I had some recruiter contact me, immediately asks for my salary expectations. I give him a range, between 10% to 20% higher than I'm currently making. They come back with 50K less than I'm making now. "Thanks, but I don't think I am the right fit, this is significantly less than I am making now for what sounds like more responsibilities."

A few hours later, the come back... offering 30K less than I'm making now. "I just talked to the manager and we are willing to come up!" I told him thanks again, but under no circumstances would I take less I was making now. Did he think I was kidding about the initial range? I never heard from him again.

if you think 3rd party recruiters usually do this, you are out of touch with reality