My first interview was a phone screen with the recruiter. During the phone screen she went over the salary range and said it was $75-$80k and when I paused, she said, "or more depending on experience and how the interviews go." For a senior level role, I felt that $75-$80k was a bit low but decided to go through the interview process since the recruiter said the "or more" statement. My next interview was with the hiring manager and during the 30 min. interview he asked me about 4 questions and the role he described was wildly different from what was in the job description and it kind of seemed like bait and switch. After the interview I was promptly scheduled for the next round, which was with the head of compliance and the head of legal. Both interviewers were nice but I was asked questions that didn't really seem relevant to the position and when it came time for me to ask them questions they flat out said, "We don't know." I left that interview with a not-so-good impression. A few days later the recruiter called me to offer me position and said the salary range was $70-$75k but she was able to get me $80k. She also seemed to oversell the position by saying there was a guaranteed 10% bonus and 3% annual raise. When I looked at the benefits package, the bonus is "up to" 10% and the raise is based on performance, nothing is guaranteed. The benefits were also a lot more expensive than my current employer and the HSA contribution was half. After a little back and forth, they were not able to meet my salary expectations so I declined the position. I felt the recruiter did not position the salary well and when she realized it she tried to oversell the position. I would have rather she been up front and honest from the get go and saved everyone's time. She also consistently missed deadlines. "I'll let you know today or tomorrow" turned into a week long delay. Overall I did not have a great impression of the team and was not willing to take a payout for what seemed to be a disorganized "bait and switch" organization.
