Job candidate left amused by HR's emotionally over-the-top response to his very common request

While switching jobs, it is extremely normal for a job candidate to ask for a pay hike. However, it didn't go down well with HR for one individual as he found himself on the receiving end of an emotional tirade. u/throwaway23487329 shared on Reddit how an HR of a company ended up blasting at them after hearing their salary expectation. However, people supported them and applauded them for handling the situation well.

The employee started by saying they were looking for a job and it was going well until an HR asked them their expected salary. They recalled, "I asked him to give me slightly higher than my current CTC or match my current CTC. He asked for my current CTC and bro went vocally berserk. He scolded me for taking a higher salary than I deserved and asked me if I was being serious and do I even have a reality check." They also stated that they'd done nothing out of the norm or emotional from their end.

The HR went on to ask them to shut up and accept any salary they get in the current market. "At this point, I was gonna respond to him, but I wanted to see how far is he willing to go, so I let him speak," they shared. When the HR realized that the job candidate was not responding to his over-the-top tone, it became difficult for him to make "personal attacks," the interviewee wrote. So, they opened their resume and tried to put them down using that. They said, "That was followed by him explaining to me how my fancy university, publications and two US patents mean nothing. Mind you, I have never used the patent as a reason for asking for a hike. He just kept going, man."

"In the end, I asked him why he was responding emotionally, highlighted all his personal attacks and asked him to relax," they recounted. The individual then said they were still confused by the HR's reaction. Later, the candidate found the lead of the company's HR on LinkedIn and emailed them about the whole incident. They concluded their post by saying that it was an interesting incident and that they would like to know about similar experiences people may have had with HR professionals.

People spoke about what they thought about the whole situation. u/freezeshock commented, "Just say, 'Can you give me a second? Let me make sure this is recorded.' Pro tip: it also works with your company's HR." u/icy_ex wrote, "That HR guy was probably earning peanuts and was jealous. You should have blasted him then and there and told him it was their problem if they couldn't afford you. These kinds of HRs are rare, but they deserve bad treatment!"

u/ashkay770 shared, "I faced a similar situation, got reached out by an HR from a popular bus ticket platform company and I asked for decent ~40% hike, dude got emotional and told me, 'You can't get this much hike in this economy,' 'Call me if you get this much hike and then we'll discuss' etc., in a mocking tone. If HR is so unprofessional, can't imagine what the work culture will look like in such companies." u/knifeymen said, "You handled the HR like an expert."