My candidate experience was horrible.
I applied for a role through LinkedIn and was also referred internally through a former colleague. I received an email from the recruiter a couple days later for us to schedule a phone screen.
The conversation went extremely well, so well that she had mentioned to me that I will be making it to the onsite interview where I will meet with the hiring manager and someone on the team.
At the end of the recruiter phone screen, she wanted to discuss pay. I asked if we can save that talk until after the onsite (I didn't want to discuss pay if I wasn't sure how far into the process I was going to make it). So I said I would love to discuss pay if it gets to the offer stage.
She said that's perfect and works well.
But she had one question, "If I were be taking a pay cut".
I currently live in San Francisco and work for one of the Top Tech Companies in the world. So of course pay is pretty high because of the SF market and the size of the company.
The role I applied for at ServiceTitan was in Glendale, Ca (Southern California (SoCal)).
The market in SoCal pays less than San Francisco, because cost of living is less expensive than SF. So I knew by relocating to SoCal I will have to take a pay cut and I was okay with that.
Going back to her question. I answered "Yes I will be taking a pay cut, but I don't see that a problem. Two different markets, two different pay structure, it's okay." She hesitated and responded with "We want our employees to be 100% happy at work, and from experience, those that take paycuts don't end up liking their job and it causes for a bad work environment, which we don't want". I understood and responded "I completely understand, but I applied knowing that this position would cost a paycut because of the market. I'm willing to take a paycut because I see more opportunity. Opportunity & growth > Pay"
Still, she was hesitant and time was running out for the phone call. She said I was going to move forward to the onsite and that she will get back to me over the next couple of days.
A little over a week went by and I still had not heard back. So I reached out to the recruiter directly.
Letting her know the dates when I will be in SoCal (that way the company wouldn't have to fly me out as she mentioned would happen.) and asking for next steps.
Within a couple of minutes after sending that email to her directly, I receive an automated rejection email. Seems like she no longer wanted to speak with me or explain as to why my onsite never happened.
Overall, a bad experience. Companies strive to provide the best candidate experience because it is a representation of their company. At least, every company I have worked with, strives for that.
ServiceTitan failed to do that. I would have been much happier with a phone call or email from her directly letting me know I won't be moving forward with the onsite rather than being 'ghosted' by her.
If this was about the paycut (which I was okay taking, otherwise I wouldn't have applied) then she should have not have of promised an onsite with the team and hiring manager.