I have recently been working with a technology recruiter (pretty aggressive personality) to help me find a job. He got on the phone telling me about this 'real contract-to-hire opportunity' he doesn't know much about yet. He asked if he can gather some information from me first before giving more information... The one question relating to this post that he insisted on knowing is what is my asking salary for me to accept an offer today, we eventually agreed on $X/hr.
Later on he did follow through with this position, as promised, he set up a phone interview, which lasted 45minutes plus.
This phone interview with the actual company finally filled in a lot of gaps and gave me a better understanding of the amount of responsibility expected of me, the position does not come with any benefits, and carries more responsibility than what I expected, which led me to believe, this position may be worth ($X +$5)/hr.
When the recruiter followed up me after the phone interview, he asked how it went and if I want to get an offer from them. I said yes. He reconfirmed, by asking what offer would I like to receive? I said ($X+$5)/hr, because knowing what I know now, it seems more fair.
This made the recruiter extremely upset, he said "this is very unfair that you are holding me hostage for an extra $5 an hour, it makes me look unprofessional if I go back and ask for more money", "we agreed on $X amount".
To conclude, he asked me to e-mail him, in writing, that if an offer is made by company Y I will accept the offer of $X.
in order from him to move forward...
However this makes me extremely nervous, because I don't want him to catch me in my words and hold it against me, also if I get a better offer elsewhere, I will turn this offer down. On the other hand, if I was able negotiate this offer a bit, I would probably accept it, although this does not seem like an option, given this recruiter.
I appreciate any advice on whether it is a good idea to work with this recruiter and confirm asking price in an e-mail.
Many thanks in advance!
if I got offer $X from company Y, I would accept it
and then change my mind when an offer is actually given, with no risk?