[masraum]

Wow, holy carp! I just called and tried to use some of the things that have been suggested. This chick is harsh.

"OK, ## is the number that we are currently prepared to offer. That is the number. If you are turning down the position at that number let me know. If so, then please let me know what the minimum number is that you would be happy with. We want you to be happy. We are very excited to bring you on and would like to get this moving. Take some time if you want, but we can't wait too long."

The pressure to answer "are you turning down the job at ##?" and "will you walk away if you don't get that number?" "Come up with a minimum and the keyword is "minimum" number that you would be happy with and let me know and I will see if we can do anything." So I definitely got the impression that they might be able to do more, but there was also a lot of pressure of "are you turning down the job?" I've never run into that before and it threw me way off.