Four weeks and a five-round loop for a Senior Operations Specialist role. The posting listed the band at $110,000 to $125,000. On the recruiter screen the candidate gave a target of $115,000; the recruiter confirmed, on the call, that it fell squarely within budget. The VP of Operations called the final case study top tier. Then the written offer arrived, and the base salary was $92,000.
The recruiter explained: internal equity. The candidate’s background was, she said, “slightly shy” of an arbitrary seven-year benchmark for the title, so the compensation committee had capped them at the low end. She stressed the benefits and the 401k match, and hinted at plenty of room for promotion after six months. They had known the candidate’s exact experience on day one. They waited until round five to change the number.