I encountered the following in working with Shirley (she never gave a last name) at Discover Staffing (Atlanta, GA area).
Shirley called and spoke with my husband regarding a job she thought was a fit with my resume. I have a business degree and 16 years experience as a controller, which is exactly what the job requirements were. She told my husband that the job paid 75,000 a year. He questioned her on this amount, telling her I had already had too many experiences with recruiters telling me one amount when they wanted to submit my resume and another just before the interview. Making a certain amount was necessary, especially if there was a long commute to work, which there would be with this job. Shirley assured my husband that 75,000 was what the job paid. Then she e-mailed me a job description for the position (which I still have) stating that the job paid in the low to mid seventies. (Not exactly as firm as the original 75k, but 75k is in the mid seventies.)
I delayed leaving for a family vacation to make it to this interview. At the interview I was asked if any dollar amount had been mentioned. I told them that the recruiter had said 75,000. I didn't ask for that amount, and they didn't ask me my past salaries.
The recruiter called me the following week and told me I didn't get the job, that they hired someone who was very familiar with their software, which I was not. Then she asked me what I made at a job I had held some time ago, something she had never asked before. I told her and she told me I should never have told them I needed 75,000. I told her I didn't tell them that that they asked me if a figure had been mentioned and I told them the recruiter had said 75,000. She said they thought I was asking a ridiculous leap in salary. (She's the one who said 75k. I still have my husband's notes from the phone call and the e-mail from her to prove it). I told her I made much more than that in following jobs, and that the interviewers had never asked me my past salary amounts. She told me that the person they hired, stating he was much more qualified than I was, wouldn't be offered 75,000 and there was no way I could make that much money. (Much more qualified we both have BA's and I have one more year of experience.) She said she would only consider me for jobs that paid much less than that. I was stunned. I didn't call her about this job. She called me. I don't know how she got any salary information on me. I certainly didn't provide it until she called to say I didn't get the job.
I understand that getting a job is not guaranteed with any recruiter, and I have come to expect a certain amount of deception and incompetence from them. I understand that a company would select someone with certain qualifications, such as familiarity with software, over someone who is lacking in this area, as in this case. But I do mind being lied to about the salary for this job just to get me to an interview. It was definite deception since Shirley was questioned about the situation thoroughly due to previous past experience with deceptive practices. The comparison of past salaries is also of concern to me when I had not provided this information to the recruiter or the business, not even through an application in either case. This woman is a liar and a fraud and is apparently trying to cover it up by accusing me of trying to make more money than I'm worth. It is important that disreputable practices such as hers be reported to protect other job seekers.
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