I work in IT and I'm on the job hunt, and I was interviewing for a position that seemed like a good fit for the next period of work in my life, it was a clone of the job I had left last year, that I was very successful at, and I have a good amount of experience in the field, so I got a really passionate response from the hiring director, and set up an interview. I had a technical exam, which I did well on, and then came the interview. The director set up a camera to record the interview “for the other hiring staff to review” and I agreed, and we kicked it off. Typical interview stuff, seemed like it was a great fit. I exceeded experience requirements by several years, It was a job where I could bring my existing clientbase to the job, so I would also benefit the company financially by joining their team, we were laughing and enjoying the process.
Then the question, “So what are you looking for salary wise?”
I was ready for it. I replied, “Well, on your advertisement on Indeed, you posted the salary range of X-XX, which is perfect because I was making XX at my previous position at the clone company, so it seems like my expectations are in line with your budget for this position” The director replied “Oh, yeah…most people start at X, and through commissions and bonuses you'll be making XX easily pretty quickly.” *red flag* I'm aware I probably looked non-plussed when I asked for more detail on their pay structure, because he continued trying to explain to me about how the top performing employees make above that, and are very happy, and that's the system that works best for them, and he's confident that I'll make more than that, no problem. Internally I was thinking of how best to move forward, but figured I'd continue the interview. He transitioned the conversation to other things. We continued the interview, and things smoothed out, back to positive conversation. At the end he said, “I just want to circle back to the pay issue, because I could feel you pull back there, and I wanted to reassure you a bit, and also understand the hesitation.”
So I replied, “Oh, no I was just wanting clarity on your pay structure, which is why I asked, because we've all heard horror stories of companies posting one thing online to get people in the door, and then switching it up when they arrive in a bait and switch… I just wanted to make sure no one is wasting anyone's time here, which I don't feel it's a waste. (I was still interested in the position, because I was looking for a short term position that worked with my schedule for school)
he continues, that he knows the position is a great deal for me, and anyone would agree.
We wrapped up the interview, and he ghosted me, and I've never heard back from him after several weeks of him emailing back almost immediately 5 or 6 times while we set up the interview process during the holidays.
Should I have not said that?