I was contacted by an RPO recruiter at Kaluza following a referral. The recruiter was polite enough, but the conversation itself was quite off-putting. Very early on, the focus shifted to whether the company could “afford” my salary expectations. My expectations are aligned with market rates and based on my current public-sector salary, so hearing this from a private company was unexpected. What really didn’t sit right was being told - at the initial screening stage - that I would likely need to deliver “perfect interviews” to justify my salary, and that I was more likely to be considered for a level below my current role (and below my current public-sector pay). That felt premature and not something a recruiter should be pre-deciding before any technical assessment has taken place. There were also some inconsistencies in the discussion: * My fit for the company was questioned because my current role involves a lot of legacy work, with the suggestion they are “more greenfield” - despite my background including greenfield projects, and somewhat ironically given Kaluza’s core business is helping energy companies modernise legacy systems!! * I was asked whether I was frontend or backend even though my CV makes this very clear * The role was advertised in multiple locations but I was told hiring was effectively London-only when I mentioned Bristol Taken together, the interaction felt much more like early salary anchoring and down-levelling than a genuine assessment of skills and fit. Also, the strength of the downward pressure this early did make me uncomfortable. In an industry where women are still too often low-balled, this kind of approach doesn’t create a great impression. Recruitment is a two-way street, and this process didn’t feel particularly candidate-aware. I chose to withdraw. Funnily, I was contacted again a few months later by another recruiter but declined based on the earlier interaction.