Now that we are beginning to acknowledge the fact that we are human even when we're at work, we can be honest with one another. Why don't employers put their salary ranges into their job ads? We know why: they want to see whether they can hire someone at the rock bottom price.
They may have $65-$80K budgeted, but if someone walks in who can do the job at $58K, they are likely to be hired at that very salary.
Why else would employers keep their salary ranges secret? I cannot think of a good reason, and I've been an HR person for over thirty years.
It is unethical and tacky to ask job-seekers for their current salary level, but internal and external recruiters around the world do it every day. When they are honest, they say "Why pay more than we have to?"
When you ask a job-seeker for his or her current salary or salary history, you're saying "We value you based on what another organization paid you. That's the only way we know how to value your talents." That is exactly the same as saying "I have no business being a recruiter, or a manager. I'm clueless."
As businesspeople we have to make judgment calls every day. If I meet you and spend an hour with you, I will be able to tell you at the end of that hour what I think you can command dollars-and-cents-wise in the talent market where you live.
I don't need to know your past or current salaries to make that determination.
Any competent HR leader could do the same thing. Any competent recruiter could do it, too. When someone asks you "What did they pay you at your last job?" you know that the question has everything to do with keeping as much information behind the veil as possible. That gives an employer a negotiating advantage.
The sensible and ethical thing to do is to include a salary range in every job ad. That way, people who don't want the job at the salary you're willing to pay won't waste their time and your time applying for the position.
If every employer or a lot of them starting posting their salary ranges, employers would save a lot of time and money. Job-seekers would save time and aggravation. Anybody who took the time to read job ads as a market research practice would soon learn what various jobs pay at particular organizations. As an employer, wouldn't it be helpful for the local talent community to understand your pay levels?
If you talk to a recruiter and you ask him or her "What's the salary range for this job?" you should get a definite answer. If you don't, you are dealing with someone who wants you to spill the beans on your own salary information so he or she doesn't have to give up any information.
Just to blow your mind with an astounding display of hypocrisy, the recruiter may ask for your salary history, and react to your hesitation to give it up by saying "Look, if we're going to work together, you have to trust me."
Anybody who wants your trust has to earn it first. That is how trust works. You can't demand that people trust you, and if you start a new relationship withholding vital information from someone, you have already made it clear that you're not trustworthy.
Forget that recruiter! He or she has tons of competitors.
You don't have time to deal with shady people. Anyone who calls you on the phone, emails you or sends you a
What do they owe you? They owe you the salary range for the position you're discussing. Until you hear that number or set of number, clamp your lips together. Don't say a word about your current or past salary. That's nobody's business but yours. Demand a salary range from the recruiter and if you don't get one, hang up the phone and look for a place to get a nice gelato.
It's a new day. Your belief in your power as a job-seeker is the biggest determinant of your job-search success: not your past titles or your degrees, not your certifications or your lovely LinkedIn recommendations.
Your belief in what you bring to employers will allow you to say "No thanks!" to the wrong opportunities and the wrong people in your job search, and invest your limited time and energy going after the people who deserve your talents.
