Yep, this is akin to the Freakonomics "why don't real estate agents always push for the highest sales price" question. The gist being, it's a numbers game for t

Yep, this is akin to the Freakonomics "why don't real estate agents always push for the highest sales price" question. The gist being, it's a numbers game for them. The extra 5-10k they negotiate when selling your house makes a small difference in their commission, and usually comes at a disproportionate cost - either risk of the deal falling through, or time spent in negotiations that could have been better spent moving on to the next deal. It wouldn't surprise me if recruiters face a similar calculus (time spent negotiating on your behalf, risk of damaging their relationship with the company, etc.), and would definitely agree that at the end of it, you have to be responsible for your own outcomes, because no one else will be.