Process reposted this
A few years back, corporate pulled a candidate's offer at the final stage. She was in a Commercial director role, moving to a manager position. Smaller budget and a paycut. The concern was obvious. She was a flight risk. She'll get bored and leave. But they had not even spoken to her. So here is what they missed. A professional who did not think the extra money was worth 80-100 hour weeks, being online 24/7 anymore. Who didn't want to travel constantly. Who was happy to take a pay cut for a quality company 15 minutes from her house with scope to grow. We saved the deal. She wrote a thoughtful email explaining her reasoning. The hiring manager fought for her. She got the job. It was a great hire, she added enormous value and the role was great for her. You should always question these things, but it's dangerous to assume why someone's taking a "step back." Sometimes it's: Work-life balance after years of grinding Geographic preference (staying local vs constant travel) Company culture over title Quality of work over scope Ask the question. Understand the context. Don't reject someone based on surface-level assumptions. The best hires aren't always the ones climbing the ladder fastest. Sometimes they're the ones who know exactly what they want and why.