4 ms·

> If they're not doing that, they're wasting your time and their time. Actually, they're getting paid for the their time. I'm not. I'm actually burning my time

by gopalv 4y ago

> If they're not doing that, they're wasting your time and their time. Actually, they're getting paid for the their time. I'm not. I'm actually burning my time. > Recruiters should be talking about numbers in the first interview. I'm going through the recruitment process right now and the numbers out of the gate are always lowball figures (possibly personalized to me), because of two reasons. Because they want to see if you accept it or not. I'm sure a lot of people coming into the bay area from other cities/countries will be like "wow, 185k, that's awesome" & they'll figure it out that the company was willing to pay upto 350k for the same work. Secondly, publicly advertising salaries have a big impact on the people who are already in the building. This is pretty much already a problem when you bring in an H1B who has to put their salary into the DoL database and post notices in the offices with their pay. But this is only base pay, not including bonuses or stocks, so it's easy to cap the base pay and fill it up with bonus packages. So the companies are legitimately balking at this because they'll have to pay their existing employees more if they put out an attractive posting, but if they put a lowball figure nobody would even show up to interview - only people who already make lower than the lowball figure will show up & then try to negotiate upwards. I'm currently interviewing and this is a weird dance, sort of like buying a car. I've only got a single response to someone asking "Is this range acceptable" - "I'm looking at multiple offers and being the second best offer is no good for you and I'm not negotiating before an interview or comparing offers. It's your bid, not my ask". I guess it's a position of privilege to deal from. My need to go to back to work isn't economic, I'll just languish if I don't find a job & become truly feral :)

actually_a_dog 4y ago
> So the companies are legitimately balking at this because they'll have to pay their existing employees more if they put out an attractive posting.... Let's phrase this properly: companies are balking because they'll have to pay existing employees market rate.
- wonderwonder 4y ago
  100%
- BenFranklin100 4y ago
  Not really. Employees aren’t stupid. If they are paid below market they are a serious flight risk, especially in today’s tight labor market. We thus raise valued employee’s compensation to keep up with market.
rednerrus 4y ago
If they're asking your number and you're not being straight forward, what's the problem? Them: "What's your number"? You: "$350k." Them: "Ok, cool lets move forward." or "That's a lot of money and we can't pay that much. Thanks for meeting with us." I'm assuming that you've done your homework and know what a reasonable top of the range is. If that's the case, just say what your number is and let them decide if it's too much.
- mikebenfield 4y ago
  The candidate has just as much if not more ambiguity and uncertainty as the employer, so why is the burden on the candidate? It's very possible for a candidate to be thinking something like "I'm currently making $200K. I think it's possible I could get $300K, but $250K would probably be acceptable, and I might even settle for a lateral move of $200K if I find the position really appeals to me." What should they say? $300K and possibly price themselves out? $200K and possibly lowball themselves?
  - drekipus 4y ago
    Really just seems like candidates don't want to do these negotiation process. I was surprised with how much I was able to get away with negotiating my first tech job. It was a little bit of back and forth, a recruiter was involved, and I could just poker face my way into a six-figure job. If they say 200k are you want to just say 250k and see if you get it. Like everything it's just quicker and easier if you rip off the band-aid and just do it.
- BenFranklin100 4y ago
  Interviewers/recruiters who don’t quickly screen out salary mismatches get fired by management for wasting management’s time.
- avereveard 4y ago
  There's also option c they say your number is in range, go tough the interview carousel and lowball you at the end
scarface74 4y ago
> wow, 185k, that's awesome" & they'll figure it out that the company was willing to pay upto 350k for the same work. I’m nowhere near the Bay Area, I know what Bay Area salaries are by looking at publicly available sites. I also know while I never made above $160K until starting at my first “FAANG” two years ago working remotely, there is no way in hell I would accept less than $250K - $300K to ever give up my big house in the burbs in a much lower cost of living area and that’s only because my kids have already graduated and my wife and I could stay in a smaller place and not worry about the school system. Well I personally would never work a job where I had to go into an office again.
gruez 4y ago
>> If they're not doing that, they're wasting your time and their time. >Actually, they're getting paid for the their time. I'm not. I'm actually burning my time. nit: "they" refers to the business, not the employee conducting the interview.

by gopalv 4y ago

actually_a_dog 4y ago

> So the companies are legitimately balking at this because they'll have to pay their existing employees more if they put out an attractive posting.... Let's phrase this properly: companies are balking because they'll have to pay existing employees market rate.

wonderwonder 4y ago
100%
BenFranklin100 4y ago
Not really. Employees aren’t stupid. If they are paid below market they are a serious flight risk, especially in today’s tight labor market. We thus raise valued employee’s compensation to keep up with market.

rednerrus 4y ago

If they're asking your number and you're not being straight forward, what's the problem? Them: "What's your number"? You: "$350k." Them: "Ok, cool lets move forward." or "That's a lot of money and we can't pay that much. Thanks for meeting with us." I'm assuming that you've done your homework and know what a reasonable top of the range is. If that's the case, just say what your number is and let them decide if it's too much.

mikebenfield 4y ago
The candidate has just as much if not more ambiguity and uncertainty as the employer, so why is the burden on the candidate? It's very possible for a candidate to be thinking something like "I'm currently making $200K. I think it's possible I could get $300K, but $250K would probably be acceptable, and I might even settle for a lateral move of $200K if I find the position really appeals to me." What should they say? $300K and possibly price themselves out? $200K and possibly lowball themselves?
- drekipus 4y ago
  Really just seems like candidates don't want to do these negotiation process. I was surprised with how much I was able to get away with negotiating my first tech job. It was a little bit of back and forth, a recruiter was involved, and I could just poker face my way into a six-figure job. If they say 200k are you want to just say 250k and see if you get it. Like everything it's just quicker and easier if you rip off the band-aid and just do it.
BenFranklin100 4y ago
Interviewers/recruiters who don’t quickly screen out salary mismatches get fired by management for wasting management’s time.
avereveard 4y ago
There's also option c they say your number is in range, go tough the interview carousel and lowball you at the end

scarface74 4y ago

> wow, 185k, that's awesome" & they'll figure it out that the company was willing to pay upto 350k for the same work. I’m nowhere near the Bay Area, I know what Bay Area salaries are by looking at publicly available sites. I also know while I never made above $160K until starting at my first “FAANG” two years ago working remotely, there is no way in hell I would accept less than $250K - $300K to ever give up my big house in the burbs in a much lower cost of living area and that’s only because my kids have already graduated and my wife and I could stay in a smaller place and not worry about the school system. Well I personally would never work a job where I had to go into an office again.

gruez 4y ago

>> If they're not doing that, they're wasting your time and their time. >Actually, they're getting paid for the their time. I'm not. I'm actually burning my time. nit: "they" refers to the business, not the employee conducting the interview.