<prompt> Human: Does anybody have experience with salary negotiations before or as a condition of the first interview?My friend sent me a message this morning alerting me to a job posting in his department. I immediately apply for the job and I reached out to the recruiter on LinkedIn. Here is the gist of our conversation through LinkedIn today after normal introductions. R Recruiter MMeR - What salary are you looking forM - 70kR- That is on the extreme high end. What do you make now?M-67k. I feel that the job is worth 70k. I think we can come to an agreement on proper compensationR-Can you come in on Monday for an interviewM- YesR- I just talked to the hiring manager. They wont go above 65k. Are you still interested?Do I question the drop from 70k to 65k?Why are they trying to get me to agree to a number before my first interview?Should I request a copy of the benefits package at this point to determine if there are other benefits to offset the lower number they are offering?Other facts that may be considered in formulating your response to me.1. I was employed by this company for about 2 years before they outsourced my position 10 people total. I know most of the people in the department so that is a plus in my mind.2. I truly only make 65k with mediocre benefits, I was just trying to inch my way up a little.3. My wife thinks that I should take the interview if I am interested in the position.4. My wife who is an IT hiring manager for a different company also says that 5k is nothing to a company of this my potential employers size.EDITUPDATE: I informed the recruiter that I would like to continue with the interview process and didnt mention money. His reply seemed to stress the salarypotential offer. The interview was yesterday Monday and it went well, nothing special. Now I just sit and wait for them to sift through 80 resumes and complete their interview processes.  <response>: While negotiating before an interview is a atypical and even boarder line bizarre, asking banding questions is not. Thats common. For example lets say a position pays between 80 and 100k. Median for the role is 88 and the position is budgeted at that. HR will often try to figure out if your salary expectations are outside of theirs. So they will ask you questions about range so that no one gets their time wasted.I suspect that youre just encountering a less capable hiring team that isnt splitting this hair. 