First, a little background:
I'm in the US. I'm experienced in my field, and quite good at what I do. Last week I received a screening call for a position I'd applied for; I declined to move forward due to the position's entry-level salary ($20k under my minimum requirement) and “in-office training” requirement “for the first 3-6 months.”
The recruiter said she understood my reasons, and would be in touch if she could get approval for a higher salary. Yesterday (Friday), I received the following voicemail (edited for clarity and brevity):
Hi, this is [recruiter] calling from [company]. The group wanted to schedule a phone interview with you to chat about the [role]. I am going to be out on Sunday, so when you call back, any of my co-workers can get that set up for you. We will also need you to send over some additional paperwork for the interview, which would be a copy of the [company] employment application, and at some point we will be looking for college transcripts.
So, red flags in the voicemail?
- No mention of increased salary.
- The company's recruiters work weekends?
- I already filled out an application – it's why you called me in the first place! I don't need to do that for a “simple” interview.
- College transcripts? Are you kidding? I'm in my 40s, with an extensive online portfolio showing my work. At this point my degree is irrelevant, and there's no reason I should have to pay for you to see my shitty, 25yo grades.
- I declined the interview. Why are you trying to set up an interview?
So, what to do? Part of me wants to ignore the call, while another part wants to call back and chew them out. Another part of me wants to move forward in the hopes of bleeding a few paychecks out of them before they realize “it's not a good fit.”