An anonymous IT professional shared on Reddit about a situation he found himself in during salary negotiations with a company where he was in the final stages of hiring.
He said that during the call with HR, he claimed to have another, better offer from another company to try to increase his salary. He later admitted that the offer did not exist and that the statement was a bluff.
An anonymous IT professional shared on Reddit about a situation he found himself in during salary negotiations with a company where he was in the final stages of hiring.
He said that during the call with HR, he claimed to have another, better offer from another company to try to increase his salary. He later admitted that the offer did not exist and that the statement was a bluff.
After the conversation, the recruiter asked the candidate to send a formal letter summarizing the discussion, as well as a copy of the other offer letter so that the compensation team could «get a good idea of the number.» She also asked for the name of the company that had supposedly made the alternative offer.
Aitivets notes that he found himself in a difficult situation: on the one hand, the desire to preserve his chance at a job, on the other, the understanding that creating a fake document with company logos and names is outright fraud. «It’s one thing to bluff during a call, and quite another to forge documents,» he wrote.
In an addendum to the post, the author said he sent HR a response stating that he could not disclose confidential or proprietary information of another company, even if it existed. He said he was not sure whether this was the right decision or whether it made the situation worse.
He also noted that he has been looking for a job for about five months, and called the current IT job market «the worst during my search.»
In his post, the IT expert drew attention to the general state of the market, mentioning numerous discussions on Reddit about:
fake vacancies;
inflated or false salary ranges;
ads that are published «for show».
According to him, this creates an atmosphere of distrust in which candidates begin to use risky tactics during negotiations.
The post sparked active discussion among the IT community: some commentators advise openly withdraw the application, others — prepare for rejection, but do not cross the line into forging documents.
