I was recently headhunted for a software developer position, and once I received their contract draft, I noticed that the proposed salary was way lower than I expected.
Once I voiced my concerns, they immediately raised their offer by almost 40%, which I ended up saying yes to, but they managed to hit exactly what I had considered my minimum acceptable salary, and at this point I feel sorta cheated by them anchoring the expectations so low.
While I do feel I have a better grasp of how to respond to this kind of offer in the future, I have to ask:
- Is this negotiation tactic normal?
- Is it a red flag?