Too bad it turned out the way it did. I strongly recommend you read my detailed advice on how to conduct a salary negotiation once you have an offer. It's a play by play that has served me well, if you rehearse it over and over and have confidence in yourself you will do well.
Going forward i think it's important how you handle the big salary question at your next interview. This can really make a difference between getting an offer at all, and getting a better offer if they do make one...
nto
The question will always be something like, what sort of compensation are you looking for? Or, what do you make now? That last question is a red flag for me, i just think it is unprofessional. In any event, you handle it like this...
never give them a number, never! Giving them a salary is like walking onto a car lot and saying I have $25k in my pocket. Instead, you throw the question back at them and try to get more info. It sounds weird at first, to take there question and ask a question, but HR people take it in stride, if anything I think it actually helps your candidacy bc you will show you know how to negotiate.
You say,
Well mr. Johnson I am currently employed and I feel as though I do have a range I feel is appropriate given my current position, my skill set and my research. Could you please share with me your range and I will let you know if there is a match?
*** this is a good way to throw the question back at them. You reminded them your employed so they have to compete, and you communicated that you have done research of what the market should bare for a person with your skills. But you didn't give them any clue as to what you are looking for. Make that car salesman give YOU the first number, NOT the other way around ***
They will say well we have a budget and blah blah blah... but they will likely give you a range of approximately 5 to 10K. Or they may say well we're looking to fill this position in the upper 50's... for example.
NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY your reply is always the same, even if you hated what you heard, or hopefully LOVED what you heard. I have used this tactic dozens and dozens of times, seriously. I have an excel sheet with the date, position, company, and link to the Monster post of every job I ever submitted a resume to and only a few times did the HR person refuse to give me a range. So the odds are very much in your favor that it goes very smoothly. I once got a range that was 40% higher than I had hoped and it took everything I had not to say "excuse me!!!"
but again, your reply is the same...
"Well Mr. Johnson, that is in the lower range of what I was hoping for, but it is in the range... and I am very excited about this particular opportunity
(you can give a quick two sentence blurb about why you like the position or the company, try to have done research about the company, like an up and coming product line or something to personalize why you are excited about THEIR company)
and I would really be interested in learning more about the position."
Right here what you did was first of all, you didn't eliminate yourself from the list. The salary question is a "cross you off the list" kind of question. Don't give them a reason to, even if you didn't like what they had for a salary. You have nothing to gain from saying, well that salary sux dude. Your goal is to get information from them on their budget. But you also communicated to them that your range is at the top of or slightly out of their range. Which is where you want to be, I mean if some company has a budget of 55k to 65k, you want every dime of that budget.
I have received offers that were at the absolute top of their stated range, gotten an offer, politely explained that I was considering another offer (which was not a lie) and they immediatlely upped their offer to outside of their range. So don't get upset if you don't like the range they gave. This is not a big deal at this point. Again, remember they are asking this question just to make sure there is some compatability so nobody is wasting anyone's time. Many times the salary question will come as the 3rd question of a phone interview. They are crossing people off the list to dwindle it down to the face to face candidates. So don't get your name off the list, get some info out of them without handcuffing yourself and rest assured you handled the toughest question of the interview with flying colors.
You did the right thing, the company treated you like crap. Keep working hard and interviewing. Best of luck!
