Here's a thought that occurred to me whilst applying for jobs recently. I have been approached by 3rd party recruiter, who offered me different jobs, I have successfully completed the recruitment process for one of them and was given an offer.
When the recruiter originally presented this job to me, it was advertised with 55k-60k salary. By the end the people who interviewed me came to a conclusion that I am a good fit for the job, but my experience is on the lower end of what they were searching, or even that I will need to pick up some skills, but because I showed eagerness they made the offer.
This was reflected in the offer they made me: 45k + "guaranteed" 10+% bonus. Obviously I was a little disappointed by this, but in my error I have mentioned to the recruiter that I would happily take it in case negotiating more, closer to what was advertised - fails. Obviously it failed and I was left with the above offer, which I have since accepted.
I have given my resignation letter, but since I'm still receiving updates about local jobs, another one popped up. Similar experience, same area. The job is being advertised with a salary range of 50-65k in one place in the advert, but inside the body of the advert this changes to 45-65k. It is again advertised by some 3rd party recruitment company.
It all makes me think 3rd party recruiters are manipulating these numbers, either to make the offer more appealing, or perhaps asking the company for a cut. I would like to know what is happening and if it's a common practice? Are these 3rd party recruitment firms taking a 'cut' % of recruit's salary, instead of a referral bonus? And could I have handled this better, to get a salary that I wanted - closer to what was advertised?
For context, this is taking place in the UK.