It means exactly that it is so for almost all cases. There are always going to be exceptions, but those are just that: exceptions. There's a reason they're call

It means exactly that it is so for almost all cases. There are always going to be exceptions, but those are just that: exceptions. There's a reason they're called "exceptions." Edit: the people who set compensation are very rarely the people that decide whether to hire you. The latter may communicate the salary HR dictates to them, but they almost never have negotiation power within their own employers' structure.