[gamblor956]

In my (non-tech) field, most recruiters (except for tech company recruiters) start off by asking what the candidate's number is so that they're not wasting anyone's time, since no gainfully employed candidate is going to jump to a new company for the same or less compensation. For some reason, tech recruiters seem to believe that everyone outside of tech has been ignoring the massive layouts and still think that tech is super sexy and are just dying to work for tech no matter how low the salary is.

I am also fortunate enough to live in a state where job postings are required by law to include a salary range of actual or target salaries for the position (meaning, it must include both the salary range the company is willing to pay and also capture the salaries of anyone at the company who has substantially the same title or job responsibilities). Most companies make a good faith effort to comply. Tech companies generally don't bother, even when they're located in California. They usually slap a "remote" somewhere in the description even as the text elsewhere indicates that the position is hybrid or full-time on-site.