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I’m a staff-level software engineer at a big tech company (think FAANG), which pays very well. I recently got emailed by a recruiter from a smaller company, a long-running but still fairly small startup.

I would be a good fit for the role, and the company seems nice. But, there’s no way this company can come close to matching my current TC. I looked them up on Glassdoor and my TC last year was over 3x what they’d pay. My company’s stock has been doing very well, so this year will be even better. Even without that, on salary alone my current role pays more.

I understand that Glassdoor isn’t perfect, but there’s just no way this company could come close.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t reply yet. The recruiter has now sent three follow up emails and I feel really bad for not replying. But I don’t know what to say. Explaining the truth seems like a giant “jerk move” in which I’d be bragging about my current TC. But I would like to explain why so I don’t imply that their company seems like such a bad place to work that I’m not even willing to interview.

Is there any way to resolve this politely?

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    Why do you think it is impolite to prevent someone from wasting their time? Just explain your concerns to the recruiter. Commented May 4, 2021 at 17:56
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    @hhj2, Can you simply tell the recruiter your expected salary range from that small startup (even if they have not asked you yet) ? It is OK to be straight forward and professional. For example, you can write "While I am very impressed with your company's vision and potential, my expected salary is this $$$$$. Do you think we can move forward with the interview process ?" Commented May 4, 2021 at 18:00
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    just tell them your current salary. not a jerk move. Commented May 4, 2021 at 18:44
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    I'm completely amazed at OP's luck to, apparently, not yet be on recruiter's spam lists. Sadly however, OP is now on such lists! Just make an auto reply, "thanks, currently on XYZk". Four words Commented May 4, 2021 at 19:11
  • You could be further wasting their time by not replying. Just be honest and straight up. Always pays off Commented May 4, 2021 at 21:19

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"What is the salary for this position?"

"Unfortunately, I need $xx.xx. Thank you for reaching out to me. Keep in mind for future opportunities that match my salary requirements."

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    Why so negative? OP only assumes that they are out of the price range based on casual Internet research. There is no harm in assuming they can pay. Let the company determine if they can/want to afford it or not. "Thanks, that sounds very interesting. I'm looking for $xx.xx, is that in line with your expectations?" Commented May 5, 2021 at 12:50
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    @Hilmar I see it as two questions, one asking the salary, and the second a reply if it's too low. Commented May 6, 2021 at 12:10
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I think you can just state that you would not switch jobs for less than $X, and then let them decide if that is within their range.

If you speak directly as to what it would take to hire you, I don't think there is anything jerk-like or boastful with such a statement. On the other hand, saying something like "there's just no way you can pay me", would come across as obnoxious.

Given that you seem to have some interest in the role, there is nothing wrong with stating your salary expectations and then listening for their response: you might learn that they have the funding to make a few key hires, or that they are prepared to offer a substantial equity stake. You are assuming that they can't afford you, but that is just an assumption.

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Do you insist on stating the financial reason?

Sounds a bit smug, perhaps desirably so, but still.

Why wouldn't you just respond with:

"Thank you, currently I am not looking for new opportunities."

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    My go to phrase when I am not interested for whatever reason is: Thank you for your interest, but I am currently very happy with my position. Commented May 4, 2021 at 18:54
  • But this is wrong in a sense. Everyone is - at some level - looking for more money. Very few people would not change jobs for, say, double their current situation. The only way to get recruiters to shut up is to give them a USD amount. Commented May 4, 2021 at 19:12
  • @Fattie that may be the reason why recruiters often continuing communication even after the amount. They may see it as an amount of 2-3 times of current salary for candidate and start looking for a middle ground :) Commented May 4, 2021 at 19:58
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I understand that Glassdoor isn’t perfect, but there’s just no way this company could come close.

Surprisingly, you'd be amazed how much some small startups pay, particularly for niche experts (everyday programmers, no).

(I have no idea about the specific one obviously.)

Glassdoor

.. is comic and I wouldn't worry about it. (Again, in this specific case I'm sure you're correct.)

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t reply yet.

It's a bit surprising that you don't get zillions of "emails from recruiters" every week like most programmers!

Just reply

"Sure, I'm currently on 350k {or whatever} plus benefits so always happy to entertain higher offers."

That's the "standard reply".

Don't dick around with phrases, language, just state what you want in USD for it to be in the ballpark.

Explaining the truth seems like a giant “jerk move” in which I’d be bragging about my current TC.

Every single time in the history of the universe, a recruiter has cold-emailed someone, the reply is just "Thanks, currently I'm on XYZk"

There's no other reply.

It's a non-issue, the SOP answer.

(As I mention, it's surprising you haven't done this 100s of times already! But, good luck.)

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    Also it is a mistake to state your current salary expectations out of the door. Look, if OP is in a reasonably sized company then you can get a decent figure from levels.fyi. Recruiters know salaries, i think OP is being hasty here. Commented May 4, 2021 at 22:42
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    @bharal - recruiters know nothing, it's just a mass spam email. Commented May 4, 2021 at 23:42
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As much as I think most other answers are very valid, I would like to propose a slightly more nuanced approach.

  • First of all, you absolutely don't know whether this company can afford you, nor how bad they could want you in their team. You're never safe from a good surprise. What would be "impolite" (if ever you can be "impolite" to a company) is assume right away they can't afford this or that.

  • Secondly, while recruiters are not always appreciated (and for a lot of them, very rightly), I tend to not outright reject the ones that are coming with a position that seems to be a good fit. If you can afford spending time on a short discussion with them, that's at least a contact that might be useful in the future, and from the questions they ask you can also assess easier how reliable they might be.

  • Finally, but that is really my personal point of view on this, I also don't like to outright discuss money. Not that I find it impolite, not that I find it a jerk move, I just don't do it. BUT I surely will bring the point in that first discussion with the recruiter. If the job seems interesting enough, if the company also seems interesting enough (this assumes you ask the good questions, and the recruiter is able to answer), before agreeing on going further (submitting CV to company, going for an interview) I would certainly ask about the rate/salary range. There are plenty of questions and answers here about how to approach that kind of discussion so I won't go any further on the topic.

For all these reasons, I would reply with something around the lines of:

Hey! Sorry I didn't reach out earlier, but things were a bit crazy recently. I'm surely interested in discussing this position with you. When could we do that? Here are a few moments I could make myself available : XXX,YYY,ZZZ

This answer of course assumes you are indeed open to new opportunities, or even only this one. If not, you probably wouldn't have asked the question here and answered with a standard "not looking for a new position".

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