[BoorishBears]

There's no confusion... I'm asking is your definition of lowball something like "offering Junior-like pay when I wanted Senior/Staff-like pay"

> And yeah, not getting the 20% pay bump between job hops that I'm looking for.

That kind of answers my question lol. This isn't the environment where I'd consider not getting a pay bump a low ball.

And ironically that mentality is what I infer when I hear stories like OP's: These companies assume that people from certain backgrounds have expectations forged in a much more favorable market, and they'd rather not waste their time interviewing someone looking for a 20% pay bump in a down market...