Ask HN: Disparity between advertised vs. actual salary?

It seems that many jobs these days are advertised on the same salary scale as they were before the pandemic (and the 20+ % inflation). Yet, other jobs are being advertised with a very wide salary scale. In many cases, your salary needs are a required form field in the screener questionnaire. To your knowledge, how are people navigating the current job market? Are people able to get above the advertised salary range? For wide ranged jobs, does the company actually offer close to the upper bound? How do you deal with the required salary range form field?