When a salary isn't advertised on a job

[Ger1atricMillennial]

I saw a role I liked and is around the same as my role just in a different organisation. I spoke to the manager on a TEAMS meeting for 30 mins, and it sounded great. The application process took me 2 hours as I had to provide them ID and answer STAR questions in the interview as well as provide a cover letter.

I have had a screening conversation with HR and top end of the salary range is 10K less than I am currently being paid.

I dithered about going to the interview. For the interview I have to prepare a "presentation" (not part of the JD) and they will give me the topic on Friday afternoon before my interview on the Tuesday, as well as filling in a police report.

What would you do in this situation?

And am I being unreasonable to think that if you have to spend a significant portion of time applying for a role they should put the salary range out at the beginning.

Always a red flag. I just ignore any job that does not feature a salary or salary scale in the ad.

Call them and tell them it's £25k less than you'd consider and find out what their budget for the role is. Then make a decision as to whether you wish to continue in their process.

My point of view is that if they are not willing to post a salary on the advert, then they either underpay as standard or have a poor culture that doesn't promote transparency.

I would have asked before I applied what the salary range was
if they wouldn’t say I wouldn’t apply

I’d contact them before applying to discuss the salary expectation. It isn’t pushy, it’s just seeing if you are on the same page.

The company I work for and the industry in general is terrible for this. Apparently they 'don't have the framework' to put the salary on job ads - there was me thinking you just needed to type a few numbers

Thanks for all your replies good to hear I am not completely alone.

I applied because it was a government role with the same job title as mine. I anticipated that there might be a small difference but I thought it would be in the same band at least.

Very frustrating.

The first question I ask is salary and I won't engage further until I know it.

I work purely for money. It is the most important factor.

Unusual for a government role not to share the grade/ salary band.

I know right... I am in NZ so different culture, but I checked on the salary checker and it was at the (very) low end.

Might be worth talking to the recruiting team and explain that you already earn substantially over the top end of the salary band? Confirm that is correct?

They may have incorrectly banded/ referenced an incorrect pay and when you spoke to them? If not, reasonable to withdraw and explain why.

I emailed and they confirmed it and withdrew my application. I spoke to others in the sector who also said not putting the salary on more common than it was 2 years ago.

Apparently, its so people don't get to the job with an expectation that they are going to get at the top offer. I have seen adverts where they say the range for 80-120% and the midpoint. They also don't want people to self-select out if the salary doesn't fit their goals.

I wouldn't have been too bothered if it was a CV and Cover letter and them wanting a presentation that they weren't going to send me until the Friday before that made me angry.

They also don't want people to self-select out if the salary doesn't fit their goals.

But as lots of us have said, we only work for money, and good candidates have no need to be fobbed off with a pay cut. Stupid, arrogant decision.

I always ask about the salary range if it isn't advertised before wasting my time on the application. They have always been willing to tell me, and not advertising it doesn't always mean it's shit.

I do agree that it's poor form though, and doesn't create a good impression. I also don't understand the point about not wanting people to self select out.... they will self select out of the process anyway if they find out that the salary doesn't suit them, so what's the point of wasting both their time and the employer's time on a conversation that isn't going anywhere.

In some cases, I suspect it's because they're trying to get away with paying as little as possible, but for a government role, you'd think there would be some sort of proper banding scheme so that shouldn't be an issue.

Next time, OP, just ask before wasting your time!

I don't apply for jobs without a clear salary stated in the job advert, or provided to me before an interview.

It usually means the salary is not competitive.

Last time I went through a recruiter who negotiated my salary on my behalf which was great, and I would do this again.

My experience of UK government roles:
Pay is usually less than private sector, but publicly available, and made up for by job security, holidays, pension, and usually working conditions.
Job titles can mean a wide range of things e.g. "engagement" can mean anything from sales ish to comms or ever sort of secretarial.
Words can be crucial: officer is less well paid than Manager, which is less well than Senior Managet

I learnt my lesson on this one.

An MD of a company found me on LinkedIn. Had a job matching my skills, asked if I'd be interested in an informal chat.

We met over coffee, got on really well. She said she wanted to invite me for a more formal interview in the London office with her and some of her leaders.

I'm 50 miles from London, and would need to fork out for trains so I asked what the package was. She replied that we'd mutually agree on salary if I was to be successful, and there's flexibility on the numbers.

I went to London, had to do a presentation, which I did on Prezi, and took me hours. The MD and leaders loved it and the interview.

MD contacts me and asks me to meet a client, as the person in the role would mainly look after this client. So I schlep to Reading to meet client and MD. Was actually an informal interview and MD asked me to show client the presentation.

Client loved me and MD offered me the job. Offering £10k less than I was already earning / absolute minimum I'd be seeking. I assumed this was opening of negotiations, so I stated what salary I was looking for. She said they can't go "that high", but I'd get a £2k bonus at Christmas.

She was most shocked and affronted that I'd not accept a huge pay cut and told me she was dreading telling the client who liked me so much that I'd not be working with them.

I'd hope that it was a big lesson for her, as much as me. With travel, interviews and time creating presentation, I must have spent 2-3 days of my time and in train tickets and fuel, I spent £60-£70.

Monumental waste of absolutely everyone's time!

I see you've withdrawn offer. Best bet. If it's salary bands, there's no wiggle room to go to next band sadly. Good luck in finding your dream job.

I only ever applied for one job where the salary wasn’t advertised and they offered above the average for the type of job in the area. However, after joining I realised for most jobs they were paying under the market rate.

Thanks for all your replies. After speaking to other people here its a bit hit and miss about whether salary is advertised, so I guess I will just have to get better at asking from the get go.

I don’t bother applying for jobs without a salary stated. If you can’t tell me how much you’re going to pay me, why the fuck am I going to waste hours trying to convince you I am the best person for the job? Get real! Time wasters, these people.

I think it's utterly ridiculous not to put it on the advert. They must know what their budget is

Really shoddy practice. Vote with your feet.

I had this! I'm a teacher in Scotland - so on around £48k, and interviewed for a Steiner School and was told at interview it would be £20k for full time, but that for the first term, the children would be part time so I'd be on pro rata of £10k for that term. Absolutely ridiculous!! But it was slightly different, as they don't usually need to advertise a teachers' salary since it's set!

I think it’s so they can get away with paying as little as possible. If it’s such an excellent salary then tell me what it is.

They also don't want people to self-select out if the salary doesn't fit their goals
How many can afford to take a massive pay cut?

Im currently looking for a job, so I’m sending a lot of CVs out. It seems a 50/50 between those who put it and this who don’t. I absolutely wouldn’t be preparing a presentation without knowing the salary.

I have recruited for many companies and it’s not always because of a low salary that it’s not advertised.

One company wanted to pay 75k for a role but would have gone up to 100k for someone outstanding. If they advertised 75-100 then everyone applying would expect the higher range.

Another had managers earning an average of 35k (band was 30-40) but the market had changed and they knew that a new manager coming in would need to be paid at the top rate. They knew if they put 30-40 it might stop people applying and if they only put 40 then the current managers would be up in arms.

Another company was the first in the area for this specific type of business and didn’t know what the demand would be. They were prepared to pay London wages (was outside London) but less if they had enough demand for the roles.

Another had experienced a lot of candidates applying because of the very high salary without the required experience.

We advertised all of these without salary range. However, we only requested a CV as the initial application. This was followed up with a screening phone call where salary expectations were asked as the first question. If they were compatible then the interview process continued. If they weren’t then very little time was wasted in either side.

My point is that it’s quite usual now not to advertise salary in a job advert and it’s not always sinister. However, there shouldn’t be a long process before salary is mentioned!
If the company won’t disclose it then go back with your expectations
e.g “whilst I understand that it is not your policy to disclose your salary range, my minimum consideration will be £xxxk. Please advise as to whether this is within your salary range “
Most companies will respond to this

I don't apply for a job if there's no salary info. I know some will go via a recruiter who will give the info to a serious candidate where its not published on the ad but some jobs literally expect applicants to apply off nothing. Unless its a banded role with a known job title, nope I'm not touching it.