No salary on job adverts!

[crofty1984]

Is it only me that finds this frustrating? By all means put a range, but no indication at all is annoying. When do you ask? Before applying? Or wait until they give you an offer that's half your current salary?
Grr.

[AyBee]

Yup, you'll either get a massive shock or a pleasant surprise. Feeling lucky?

Also annoys me!

[Orchid1]

Recruitment companies love doing that to save the client money. When you enquire about the job they ask your salary and low and behold the salary for the job is a grand or two above your current salary aren't you lucky.

It should be regulated more alongside the entire recruitment industry.

[768]

crofty1984 said:

When do you ask?

Never.

[Disastrous]

Agreed. Total waste of time.

I've noticed though that the attitude of the job market seems to have changed a bit in my sector at least (media/creative). There seems to be a general feeling that you should be so grateful to be offered a role that the salary is irrelevant and instead they pack job adverts with senseless st about how there's an office dog and you get biscuits and beer on Friday afternoons and stuff. When I was starting out I couldn't give a st about any of that.

I wanted:

1). Money
2). A bit of creative breathing room to do my work
3. Holidays

And I would have wanted to know 1 before I went for an interview, 3 before I accepted an offer and 2 before I quit!

[tankplanker]

Often happens in IT and one of my first questions when speaking to a recruiter is what is the salary range so I don't waste either of our time.

I assume they are either trying to low ball or if I'm feeling generous the employer knows they need to offer more to attract a new hire than what they are paying the existing staff and do not want the existing staff to find out.

[hornetrider]

'Market rate'

[768]

I was offered a contract role recently, after interviews, on a rate below the range the post was advertised for.

I didn't accept, they told me their hands were tied because the end client was limiting the rate (likely true) but that I could have more hours. I'd had a contract with them about three years ago on about 15% more.

Just fking rude.

[okgo]

Orchid1 said:

Recruitment companies love doing that to save the client money. When you enquire about the job they ask your salary and low and behold the salary for the job is a grand or two above your current salary aren't you lucky.

It should be regulated more alongside the entire recruitment industry.

Despite the fact they make their money on the size of the salary they place? Seems unlikely. Sounds like clients wanting to save money more than anything.

[Orchid1]

okgo said:

Despite the fact they make their money on the size of the salary they place? Seems unlikely. Sounds like clients wanting to save money more than anything.

Not necessarily especially if they are advertising for a number of positions within the same company which leads to repeat business etc. Better to have long term paid relationship with the client rather than placing someone with a high salary, charging a high fee and then being seen as expensive.

[worsy]

I think some of the time it is two things:

Not scaring off an otherwise good candidate who is low paid with a high salary.
Encouraging applicants with high salaries to get a broad range and consider enhanced experience and skills.

I must admit the majority of the time the salaries are low. Some of the stuff I see reflects salaries in early 2000s. I know we have had stagnant wage inflation for a while but seriously.

[Prof Prolapse]

Contrary to the above, most recruiters make their commission as a % of the salary they get you. So it's in their interests to get the best they can, they also know the market rate, and can advise you.

If you're struggling to know what you're worth, I'd consider apply for just one position via an experienced agency and discussing salary, even if you don't get the job at least you can have a better idea of what you're worth.

It's the one major advantage of using them.

[Fastpedeller]

It's the feeling of being messed around that raises the hackles. Unfortunately contract agencies seem to like to send a candidate for interview when it's clear there's unlikely to be a good outcome. A few years back (having said I wouldn't relocate or travel, even outside county) I went for an interview and all seemed good until the potential employer asked how I was about going to work in India. The interview swiftly ended by mutual agreement! Total waste of time.

[bad company]

Orchid1 said:

Recruitment companies love doing that to save the client money. When you enquire about the job they ask your salary and low and behold the salary for the job is a grand or two above your current salary aren't you lucky..

Believe it or not recruiters also don't like wasting time. The problem is they often can't get a salary guide from the client firm. I think the employers are trying to get the potential employees to give an idea of requirements first.

It's a bit of a pain all round and all too easy to blame the recruitment firms.

[MitchT]

crofty1984 said:

Is it only me that finds this frustrating?

Not just you. It seems to be particularly rife in the creative sector. I find it bizarre that someone sees fit to write a long list of their expectations but doesn't say what they're providing in return. Imagine if you applied for a job with a long list of the living expenses you expected your employment to cover but giving no indication of your skills. It'd go straight in the bin. Then you get these pompous twits who say you've got the wrong attitude if you care about the pay. Really? Employment is a pretty simple concept to grasp - its an exchange of skills in return for payment. Both parties have to be providing something that's fit for purpose. Imagine if you told a prospective employer how much you expected to be paid but then told them they have the wrong attitude when they asked what skills you had! Anyway, I used to ignore jobs with no salary indicated but now I've gone a step further - I've created a version of my CV which advertises the package of services I offer and details my rates. If there's no salary advertised that's the version they're going to get.

[MitchT]

Disastrous said:

I've noticed though that the attitude of the job market seems to have changed a bit in my sector at least (media/creative). There seems to be a general feeling that you should be so grateful to be offered a role that the salary is irrelevant and instead they pack job adverts with senseless st about how there's an office dog and you get biscuits and beer on Friday afternoons and stuff.

So true!

[RTaylor2208]

Its rife in my line of work, at the moment it seems to be along the lines of being advertised as competitive, market rate, great culture all that bks.

You inquire and the salary offered for the skills they are looking for is usually between 30% and 50% less than what is the true market rate.

The job stays advertised for about 6 months unfilled as the applicants that will accept the salary don't have the skills required, then it finally gets advertised with a salary scale and the usual culture bks, that rolls round for about another 3-4 months when they give up and fill the job with a contractor costing them per day at least 30% more than they would have paid for a permie on a truly competitive rate.

[truck71]

RTaylor2208 said:

..have paid for a permie on a truly competitive rate.

Is that someone from Liverpool?

[Hoolio]

Orchid1 said:

Recruitment companies love doing that to save the client money. When you enquire about the job they ask your salary and low and behold the salary for the job is a grand or two above your current salary aren't you lucky.

It should be regulated more alongside the entire recruitment industry.

Rubbish. Recruiters placing permanent candidates generally get a percentage of the candidates first year package, therefore the higher the salary the bigger the fee for the recruiter.

[deckster]

Hoolio said:

Orchid1 said:

Recruitment companies love doing that to save the client money. When you enquire about the job they ask your salary and low and behold the salary for the job is a grand or two above your current salary aren't you lucky.

It should be regulated more alongside the entire recruitment industry.

Rubbish. Recruiters placing permanent candidates generally get a percentage of the candidates first year package, therefore the higher the salary the bigger the fee for the recruiter.

Not rubbish at all. The recruiter doesn't care about the candidate, they care about fostering a long-term relationship with the employer.

If they can place high-quality people into the employer for a lower salary cost, then they are much more likely to get repeat business. That's worth a lot more to them than an extra grand on a single commission.