<prompt> Human: Interviewed for a job at a big corporation in the engineering field. The cost of living at the location is very high not SF-living but quiet up there.I checked pay scale and another couple sites and concluded that the job offer was at least 6-10k shorter than the 50th percentile. I asked for a counter offer of 6k increase.Here is where it got weird, I asked the HR girl if she read my email explaining my counter offer request and she said she was behind on emails and will get back to me. When the day came to make a decision, I had to put my foot down and refuse because she never replied.Im not unemployed, so its not like I am so desperate. But it was a job with more potential and higher pay.Another reason I made the decision is because the job sounded like youre on your own. In other words, you get to work on a couple teams but if they dont like you after a while there are no projects for you to do.Im all for that but for the right price at least.Ive seen others come straight out from college and almost get a 6-figure offer from competing companies 93k. Im not saying that is what I deserve but I do think I am at least in the 50th percentile.I think I made the right choice if I am honest with myself but I hate thinking that that is what they think I am worth. I work hard to study on the side afternoons and practice my skills.  <response>: It sounds like you made a decision based on multiple issues at that employer that raised red or at least pink flags for you, personally. Nothing wrong with that. I hate thinking that that is what they think I am worth.That is what they think you are worth to them at this moment in time. It has no bearing on you as a person or even as an engineer. They didnt reject your marriage proposal or kick you out of the shared apartment because your feet stink. It was a business decision, not a judgement of you as a human being. 