[ulrich]

I will not attend a long interview process if the salary is completely unknown. The least I do is to tell the possible employer what my expectations are and check whether this is ok for them.

Of course it would be better to make them define a salary range, but until now I was never able to do this.

[ido]

The first interview (at the end of which you'd talk about the salary) is only an hour or 2, so I don't think it's that bad.

[lief79]

It's a question of supply and demand. An hour or two for someone who is already working can be quite annoying when it's a dead end. On the other hand, it may lead to future opportunities.

Once you reach senior level development in popular technologies, companies are often eager to come after you. (At least, that's what the recruiters and help want ads seem to indicate about senior level J2EE developers around the Philly area.)

[kleiba]

As the parent pointed out, in some areas/countries it's completely uncommon to announce salary ranges in job ads. What are you going to do then? Never apply? Move to another country?

[billswift]

Ask?