Companies try it on all the time, they'll have a "range" and 90% of the time offer the lower end of that range. My wife had a similar offer a few months ago, similar field to what she's in now, but the office is in Paddington instead of Kings Cross, and it was a step up from what she's doing now, Salary range was 70-90k (she's on 68k ATM) and they offered 70. She asked for more and they said she hasn't done this role before (baring in mind they head-hunted her) so wouldn't offer anything more and she turned them down.
4 weeks later they called up again and offered 75k and she said on principal you can offer 90k and I'll still turn it down and hung up on them
"HR Professionals" are targeted against the overall wage bill, so offering the bottom of the range is fairly standard and a 'win' for them if they get away with it. It's also a challenge to see if the candidate has the confidence to come back on it. The actual 'employer' will be the line manager who usually cares much more about getting the right person than how much they will get paid. They will usually go in to bat against HR if they know a candidate has been offered the bottom figure and is fighting for more. It's in their interest that someone joining feels valued and won't be tempted to take the job and look for more money elsewhere in the meantime. Your wife's 14 years experience should put her nearer the top end of the salary range. They don't really want anyone with 25 years or more experience because there is a risk they come set in their ways or a tendency to be cynical.
That's not an HR I recognise!
Only because you stuck yourself on the upper limit of the advertised salary range!
Ive always looked to push my starting salary as high as i can when I've changed permanent jobs - once you're in, you'll rarely get the chance of a material pay increase, and you are locked in to that rate and probably measly increments thereafter until/unless you can earn a promotion. One boss once said to me "I know you're underpaid but there's no way I'll get approval for a 40% increase". I left soon after, though I didnt desperately want to from a job point of view, and my money went up 50% overnight. (I'm not Lyle Taylor, by the way). They had to pay my replacement market rate too, so gained nothing (assuming they didnt want me out, of course).
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