I just saw a new posting for a job that I interviewed for two weeks ago. The ad boasts that the job offers “excellent salary and benefits.”

I’ve always known that was a meaningless claim in theory, and now I know it in practice. This is the same company where the human resources chief was literally stunned when I quoted a salary that would have been a 10 percent pay cut for me. I know all too well how bad the media market is right now and am willing to take a pay cut for the right job. But that’s not enough for some companies.

“Wow, that’s way outside the range we were looking at,” the HR woman said. In other words, “excellent salary and benefits” is in the eyes of the employer, not the job candidate with 20 years of experience.

It’s all a big lie and false advertising at its worst.