Quick — what’s the question most job candidates hate to hear coming?
How about “What are your salary expectations?”
Receiving a job offer with a fabulous salary is great. Having to negotiate said salary is a little less so.
But worse than either of these two is being asked about salary waaaaaay early in the recruiting process (like during the initial phone screening) without knowing much of anything about the job duties, job requirements, work environment, or company benefits and perks.
Why do employers keep asking this?
This dilemma comes up on employment discussion boards all the time, because no one wants to price themselves out of a job, and no one wants to be taken advantage of. And while websites like Glassdoor.com, Payscale.com, and Salary.com can help a candidate to prepare some for this dreaded question, here’s what I don’t understand …
Why do employers keep asking it?
Now you say, “What a ridiculous question about a question! How else are we going to know whether applicant expectations are in line with ours? I don’t want to waste my time interviewing a candidate and then find out we’re miles apart on salary!”
And I say — that’s bull. Here’s why:
- You have a budget. I know you do. Stop pretending. You know exactly how much you’re willing to pay. Why are you asking candidates then?
- You control the advertising. Want to weed out candidates whose expectations are too high? Include your salary range in the job posting. I guarantee you that someone expecting to earn $75,000 won’t respond to an ad for $45,000. Worried that your highly competitive salary will attract responses from all kinds of underqualified candidates? Use the “Requirements” section of the ad to weed them out.
But come on, it’s a lousy economy still, and you WILL receive applications from less-than-ideal candidates no matter what. Stop complaining already. You placed an ad and people are responding to it. What’s your problem again?
So why not simplify things a little? It’s to everyone’s advantage.
Here’s what really think
Ohhh, I’m almost scared to say it : You want it all ways, my friend.
You want to hold your cards close to the vest. You want all the advantage, and you don’t want transparency. You want to find the “Prius” candidate and then pay that person the least amount you possibly can.
Maybe that’s good business. Or, maybe that’s a hell of a way to start a new relationship.
Or …
You really don’t know what you’re doing. Maybe it’s not entirely your fault.
Sending mixed signals
Maybe your bosses are sending all kinds of mixed signals, so you’re keeping everything wide open, hoping the market will do your job for you. And I guess that’s not so bad. But if the market does do your job, could you at least say thanks?
While I don’t claim to be Every Employer, it’s true. I’ve never once advertised a job without knowing exactly what wage I was prepared to offer.
And I’ve never cared about how the candidate’s last employer viewed the function, how much money the candidate needs each month to pay the bills, or whether the candidate would be insulted or elated with the number. The number represented my value of the position in my organization and my research into what the market pays, period.
And after I finish doing my job and interviewing the hell out of you (not to be confused with “interviewing you to death“), I’ll know whether you can do the job and what I’m willing to pay.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just old-fashioned. But I preferred it when you talked about the job and then you haggled over pay. There was none of this, “Tell me all your secrets, and then maybe we can talk” nonsense.
Jeesh.