Job adverts with no salary range

[afrikat]

Why do companies do this? What's the point in advertising a role with zero indication what the range is? There is a job online at the moment I would be interested in if it's a jump up from where I am now but I don't want to waste my time (and theirs) applying if its less than what I'm on now. Or it could be double which would indicate it's a bit of a reach. It's a very specific niche role so no clue where it would be pitched. Is it reasonable to contact the parent company to ask? There is no 'contact us' on the application there is just a 'start application' link

Definitely contact and ask. I hate it. I think it’s when the salary is lower than expected though.

I think in some cases it's because it's commercially sensitive. But I'm.sure that some.use it to their advantage to interview and low ball.

I really dislike being asked what I'm.curreently on. That isn't the point. Perhaps ask me what are my salary expectations but that should have been sorted at the start before interviews as what if we are both miles apart.

I think there was research at one point suggesting it put women and people from minority groups from applying too. It is lazy and testing the market.

Totally agree! Asking someone what they are currently on and offering accordingly is also a way of deepening the gender pay gap, since women are often on lower wages and this method perpetuates that

Surely the job pays, what the job is worth paying. Shouldn't matter what you were on previously

Yes absolutely I find this infuriating - like you say, the salary helps you get an idea of what level the job actually is, since the description is usually waffle about self starters and a fast moving business.

I hate this and I’m sure companies don’t realise how many people it puts off.

Yes! I am fairly senior in what I do and honeslty can't gauge from the advert whether this is up, down or sideways 🤔

It's so weird isn't it. It's a laborious process applying for a job - why go through all that when it could be less than you're on now

Oh I hate this. Especially when you can't even submit an application without putting a number down on the form.

I'm a tech lawyer - inhouse, and it's really bloody hard to tell as similar sounding jobs could be anything from 50k to 150k. Obviously they all portray themselves as massively successful and fast growing which would suggest towards the higher end, but then there are so many tech startups that pay peanuts or offer shares which may or may not prove to be lucrative...

Also post COVID the various working structures do factor in - I don't live in London and I'm happy to work on a hybrid basis but if I need to either commute or get a central London hotel for several days a week that clearly affects what I'd want from the overall package!

I worked at a company where they didn't show salary ranges as they knew that they were getting away with paying existing staff less than the current market rate.

Exactly! I always think they imagine that once the candidate has met them at interview they’ll be so wowed they’ll accept the job even if it pays tuppence an hour.

It is bonkers. Applying for a job takes ages but so does sifting applicants and interviewing people.

There's a big conversation on Linkedin about this. My view is no salary, no application and I have learned, to my detriment in the past, that it is used to reduce what they pay, but not what they require!

I change jobs every three years, always for a better one. They always ask me during the first HR interview what my expectations are. Very little time is wasted if the expectations don't match

It's a red flag that they like to play games and don't respect your time.

But you've still gone to the trouble of applying and taking the time to attend the initial interview. All that could be avoided if you'd known the salary beforehand

God knows.
We have recently changed at work so every role has a salary or banding attached eg £24k pa or £33 to £36k dependent on experience. It has made recruitment far more efficient.

But you've still gone to the trouble of applying and taking the time to attend the initial interview. All that could be avoided if you'd known the salary beforehand

It gives me the opportunity to negotiate and find out more about the whole package. Budgets are often flexible, and 80k plus bonus for example, is better than 90K with health insurance. Without a conversation, I would not be able to negotiate

I made the mistake of trying to find out the salary from one of these type job adverts. The only contact email on the whole website turned out to be the CEO and I got copied into a email to his secretary saying "Deal with this Barbara will you?"

Never bothered applying to one which didn't clearly state salary ever again.

Ours is like that. Much simpler and don't tend to get anyone applying who is after more than the expected range

🤣🤣🤣

Would you start negotiating at an initial chat with HR though? Wouldn't that happen at the offer point?

I don’t apply for jobs or allow recruiters to put me forward for them if they don’t make the salary range clear up front and I’ve told recruiters this on several occasions - why would I waste my time on an interview or application if I don’t know it’s going to pay at least the minimum amount that’s acceptable to me?

This infuriates me. As someone up thread said, it keeps the gender pay gap well and truly active.

I was job hunting a few years ago, and every first recruitment conversation went the same way - I would ask the salary and be told that it wasn't set yet, they were looking to match candidates expectations (nonesense).

They would ask me my current salary (rude) and ask what I was looking for. But if the number I gave was too high I would immediately be asked if that was flexible (so I knew if gone over their salary band which of course exists!).

Every hiring manager has a budget, and most low / mid level jobs have certain benefits attached or not, no negotiation. This practice is to pay the lowest possible that the preferred candidate will accept.

I've been looking at a part time job that has salary banding but is pro rata and doesn't state the hours per week. It does say they will accept flexible working but doesn't say how 🤷‍♀️
The bands are £29-£32k per annum pro rata. They must have an idea of how many hours per week the job entails so why not state it upfront.

It's so hard whether to put the effort into applying when it's completely unclear what you're actually applying for