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Ask HN: Hiring managers why don't you post salary range in your job postings?

by new_learner on 5/13/22, 3:40 PM with 51 comments

• by noodle on 5/13/22, 4:43 PM

  I currently post ranges because we're now large enough. But when we were smaller, I wouldn't include ranges because our job posts didn't filter by seniority, and at least part of the comp was the potential for a healthy options grant. So the effective cash comp range was so large as to be meaningless on a single job post. "$0 to $1m DOE" (for example) doesn't help anyone make any decisions and is so distracting that its better to leave it off.

  Also as a hiring manager, you'll also find that if you post the range, it just so happens that almost everyone's very firm minimum acceptable comp is the top of your published range.

• by higeorge13 on 5/13/22, 4:31 PM

  Most of the times it’s a company policy. As a hiring manager i never knew the salary of the open positions i was filling, only hr snd c-levels did.

  Since my last job, asking the salary range is my first question in recruiter dms and generic emails. My current company was super open to reveal salary range on the first email, and i really appreciated it and eventually accepted the offer. People should demand transparrency.

• by krnlpnc on 5/13/22, 6:06 PM

  Companies are often times weasels. They will try to figure out your current salary and offer some small increase.

  In my experience you need to have leverage before negotiating, so I remain “negotiable” and never tell my current salary until an offer is on the table. Once they want you comp can be more easily negotiated.

• by pdxdmz on 5/13/22, 5:33 PM

  I'm not allowed to. I've made the arguments for, and HR controls the actual job listings, and they won't put salary in the JDs. I've been trying for two years to make this happen.

  Reasons I've heard -- and again, this is not me, this is what I'm told -- include * we can't as a matter of company policy, which can't be changed * we offer great benefits (true, they're the best I've ever had) and so it's not fair to us to post salaries, because it'll look low and we'll lose candidates * we want to start the conversation about the company and the position, and not the money * it lowers our ability to negotiate with candidates and thus costs the company money

  I've made all the arguments you'd expect for why we should, generally, and why specifically not doing so costs us candidates, and in return I don't get an engaged debate, just select 1-2 of the above reasons and then refuse to elaborate or work to find a way to "yes"...

  Which makes me suspect there's something else going on, but what? We pay significantly above-average, with good incentives, great benefits, it's not like we're a used car lot where the goal is to get someone on the phone or property to work the high-pressure magic.

  But in short: for whatever reason, I can't, and I would bet other hiring managers are in the same situation. I'd love to hear an HR/legal person explain what the actual reasons companies don't allow this are.

• by landa on 5/14/22, 4:59 AM

  Beyond a certain level, salary doesn't matter. There's a base salary and there's upside, so if you create something profitable, you'll get paid significantly more. In finance, bonuses are many multiples of your salary, dependent on your performance. It's similar in tech, where the RSUs are how you make your money.

  You can't post bonuses/equity, since it really depends on your performance.

  Your post assumes that you're doing some task, but with most of the jobs people on this site go for, you're paid to be creative and commercial and not to just perform some job.

• by rkk3 on 5/13/22, 4:58 PM

  Have you found it helpful? Having a recruiter at a "transparent" company give me a base salary range band where the Max was more than 2x the Min actually kinda left a bad taste in my mouth

• by EddieDante on 5/13/22, 7:42 PM

  It's harder for them to shaft you after you've jumped through all their hoops just to get an offer if they're up front about how little they intend to pay you.

• by dyingkneepad on 5/13/22, 6:13 PM

  I work at a place where we have trouble finding candidates. It's hard to find a good candidate, but sometimes we find someone we really like but they don't have a lot of experience, and sometimes we find someone we really like and they're very experienced. Both can come trough the same job opening, but we'll offer them different salaries for obvious reasons. Their "level" inside the company will be different once they join.

• by nojito on 5/13/22, 5:37 PM

  We did an a b test on our internal job board and it was a disaster.

  Posting salaries is kind of ok for applicants but does nothing for hiring folks.

• by kingnothing on 5/13/22, 7:22 PM

  I recommend asking the recruiter in their initial email / LinkedIn message to you what the comp range is. If it isn't a match or they won't tell you off the bat, move on to the next one unless you're dead set on wanting to work there.

• by echlebek on 5/13/22, 11:07 PM

  They should. Sometimes people ask me if I know anyone they could hire for a role. I ask them what the salary is. If they don't have a straight answer, I don't help them advertise. Seems fair.

• by throwaway14356 on 5/13/22, 8:41 PM

  not to long ago lots of company websites didnt list the price of their products, some still don't.

  it will take some time for them to grasp the "well, fuck you" mind cycle.

  it is all about looking at things from the other persons perspective. if you cant do that the person or their business cant be all that important to you.

  maybe for scarce skills we need an employee auction platform. get rid of those vague benefits and let the highest bidder win.

• by postalrat on 5/13/22, 5:18 PM

  For the same reasons hospitals don't tell you the prices of their services.

• by ronyba on 5/14/22, 2:42 PM

  I want to know the amount after tax