I had an initial phone interview with one of their recruiters for a contract gig at one of their clients. Worst.Experience.Ever. It started off fine, with my background coming across as an exceptionally good fit for what the client needed. When we started talking about hourly rates, though, things went to hell very quickly. The maximum rate was less than 2/3 of what I'd been making, partly because I'm a lot more experienced that others in the same field. That's when the recruiter pulled the "Well, you're not working so it's more than your making now" card (I was laid off a couple of months ago). Then there was the "Let's see how we can make this rate work for you" line. )Really? How do we make a huge pay cut "work"? ) Justifying it on the grounds that I'd be able to work from home didn't fly, either, since I'd been doing that for the last year anyway, and pointing that out seemed to just p*** her off. The final straw, though, was when she told me, "Well, they can find someone with less experience than you who can still do this job, and for this rate". I told her I refused to be low-balled, and that while I might be a bit flexible on my rate, I wasn't going to so severely undervalue my abilities, especially since that value had been recognized by some of the top companies in their respective industries. All through this, I pretty much needed the Jaws of Life to get a word in edge-wise. She was practically berating me, and left me with the impression (OK, several impressions) that her only interest was in filling a job. I finally threw in the towel and told her I was no longer interested at all, which really ticked her off. I eventually just hung up on her, followed by blocking her number on my phone, and blocking her on other external sites. There are some really exceptional recruiters out there, but she isn't one of them.