A few moons ago I decided to change employers as I was going no-where and not learning anything new.
One of my applications was to a government agency. I sort of knew they paid low but you got a job for life which never had any value to me as that's like a jail sentence to me.
So the interview starts with a panel of four people, we go around with the introductions etc. and I sit down. This one time I didn't want to waste my time as I was going through a few interviews at other places.
I started before they could with “I'd like to know the salary range before we continue as I don't want to waste your time if its not acceptable to me.”
This shocked the stuffed shirts who thought working for this prestigious government agency is enough to compensate for shitty pay (as if). They shuffled about at the shocking insult of a common garden gnome private sector wage slave asking such an impertinent question of them. They obviously had the numbers and the HR guy (yes for once), gave out the information, blah blah grade at a range of x-y dollars.
I asked the “Any exceptions and what if any conditions to get such an exception are there:? Blah blah, basically a PHD and a letter from god (any recognized god) .
I stood up and said “Thankyou, but I am not interested at that level of pay and good luck you will need it.” and started to walk out. The I.T. guy tried to stop me and say they could review it etc., but I said he needed to nearly double it for me to even consider it and I doubt that the organization had the balls to realize that level of change in one go for one position. So take me off the list and bye bye.
I had done my research and knew that they had been allocated a couple of hundred million dollars for the project area I was going to be in and the fact they tried to low ball meant they were going to pay the internal hires peanuts and the real money was going on all the consultants and contractors. I ended up with one of them on double the money consulting to them a few months later.
Small world eh?