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?

This is very normal in my industry. If I was put off by it I would have zero jobs to apply to.

The people who 'just don't apply' are potentially doing themselves out of a brilliant job.

Potentially, but it's really unlikely I'd find the job and employer brilliant if they are the sort of company where this is the norm. Not that there is necessarily anything objectively wrong with them, but I doubt we'd be a good fit at all.

£competitive - usually private sector and they will pay the market rate with room for negotiation. They have wiggle room.

Where they don't even say that it's usually piss poor and they are trying to get people in the door.

@FinallyHere - well, OK, but I think not having clear salary info puts the candidate at a bit of a disadvantage. That disadvantage may well affect candidates differently so it might discourage people who would do the job well but are perhaps less confident of their negotiating skills, or who simply aren't sure where to pitch their salary.

Come to think of it I don't think my own role actually involves all that much negotiation (other than "can we start that meeting at 10.30, not 10?") so I'm probably out of practice anyway :)

Jo

YANBU I applied for a job recently and the HR person rang me to ask what salary I was used to/expecting - when I told her she triumphantly announced that they were offering less than half of that. She seemed genuinely overjoyed to be telling me I was a non-starter. Really odd process, but they must think that’s how to do it.

I don't bother applying for roles without at least a salary range on the advert. The amount of time I've spent doing application forms and tweaking cover letters only to find out after a long interview that the job pays £17k. Nah.

For context, my role requires a degree and most job ads ask for 5+ years experience, so decent employers offer low to mid 30s. So the CFers want me for half price.

My husband said that HR draft the role descriptions for his Big 4 accounting company for adverts.

I was looking at three roles in an area I'm a specialist in (CRM management and configuration), and could not for the life of me work out the seniority structure or the level of skill required. It was a new department they were bringing in yet the roles were defined so poorly that you couldn't even tell the pecking order. I wouldn't even know which job was the right level for me, which didn't give me great faith in their ability to remunerate correctly (my best guess of the three roles covered a potential salary range between 30-100k).

The people who 'just don't apply' are potentially doing themselves out of a brilliant job.
Nah. The employers who don't list a salary range are doing themselves out of a brilliant me.

There are also those jobs that advertise a salary range and ask you how much you are on. I point blank refuse to disclose it. They either offer me the top salary or don't bother. I don't have to legally disclose my salary, it's irrelevant.

There are also those jobs that advertise a salary range and ask you how much you are on.

I hate any job application which asks for my current salary.

I'm starting to think they do this stuff to weed people like us out though!

@unmarkedbythat

There are also those jobs that advertise a salary range and ask you how much you are on.

I hate any job application which asks for my current salary.

I'm starting to think they do this stuff to weed people like us out though!

It's on your P45 so they'll find out anyway unless you're currently self-employed. If you lie, that's cause for instant termination.

I once asked for details of the salary during the interview (nothing on the advert), and was told that only the successful applicant would have that information. Utterly ridiculous.

It's on your P45 so they'll find out anyway unless you're currently self-employed. If you lie, that's cause for instant termination.

Well yes, I wouldn't lie, I just wouldn't disclose it. I don't like the reasons for asking.

I hate this. Whilst I would love to say I go to work for the love of the job, the reality is I'm here because I have bills to pay. If I didn't I'd be down the local dog shelter, doing something far more worthwhile. So, when applying for a job I need to know my bills are paid, and I really don't want to waste anyone's time (mine, or theirs) by going through the process and then finding out they are 10k short. In my industry it's absolutely impossible to predict what they might be thinking as the roles vary hugely.
In my current role I was still annoyed as the salary was put up as a scale (assumed experience based) and it was a downgrade for me, so I thought I'd be top end. When getting the job offer they explained it was purely a scale where you start at the bottom and move up as years go on, top of the scale is the limit. No negotiation.
I was gutted but took the job anyway.
It always feels classist to me, to not disclose the salary as it assumes people don't need their salary to live and pay their bills.

I might send one email to get the salary if it's a role I'm really interested in, but that's the absolute max. If the information isn't forthcoming at the time I decide whether to apply, it'll be a no.

@Annasgirl

Wow - well I hope none of you are currently looking for work. We can train any grad to do the job - it is a job a graduate is trained to do by University so we expect all grads can do the job. It will take a little more time to supervise but they can do the job. We are willing to offer the role to someone who would like it and has worked somewhere else since graduation. But they have to work our way so we are not giving them a bonus for experience gained somewhere else.

Perhaps you all work in fields where additional experience is required.

Really? depends on the job really doesnt it

And why not just put the salary in the advert then?

I never applied for jobs that didn't include a salary. They either plan to pay badly, or they are the sort of company who will pay a man more. Not transparent.
We should all email companies that do this saying "I'm not wasting my time applying for this job - even though I have all the skills, qualifications and experience you require - because I don't respect a company that thinks salary is on a need to know basis.

I don't respect a company that thinks salary is on a need to know basis

I've always been happy to negotiate my own salary. Since I see aggregated department costs and put together proposals, I also happen to know that I am paid more than many of my colleagues. We do a similar role but at very different levels. I am much more highly qualified and have more experience.

Happy with that.

Why would anyone work if they are not satisfied with their remuneration package?

@ZoeTurtle I would suggest you have a long, hard think about what exactly you expect your new recruit to do rather than a wishy-washy “I may need to help them or I might put my feet up”. How can you hire when you haven’t even nailed down requirements?

Actually we have put the salary on - we are the only people in the industry advertising with a salary on our ad - but we are in Ireland so maybe different expectations?

I was recruiting an HSQ person recently and didn't advertise salary. We were completely open whether this would be a two year post graduation person with limited industry experience who we could develop, or whether it was an exec level person who would drive change and process improvements.

In the end we went for the latter with a close to 6 figure salary. We picked the right person for the job (and calibre was high at both ends of the experience spectrum).

I dont apply/go to an interview unless I have been told a min salary by the company or recruiter. In my experience it is a waste of time, they are always expecting to pay too little for the job spec they are advertising.

I had one recruiter tell me they could not reveal details, then rang me back in desperation a month later. The salary was at least £10k under my existing role . As it happens I knew the recruiter a bit and he was honest that he knew he wasnt going to get applicants at that salary.

I've never actually had a company refuse to tell me before interview. When I explain I'm not interested with no information they invariably crack and quote a minimum.

Why should they hold all the cards? Good staff with my skills and experience are highly in demand, I do not have time for time wasters, there are plenty of other jobs.

InsaneInTheViralMembrane I suggest you work on your reading comprehension... and bitterness.

I don’t have reading comprehension. You’re the one who THINKS they can’t define a role. I bet you’re the WORST sort of manager as you sound very unorganised and haven’t got a clue what you want.

As I said, nail down your requirements.