Did the HR Lowball Me or Is This Really a Budget Constraint?
Recently cleared the interview process at EY GDS and filled out the CIS form during the salary discussion stage.
At that time, I informed the HR that I had another opportunity in the pipeline. The HR told me to accept the current offer first (₹8.35 LPA) & said we could discuss compensation again if I received another offer. He seemed quite confident that it could be reviewed later.
A few days later, I received an offer from Accenture for ₹14 LPA. I shared the offer details with the EY HR and followed up multiple times. After several calls, the HR finally told me (in a somewhat frustrated tone) that they don't have the budget to even come close to matching the offer let alone the hike basis f 14 lpa. He then asked me to rethink whether I still wanted to proceed with the ₹8.35 LPA offer & disconnected the call abruptly.
Honestly, I was quite surprised by the response because earlier he seemed confident about revisiting the compensation once I had another offer in hand.
Now I'm wondering:
Is this a genuine budget constraint?
Was the HR just trying to get me to accept the initial offer first?
Could he have been annoyed because of my repeated follow-ups?
Or is this some kind of negotiation tactic to see if I'll still join at ₹8.35 LPA?
What should be my next move?. I am planning to call him again next week.
For context:
4 years of experience
About 25 days left until my last working day
Role: Security Analyst 3
Would appreciate insights for anyone who has been in a similar situation. Thanks