The first thing the company asked for was half an hour of the candidate’s life in front of an AI interviewer. The first thing the company had not done was say what the job paid.
That order — the interview before the number — was the whole complaint. They were not job hunting in earnest, they already had a job, and they were not going to spend thirty minutes being assessed to maybe find out whether the role was even a step up. The recruiter called it an assessment. The candidate called it what it felt like: a ritual to sit through before the company would reveal whether it was worth anyone’s time.
Their rule was simple. Post the salary, and then ask for the effort.