When companies don't advertise the salary for a vacancy

[onthejobhunt101]

I'm currently job-hunting and applying for roles across a couple of sectors to keep my options open as far as possible. I've noticed that many companies are really coy about potential/starting salary to the point of refusing to talk about it. It's starting to drive me mad!

I've even spoken to the 'contact person' named in the advert itself to no avail - I've been told that salary is to be discussed at interview and not before, even though there are lengthy pre-interview tests and application forms. I've also been asked what I expect the salary to be - isn't it more about what the work and additional responsibilities etc are worth?

Surely it's in everyone's interests to advertise at least a salary range? Then the applicant knows if it's worth applying for and the company knows that they'll attract applicants whose qualifications and experience are befitting of that kind of salary. It seems potentially a waste of time and energy to fill out a five-page application form and go through all the screening tests to find out then that the salary was nowhere near what you expected.

Sorry for the rant, it's just been getting me down. Does anyone else have experience of this?

Yes, that happened to me with Amazon... IME the salary was at least 50% than expected so not too bad! They did change the location of the role so had to reject the job offer.

Totally agree. They could say least give a range.

Also hate it when they say £competitive which really means nothing.

@fressia123, that's frustrating! I hope you've found something since.

@tectonicplates yep, that's a bit of a bugbear too. 'Competitive' and 'attractive' don't really mean anything

Yanbu. It's so frustrating and such a waste of everyone's time. I think it should be mandatory to include a salary range on all job adverts.

It’s so annoying!

How much are you offering
How much do you want?
Duh...

I literally won't apply for jobs that don't state the salary. I just assume it sucks and move on.

It's so that they can pay as little as they can get away with, simple as that. I won't apply for jobs that don't state salary either.

Unfortunately no, I'm still in my not so dead end but terrible pay job (£19k). (I just noticed my post didn't read well). The salary was about £75k in the end but had to relocate. I'm always looking hopefully one day I'll find a decent albeit local job.

Totally annoying OP, I hear you! It’s the same when they waste everyone’s time advertising a job, interviewing the candidates, when they’ve already got Jo from finance earmarked for said post.

Apparently they’ve got to open it up equal opportunities and all. What a waster of time for everyone. Utter pointless!

Massive bugbear of mine. In my industry, the salary can vary as much as £20k for the same job title depending on experience.

You need to know in order to decide whether to go for the job. If they can't afford you, why would they expect you to go through a lengthy application process.

I hate this too OP.
The salary a company is willing to pay depends on so many factors which are out of your control... Eg how desperate they are to fill the position, whether they made a profit, how long the job has been advertised for etc.
Them asking what salary you're looking for might as well ask "can you take a wild guess how much we would be willing to pay someone with your experience in our industry, with the job you know minimal about?"

YANBU. I'm a nurse now so don't really face this any more, but before I was qualified I wouldn't actually apply for those positions as the lack of transparency put me off.

It's not always a negative tactic - it can be used to give the employer a little flexibility in the recruitment process, particularly when they're recruiting for a number of similar positions. For a previous position, I went through the recruitment process alongside another applicant, we were both taken on, but at different salaries and seniority. The team we joined was shaken up a little to allow existing team members new opportunities, whilst ensuring that we were both working to our strengths too.

The civil service just states the salary and the fact that it’s not subject to negotiation!

It would put me off applying to be honest. I would presume it was low paid.

This used to drive me up the wall in my 20s. I remember asking one interviewer, when they asked what my salary expectations were, what they would usually offer a graduate with my qualifications and experience, only to get the response, "Well, there are graduate jobs and graduate jobs. Some graduates are working in Waterstones for £5k a year". (Yes, I thought at the time, and they're then having to do a second job in the evenings so they can eat - this was early 1990s for context.) They never answered the question and (thankfully) didn't offer me the job, strangely, having evidently already decided I might be a bit too stroppy for their liking. (Oh, and it wasn't a small company, it was a rather large legal firm known for not keeping their staff for very long anyway.)

In my experience that approach unfortunately means (or used to mean): "As little as we can get away with", although there are sites now where you can look for similar roles on sites like payscale.com, Reed, Monster, totaljobs, glassdoor, and Indeed to give an idea of what the range is and use that as a bit of a bargaining chip.

It's one of the reasons I prefer working in the public sector; at least they don't make a secret of their payscales, they're there in the public domain.

It's partly so existing staff members don't get their nickers in a twist seeing that a newbie will be coming in at the same salary as them (lots of people think time in role in company =higher salary rather than relevant experience = higher salary).

As a small business we sometimes won't advertise a salary, because the person doing the role is likely to be the only person doing it in the business. Sometimes we find that a really good graduate fulfills all the requirements, sometimes we find that professionals with years of experience still aren't quite right for sole responsibility if they've always worked in large businesses and teams, so end up going much higher level or experienced just for those skills. It can be really hard to know until you start interviewing and see what sort of candidates you get.

I find having set bands etc such as the NHS breeds resentment and quite uninspiring in normal business. You only get recognised for ticking certain boxes, not what you've actually achieved or brought to the table.

YANBU! NHS are even worse, all the jobs I’ve applied for won’t even state the hours until interview! Just ‘full time’ or ‘part time.’

I went to one interview & the part time hours were 8.30-5.30 4 days a week! I can’t do that with the kids... I tried to ring before to find out the hours & was told to discuss at interview. If they aren’t flexible with it what’s the point? Waste of mine & their time.

‘Competitive rates of pay’ means 20p more than minimum wage IME.

@fressia123, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm in a similar position on a similar salary - I think that's what's most frustrating about this, because I might get all the way to interview and find that the salary is just as low as my current one.

@oneofthosedreadfulparents, that makes sense from the employer's perspective. But then equally, if this was their tactic, they could state a range with a minimum/maximum salary, just so you knew what sort of 'ballpark' you were dealing with. But I do appreciate your point and I'm glad it worked out for you.

Totally agree.

I recently accepted a role and the HR didn't even give me the salary range until the Friday before I was due to start on the following Monday! I had to ask them for it 3 times! So I rescinded

What's the point in the candidate and employer interviewing etc etc if you both might be on totally different pages? Makes zero sense

YANBU!!! Unfortunately, a common practice in my industry, unless you're entry level. Spoke to my colleagues the other day, we all feel the same about it.

and yes to the hours thing! Part time jobs advertised but no idea what hours they want, most people that want part time want part time for a reason - kids, caring obligations etc or study so no point applying if hours don’t suit.

I don't apply for a job unless there is a salary scale published. I've been on both sides of the recruitment process and it's a complete waste of time for everyone involved. One side always ends up taking the p!$$.

I'm HR and often we don't put the range because there isn't one. If the right candidate comes along we will pay what they are asking for (within reason).