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

I hated this so much when I was job hunting earlier this year. The sort of stuff I was looking for could be really variable in pay, so it could be hard to judge what to apply for as I could have found some roles were way under my previous salary. I had to disregard charities and small businesses because they were least likely to be worth the effort, but the job I got in the end was one of the few actually stating salary.

I don't recall this being a thing when I was job hunting in the 90s so I doubt it's about commercial sensitivity. It's about keeping salaries as low as possible.

@afrikat , yes, I definitely do it at the beginning. I don't want to waste their time or mine. If they don't have the budget to pay what I'm looking for, there's no point in continuing

@afrikat , I must admit that a big part of my role is negotiations. Companies hire me for my ability to negotiate (amongst other things), so in a way, I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn't start with that

Not always. My current role was advertised without a rang - the offer was higher than I was expecting and higher than similar roles elsewhere.

Yes, I suspect it's got something to do with fudging the numbers and potentially offering more to secure the 'right candidate'. Either that or the salary is low. Personally I wouldn't waste time applying for a job that omitted this pretty critical piece of information.

I wouldn't apply

Commercial sensitivity and keeping salaries as low as possible are the same thing!

This is very interesting. I'd always be worried that starting out with negotiation would potentially put them off, whereas if I'd done a great interview etc and they really wanted me I'd be in a much better position to negotiate. What kind of details would you look to negotiate pre, rather than post, offer?

I've contacted them and if I don't hear back I definitely won't be applying

Hi @afrikat Afrikat, during the HR interview I ask about holiday days (I have negotiated this in the past when they didn't offer enough), salary, private health insurance and bonus scheme (percentage of salary or of profit, etc). More than a negotiation, it is stating what I am expecting and the minimum I am prepared to accept. Normally they go away to discuss with the hiring manager and come back to offer a first interview with the hiring manager. I don't mention working hours, as that's not how my role works. The hours are always long, unpredictable and hard. That's the nature of my industry. We work for as long as needed and that's part of the package.

If my conditions were not acceptable, I guess they would simply not offer the interview.

I am a good expert in my industry and very few people have more experience than me, so I tend to get approached by HR departments very often. If I don't see potential for me with the company, I simply reject any offer for an interview. As I say, I don't want to waste their time nor mine.

Thanks that's really useful

I’m job hunting at the moment and have seen this so often.
It’s not commercially sensitive, companies are not crawling through job ads to see what their competitors are paying. it’s to get away with paying the lowest they can to new hires and existing staff.
If it was that competitive they would be boasting about it.