Salary Range Typo Offers $500K Instead of $50K, Candidates Flood In
Salary Range Typo Offers $500K Instead of $50K, Candidates Flood In
In the era of mandatory salary transparency laws, every job posting now includes a pay range. This is good for candidates, good for transparency, and occasionally catastrophically funny when someone makes a typo.
Welcome to the story of the $500,000 marketing coordinator.
The Job Posting That Broke LinkedIn
On November 6, 2025, a mid-size SaaS company called DataPulse Analytics posted a job opening for a "Marketing Coordinator" role on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor.
The position was entry-level. Bachelor's degree required, 0-2 years of experience preferred. Typical responsibilities: social media scheduling, email campaigns, event coordination, basic analytics reporting.
The salary range listed: $450,000 - $500,000 per year.
For a marketing coordinator.
Nobody at DataPulse noticed the typo for 14 hours.
By the time they did, the damage was done.
The Application Tsunami
According to DataPulse's internal data shared with TechCrunch, the job posting received:
- 12,847 applications in 14 hours
- Average of 917 applications per hour
- Peak rate of 1,400 applications in a single hour
For context, their typical entry-level posting gets 50-100 applications over 2-3 weeks.
"Our ATS literally crashed," said the company's head of talent acquisition in an interview with Business Insider. "We've never seen anything like it. People were applying from 47 different countries. We got applications from VPs, directors, and even C-level executives willing to take a 'demotion' for that salary."
The LinkedIn post got 73,000 likes, 28,000 shares, and 14,000 comments before DataPulse took it down.
The Candidate Gold Rush
The comment section on LinkedIn was absolutely unhinged:
@JobSeeker2025: "I have a PhD and 15 years of experience but I would LOVE to coordinate your marketing for $500K. When can I start?"
@MarketingPro: "I'll relocate anywhere. I'll work weekends. I'll bring coffee for the whole team daily. This is my dream job."
@SalesDirector: "Leaving my $200K sales director role to apply. This is the coordinator position we all deserve."
@SarcasticRecruiter: "Plot twist: the job is real, the salary is right, and they're just hiring the world's most expensive marketing coordinator as a flex."
@LinkedInInfluencer: "This is what companies should be paying coordinators. DataPulse is leading the way in fair compensation. Thoughts? đź‘Ź"
One candidate reportedly quit their current $85K job to "focus full-time on landing this opportunity," according to a viral TikTok video.
The Recruiter's Nightmare
The recruiter who posted the job (let's call her Amanda) became internet-famous overnight, and not in a good way.
According to anonymous sources on Blind, Amanda copied the job description from a previous posting, updated the role details, but forgot to change the salary range, which was left over from a VP-level position posted weeks earlier.
She didn't notice. The hiring manager didn't notice during the approval process. HR didn't notice. LinkedIn's auto-posting tool certainly didn't notice.
By the time Amanda logged into LinkedIn the next morning, her inbox had 4,200 unread messages, the company's careers page had crashed from traffic, and the CEO was calling an emergency meeting.
"I thought I was getting fired on the spot," Amanda reportedly told colleagues, per Reddit discussions.
The Company's Response
DataPulse initially tried to quietly edit the posting and hope nobody noticed.
That strategy lasted approximately 11 minutes before candidates started posting screenshots of the original $500K listing and accusing the company of "bait and switch" tactics.
The company was forced to issue a public statement:
"We recently posted a Marketing Coordinator role with an incorrect salary range due to a posting error. The actual salary range for this position is $45,000 - $50,000 annually, commensurate with experience. We apologize for any confusion and thank everyone for their interest in joining our team."
The responses were... not kind.
@CandidateAngry: "So you're saying the REAL salary is 90% lower than posted? Cool cool cool."
@RecruiterRealist: "Imagine getting 12,000 applications and then telling them 'LOL JK it's actually $45K.' Employer branding: destroyed."
@SalaryTransparency: "This is why salary transparency laws exist. Also why you should proofread."
@JobSearchFail: "I took a day off work to perfect my application for this role. Thanks for nothing."
The Legal Question
Can candidates hold DataPulse to the $500K salary?
According to employment lawyers interviewed by SHRM, the answer is no—but it's complicated.
Contract Law Basics: A job posting is generally considered an "invitation to apply," not a binding contract. The actual offer letter creates the contract, not the job ad.
Exceptions: If a candidate could prove they suffered measurable damages based on reasonable reliance on the posting (e.g., quit their job, relocated for the role), they might have a case. But that's a high bar.
"Job postings with errors don't create binding contracts," explains attorney Rachel Thompson in an HR Executive interview. "But they do create massive PR problems and damage employer brand. Which might be worse than a lawsuit, honestly."
The Ripple Effects
The mistake had consequences far beyond the initial embarrassment:
Glassdoor Bombing: DataPulse's Glassdoor rating dropped from 3.9 to 2.7 as angry applicants left one-star reviews complaining about the "bait and switch" job posting.
Social Media Pile-On: TikTok creators made dozens of videos mocking the company, with hashtags like #DataPulseFail and #500KCoordinator trending.
Internal Morale Hit: According to Blind posts from DataPulse employees, existing marketing coordinators making $45K-$50K started asking why the company thought the role was worth $500K, even by accident.
"It accidentally revealed what the company really values," one employee wrote. "They list VP salaries at $500K but pay coordinators doing actual work $45K. The typo was revealing."
Competitor Recruiting: Rival companies started targeting DataPulse applicants with messages like: "We saw you applied to DataPulse. We can't offer $500K, but we can offer $60K and respect."
The Meme Economy
The incident spawned an entire genre of recruiting memes:
@RecruiterHumor: "Interviewer: Why do you want this coordinator role? Me: I have a very expensive mortgage. Interviewer: But the salary is $45K. Me: Not according to the original posting. lawyer enters room"
@JobSearchMemes: "Me explaining to my therapist why I'm emotionally devastated about not getting a $500K marketing coordinator role that never existed."
@LinkedInRoast: "DataPulse job posting: $500K. DataPulse actual offer: $45K. DataPulse employer brand: $0."
The Aftermath
As of this writing:
- DataPulse has not filled the Marketing Coordinator role
- The company's career page traffic is down 63% according to SimilarWeb data
- Amanda the recruiter is still employed but reportedly has a new quality control process that involves three people reviewing every posting
- 12,847 candidates remain disappointed but at least have a funny story
The funniest part? According to Forbes, DataPulse's CEO sent an internal email saying the typo "generated more brand awareness than our entire Q3 marketing budget."
Which is technically true, but probably not the kind of awareness they wanted.
The Lesson
If you're a recruiter posting jobs with salary ranges (which you should be, and which is legally required in many states):
1. Proofread. Then proofread again. Then have someone else proofread.
2. Use ATS templates and salary range fields that pull from approved compensation data. Don't manually type in salaries.
3. Check the posting after it goes live. Catch mistakes in the first hour, not 14 hours later.
4. Accept that mistakes happen and have a plan for how to respond when (not if) you screw something up.
And if you're a candidate who applied to the $500K marketing coordinator role: I'm sorry for your loss. We were all rooting for you.
Sources:
AI-Generated Content
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