The other day, I received a solicitation from a recruiter for an interesting contract position. The email, in addition to the gig description, also included the pay rate range. It looked like a good prospect, until I contacted the recruiter.
When I contacted the recruiter, I could tell that the recruiter just wanted to get my particulars to forward to the prospective client. Fine; I wasn't crazy about it, but that was no crime. When it came to rate I was asked what I wanted. Although my magic number was outside the stated range, the range itself was acceptable considering the gig.
When I responded that the stated range was adequate, I was then asked what my previous rate was. I knew this could head one of two ways: a fair negotiation or something else. Still, I like to give people the benefits of the doubt. I gave my previous salary. Doing some quick math she determined that she would put in a rate to her client that was half the stated range, and just a few dollars higher than the hourly rate equivalent of my previous salary.
I countered that first of all that the work was in a different sector. Second, I told her that contractor rates are higher because and employer provides other monetary and non-monetary benefits that a contractor doesn't normally receive.
Her basic arguments were that one, I would be making too much at the stated rate (compared to my previous salary), and two that my proposed rate increase would be more palatable to her client.
Rather than argue, I told her not to bother submitting my resume, and apologized for wasting her time.
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