A Malaysian recruiter’s frustration over a job candidate’s salary expectations has struck a nerve online and reignited a familiar debate about fresh graduates and workplace realities.
In a post on Threads, the recruiter shared that a fresh graduate with only four to five months of working experience and a current salary of RM4,500, had applied for a new position and requested RM6,000 a month.
For the recruiter, it was not the first time she had encountered something like this. It was, she noted, the second such case she had seen this year alone.
What Happened in the Interview
The candidate had told the HR team before the interview that the RM6,000 salary was negotiable. By the time they sat down with the hiring manager, the story had changed.it was no longer up for discussion.
The manager’s feedback after the interview was blunt: overconfident, not well prepared, and unserious.
The Recruiter’s Take
The recruiter didn’t hold back.
“Lol, there’s another fresh grad who has only been working for 4–5 months, earning RM4,500. Applied for a new job and asked for RM6,000,” she wrote.
“The audacity to request RM6,000. Must have blindly followed what people say on social media about asking for a 30–40% raise even after working just a few months.”
Her frustration pointed at a broader trend, advice circulating online encouraging job seekers to ask for a 30 to 40 percent salary increase when switching jobs, regardless of how much experience they actually have. For a candidate with less than half a year of work under their belt, the recruiter clearly felt that logic did not apply.
Netizens Weigh In
The post quickly drew comments, with many siding with the recruiter and criticising what they see as unrealistic salary expectations among younger workers.
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