Probably beat to death here but had a wild experience with a large company. I am a mechanical engineer with 3 years of experience at my current company and was looking to move because im really not learning anything new at this point. In addition the last few improvements I have suggested would total ~1million annual savings have all been shut down for what i can tell is lack of interest from management. So it frustrating to do this work and then have nothing come of it.
So i have been job hunting trying to mix it up and work on something new and exciting to me.
At my current job I make 90k which i feel is good for my level of experience. A large defense company gave me an offer today for 75k. During the interview i had disclosed that i was looking for mid 90's due to my track record of saving through improvements multiples of my salary each year. I declined the offer and the call me asking why and i reiterated my salary and they cam back with 80k. I really don't understand. If im out of your price range let me know. Why do they think i would take a 10k pay cut?
Finally i will add i did get a call this week for a different defense company and in the screening interview the said flat out the budget was 95 to 100k for the position based on my experience level. God damn is it good knowing going into the interview process with a company knowing what to expect for a salary. So peeps there are upfront companies out there, hopefully it becomes the norm.