‘Have To Apply For Loan To Hire Her,' Says CEO After Candidate Asks Rs 45 LPA Salary

Kheterpal explained that upon discovering a highly promising candidate, he instructed HR to pursue her application. However, upon learning of her salary expectations, the CEO was taken aback

The CEO of an Indian startup reveals he had to forgo hiring a highly qualified candidate due to her salary demands. Gaurav Kheterpal, the founder and CEO of Vanshiv Technologies, detailed his encounter on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he shared a portion of his conversation with the company's HR department.

Kheterpal explained that upon discovering a highly promising candidate, he instructed HR to pursue her application. However, upon learning of her salary expectations, the CEO was taken aback and amused. He elaborated that the candidate, with four years of experience, expected a salary of Rs 45 lakh per annum, which is an increase of 17 lakh from her current CTC of Rs 28 lakh per annum. 

“That moment when you come across a really good candidate. You ask HR to screen the candidate & they report the numbers. Read it again- this is 4 Years Experience. All you can do -pass it off with a bit of humour #startup,” he wrote in the post.

In jest with HR, he remarked that hiring the candidate would necessitate taking out a loan. "We'll have to apply for a loan to hire her. Let's skip," he penned. The CEO posted a screenshot of the conversation on X.

Meanwhile, his followers had a divided opinion about the post. Some concurred that demanding Rs 45 LPA for only four years of experience seemed excessive, while others argued that one's salary should not be solely determined by experience but also by capabilities.

“IMHO, experience can not be the only deciding criteria for one's salary. If you think the person can deliver what's expected of him/her and you've the budget for it, it's definitely worth giving a shot. Really good talent is hard to find,” wrote one of the X users.

“If someone is asking close to 75 per cent hike even in the current scenario where people are getting kicked out of companies without mercy and tech recession is still far away from closure, then he is living in his own illusionary world,” added another user.