Currently working/living in Sofia, Bulgaria – IT Consulting sector. I make around 38K EUR/year after taxes(net), without bonuses/benefits.
The job I do requires 7 IT certifications for the technology used.
These certifications take 6-12 months to acquire and their cost is roughly 12k EUR.
So recently, I got approached by this recruiter on LinkedIn, who works for one of the biggest chip manufacturers in the world.
They were looking for a person with the same qualifications and 5+ years of experience to take up a senior staff engineering job in Dublin, Ireland.
The offer had no salary range or bonuses/perks announced in it.
I was like “yeah, that sounds interesting”, so we set up an initial interview – decided I'll see what they offer if I get to after the technical interviews (BIG MISTAKE).
At this point, It's good to mention that relocation for the job is MANDATORY. It was not an option for me to sign there and work from abroad.
So we moved on to the interview part. Had one with the hiring manager (IT director for Europe in the same company). That went really well, so we move on to the technical interview.
First one was with a couple of guys from US – I kill it after 1 hour of them asking me questions on the subject.
Second technical interview, a 1to1 with a senior engineer from US, that goes well too.
A forth interview with HR, apparently to get an idea of my values and work culture, that goes well too.
At this point, we're on the money subject. Told them what I'm making right now. I tell them that looking at stats, Dublin is around 50% more expensive compared to where I live. I'd also have expenses such as rent (1.5K EUR/month), childcare (800 EUR/month).
This is followed by the usual BS – yeah, we know, we'll take that into account, no problem.
So I'm expecting that if an offer comes through, it would be around +50% on my annual current salary + accounting for rent/childcare.
I wait a couple of weeks, then an email arrives – “YOUR OFFER”
I opened it up and was staggered to see that the job offer is for 75k EUR GROSS (50k EURO after taxes).
I reply that the offer does not meet my financial expectations, and that I need to decline it.
Another email comes through – “WHY”
“Well, the cost of living is 50% more then where I'm currently living at, so I'd expect the offer to cover at least that, for me to consider it.”
“I'm sorry, but this is the absolute maximum that we can offer for this position.”
Got an offer a few days later from another company in Bulgaria, 54k EUR net/year and permanent WFH. I think I'll go with that.
What staggers me the most is – How do companies trying to hire people and make them relocate do not at least cover the cost of living difference? Are they that daft? Do they expect you to go work for them and deal with the whole relocation BS, while you live worse then how you did before relocating?
A tip for everyone; DO NOT WAIT FOR THE LAST MINUTE TO ASK FOR THE PAY RANGE.
Do this at the very beginning, as you can end up wasting several days in the interview process, same as I did.