to think that you should put the damn salary on the job description!!!

[TheSeventhHorcrux]

About 80% of job adverts I've found don't have the salary on them normally with "salary to be discussed", "salary negotiable" or "salary dependant on experience".
Surely when you are advertising for a job you know roughly what you are willing to pay and it would save bother later if you just put that on the ad rather than wasting time reading applications that may have different salary expectations?
I always assume that the salary is ridiculously low and they just don't want to put people off - and don't bother to apply.
AIBU to think that you should put a rough idea of the salary on adverts?

[notallytuts]

"competitive" drives me absolutely bloody bonkers. because they all say it, so you have no idea what you're competing against!!

[ILikeBirds]

They state it so you can compare different jobs which might have different part time hours more easily. Or compare part time jobs with full time positions.

[jamdonut]

I suppose ....but it's a bit annoying to have to work out! Why can't they be a bit more upfront about these things. As it is term time only you can never achieve anything like £15,000, so why state it?

[ILikeBirds]

Eh? Presuming they state the hours as well stating the salary pro rata allows you to work out what you need to know

[jamdonut]

Teaching assistant jobs...they show the full salary first eg : £15,000 (ish) then add "pro rata". That doesn't give you any real idea. In my case, in reality, it means £9,500 ish p.a.

[BikeRunSki]

Public sector jobs are within bands, and where you fit in that band depends on experience, competencies etc.

Many jobs (not public!) pay a "reward package" which includes elements of buying/selling more/less holiday, pension, car, health insurance etc. Where I used to work I could pick from these and salary adjusted accordingly.

[TheSeventhHorcrux]

I agree that there is often a acceptable salary range but if that's the case they should state that.

I'm looking at Nanny jobs which is a bit different. A family must know what they're willing to offer! So in this case not stating salary = crap salary

[Nancy66]

it is crap - wanting to know what you're bloody well going to get paid is key.

But if they don't tell you then you it leaves the onus on the applicant to ask at the interview which some people find very awkward and hard to do

[slightlysoupstained]

TBH I think it varies from place to place in the UK whether you're expected to negotiate the salary or not. One friend got a 3K raise just by saying "I really want the job, and would take it anyway - but it does seem a little low given that all that you've told me about the level of responsibility involved." She was at the thought that she could so easily have just taken the first offer, and it made a pretty big difference to her.

Next time it's an issue, I intend to write down the wording on a big piece of card so I don't forget, and smoothly say "Oh how wonderful! I'd love to work for you, so pleased. Now, can I ask - I'm aware some companies prefer to make one final offer on salary rather than haggle, and others will expect candidates to negotiate and might even have rules where the hiring manager isn't allowed to offer the higher end of the range unless the candidate asks. I'd hate to get it wrong. Which are you?"

[chrome100]

The worst are adverts that say "Call Centre Operative - salary = £450,000,0000 (OTE)" which means that if you meet the ridiculously impossible targets you'll get an alright salary but in reality you will get about 2p an hour.

I am job hunting at the moment and have become very disillisuioned with agencies. Not one of them has bothered ringing me about a job, despite saying I have a good CV, a few of them I have followed things up on have denied all knowledge of having met me, and I suspect a few of the jobs on their websites are fake, designed to get people to apply so that they can keep your details on file and do nothing with them

[2rebecca]

I'd phone them up and ask, saying I'm considering applying but would want more details of the salary range to know If I want to apply.
They should then be able to give an idea of the salary range.

[stubbornstains]

seraphim they do indeed. Something I had to google to verify, after searching every cranny of the FGW site for half an hour

[ArtemisatBrauron]

It was made clear to me at second place that negotiating the salary offered would indeed, go down like a cup of cold sick toadin

[ArtemisatBrauron]

Both of the jobs I have had since leaving university were advertised as "salary will be competitive" wit no further info and I wouldn't say they are bad salaries, just that there's a really wide pay scale dependent on experience.

[SweetSeraphim]

stubborn all children under 5 travel free on the train regardless of the company don't they? It just means that they don't have an actual seat and might have to sit on your lap if it's busy.

[Toadinthehole]

I was tempted to say YABU at first: I have lived in NZ for some years - here it is normal to negotiate on salary and I have got used to it. Even public-sector job adverts only state a salary range, if that.

However, the obvious flip-side is that employers don't mind a bit of hard bargaining on salary. My (dimming) memory of the UK was that doing so went down like a cup of cold sick. I'd be very interested to know whether that has changed at all.

[escorpion]

Where I live, it is standard for them to ask you your salary expectations. I hate it. You can undervalue yourself to get a job, or ask for a salary higher than what they want to pay and therefore loose out on a job. Plus there isn´t a standard salary for a job, depends on the company which makes it even harder to gauge what to put. Sucks.

[slightlysoupstained]

I notice that when the same job is being advertised direct, and via recruitment agencies that the latter always give a salary! So I'm guessing that most people prefer to see a salary on an ad.

I wonder if sometimes it's due to not wanting to reveal the pay bands to current staff who might have a look at the ad out of curiosity? Not uncommon to put an ad out for more than incumbents are being paid just cos market rate has gone up. Agree that pay secrecy disadvantages women most.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

For what it's worth I have always put my current salary on my CV. If I do apply for the wrong kind of job, my salary plus previous job description usually makes it obvious and they have said "ah no, it's a good bit more senior than that" or whatever.

[foreverondiet]

I wouldn't necessary expect salary on advert as it would be a range depending on experience but you can ask agent or ask employer before applying whether the salary you are looking for is realistic.

[StuntGirl]

I hate job adverts that give no information. Imagine trying to send in an application with as little information and see how far that gets you!

My favourite was a job description which stated: "Must be passionate about our products" and then didn't state anywhere within the ad what the products were, who the company was or what industry it was in

[HorryIsUpduffed]

We often see "£competitive" which doesn't tell you a lot.

I agree with pp that a salary gives you an indication of the expected skill and experience level. If it says "£27-40k dependent on experience" and I know I'm new ish, I know that means £27-30k for me.

[EuroShaggleton]

In my field it's pretty rare to find a salary on a job advert. You might get a £[number]+

[TheSeventhHorcrux]

The first thing I do is check salary on job adverts - gives me an idea if the level is right for me

[Tethering]

We always put the starting salary and add that it's dependent on experience. However, I've had candidates reach interview stage and then say there was no mention of salary on the advert. Hmm, yes, there was, at the part that said salary . . .