I applied for a position as a team leader of their training staff at the call center in my area, and after going through a battery of SAT-style "assessments" online, was called by someone in HR to schedule a phone interview, set for a few days later. On the day of the interview, the interviewer called 15 minutes late, and after going through a spiel about herself and the other person sitting in on the interview, asked me two questions. The first was, why did I want to leave my current employer? I explained why and she seemed satisfied. Then she asked about my salary expectations. I told her what I was currently making, but that I had some flexibility when it came to salary. She immediately got indignant.
"Well, the salary range is (let's say it was $46,000 to $54,000, and I am currently making $52,000 - those are not the real numbers involved). So I don't know that your salary expectations fit the range."
I'm confused, as it sounds like what I'm making now fits squarely into the range she's offering. I explain that the range she is giving is within my expectations and as I said, I have some flexibility with the salary - if the benefits package is good, a couple thousand dollars-difference in salary isn't a big deal to me.
"Yes, but we'd have to bring you in at the top of the range. We can't bring you in at the top of the range. I don't think this is going to work."
That was it. End of interview. She got off the phone as fast as she could. Did not want to talk about my skills, what I could bring to the table, anything. The whole "interview" took less than five minutes. P.S., the job involved managing a pretty large staff - over 10 people - in a "high pressure" environment that requires "lots of flexibility" - so the range she was offering was not high, relative to the responsibility involved. I feel sorry for the person they get to take that job at the absolute bottom of the salary range; that person will probably burn out within a year.
Obviously there are some PROBLEMS when a company is so focused on bringing in the cheapest possible management talent to run a critical aspect of a site's operations, and does not even care to have a conversation about skill match, motivation, what the candidate brings to the table, etc. As a manager, I have interviewed many people in my time, and have found that if the person wants the job for the right reasons, and is enthusiastic and willing to work hard, we can almost always come to terms on salary. Especially when the issue is just couple of thousand dollars - there are almost always other perks we can offer to bridge the gap. Not at Sitel, I guess - they don't even want to consider you if you aren't willing to work for rock-bottom wages. Despite the fact that they are a multibillion-dollar company with 60,000 employees, and executives that I am sure are making many multiples of the "top of the salary range" I was offered. If you're an experienced learning and development professional looking for a step up, or a new challenge - I would steer clear of Sitel, unless you're willing to totally devalue your talent.