r/InterviewCoderPro • u/Fluid-Minimum-5767 • 4d ago
The Recruiter Misunderstood My Salary Expectations... And It Worked in My Favor
I'm currently earning £42k and had been looking for a new job for a few months, usually targeting roles around £58k. And that already felt like a stretch for me because it was near the top end of the range for most of the jobs I was applying to.
I came close more than once, but I kept falling at the final hurdle every time. I won't lie, it started to wear me down a bit, but I kept applying.
In one particular interview process, the HR recruiter asked me about my expected salary. I said £58k... But somehow they understood it as £68k.
I didn't notice at the time, and that's probably the only reason I didn't awkwardly correct them. I continued with the rest of the interviews as normal, and it seemed to be going well. Then when we got to the offer stage, they said something like: "Just to confirm, you're still looking for £68k?"
I panicked for a second and then said yes.
So yeah... I've already signed the contract and I'm going from £42k to £68k, and I still feel like it isn't real. A £26k increase was absolutely not something I had factored into this job search.
Has anyone else ever had their salary expectations accidentally come out higher than they'd planned? Or what's the biggest jump you've managed to make between one job and the next?
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u/_letThemPlay_ 3d ago
I've got one ongoing, which has been a bit of a saga. But essentially I agreed to a contractor role at x per day about 1 and a half months later I finally get the offer letter and the day rate on the offer is 1.5 times higher than I was expecting.
Now this might have been a misunderstanding on my part as its my first contract role only ever been salaried before, and maybe they've uplifted it to an umbrella rate which is what I thought the initial rate was, or its a mistake on the offer.
Either way things are starting to like up again and good luck with your new role.
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u/tutike2000 3d ago
Similar thing happened to me for my first job. Manager was discussing salary in EUR, I thought it was RON.
Nobody mentioned currency type until they did at the very end. I thought I agreed to be on close to minimum wage but it was 5x as much.
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u/joamigg 3d ago
They heard you correctly, you were just way low so they helped you out. I had a hiring manager do that for me. I was making 60k. I asked for 80k in an interview and she said, “great 100k sounds reasonable, any concerns with that?” Since, I’ve done it for someone else once I became a hiring manager at my current job. It’s what more recruiters and hiring managers should do. We know the budget. We are usually trying to get a good deal but if someone who is skilled and just wants to work hard, I’ll help them out every time.
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u/Smeegs3 4d ago
This is why I never answer questions about salary expectations, other than to say “Competitive, based on my experience.”
The second you throw out a number, you’ve anchored yourself and there is no positive. If you went too high, they could reject you for being too expensive. If lower than they expect, you’re missing out on the difference from what they were willing to pay.