMTQp8lwXL]

As a candidate, I don't want to prematurely limit myself on comp at the intake portion of the conversion funnel. So, the recruiter might mention a number, and I'll think to myself "that plus Y%" would do it for me. But I have no reason to say that. Who knows, maybe "that plus Y+Z%" is the firm's real upper limit. So it can't be the fault of recruiter, but also, it would be unwise for me too early on.

I could give an absolute minimum, but that would be an anchor I don't want to be tied to.

[PragmaticPulp]

> When it became evident to a recruiter I didn't like the initial compensation package offered, they immediately de-prioritized me.

Sounds like the process was working as intended?

> We were so close to a deal, but my recruiter didn't want to go that extra mile. So, they made $0 since no conversion.

I think you're assuming malice or laziness where the simpler explanation is that the company simply had a firm salary range for the position.

It's more likely that the recruiter simply kept searching to find the client what they ordered: Someone who fit within their explicit compensation budget.

There is a lot of good online job seeking and negotiating advice available these days, but I'm afraid that some of it has become a little too optimistic about how easy it is to squeeze more money out of every employer under the sun. There are many times where the budget is the budget, and the upper limit really is the upper limit.

[RichardCA]

There's no way to know what really happened. It's entirely possible the client wanted the agent to accept a thinner margin in order to meet your target number. And the recruiter is forbidden from telling you this because client hiring budgets are confidential.

This is common, the recruiter wants to be transparent, but they can't. You wish the negotiation was characterized by symmetry of information flow, but it isn't.

[WalterBright]

Yeah, well, any recruiter can spend hours regaling you with tales of inept candidates, too :-)

A recruiter is a lot like a real estate agent. Understanding how their business works and how they operate, leads to a good professional relationship with them that works for both of you.

[JMTQp8lwXL]

I'm not blaming the recruiter. They could say 'the limit is $X' on an intro call. But I tend to take that as an early negotiation tactic. Because if I say X+Y% during the offer-letter phase of the pipeline, and they say yes, the first limit mentioned was a fabrication.

In other words, there is no way to truly know the limit until you've reached the end of the funnel. Maybe the company's struggled with finding a candidate, and now has decided to shell out a premium upon request. You'll never have that context. But true cards will only played at the end, not the beginning, of the conversation.

[WalterBright]

> the first limit mentioned was a fabrication

As the process goes on, the company may decide you offer more value than they originally anticipated, hence are worth a higher limit.