[rfrey]

It's an insult to ask what the pay is?

Do you think the recruiter asks the employer? If so, there are two possible reasons: because it's pertinent information for candidates, or because the recruiter gets paid based on that info. If the former, no insult. If the latter, the recruiter is in familiar territory if so "insulted" by the candidate.

[rilita]

Yes it is. Many companies doing direct hire ( going past recruiters entirely ) will drop you as a candidate entirely if you ask for salary too soon in the process.

[Karunamon]

Sounds like another awful BS filter with a high false positive rate, like the outfits that require you to submit a resume, and then painstakingly duplicate that information into a set of form fields (one or the other sure, but both?)

For the most part, people are working to get paid. I see absolutely no need to sugar coat or dance around this simple fact.

[chadgeidel]

Excellent. I wouldn't want to work for that company anyway. Recruitment goes both ways.

[s73v3r]

Sucks for them. They came to me, they need me, not the other way around. Thus, they have to appease me. That's the way markets work.