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by pdxdmz 1496 days ago
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.

4 comments

I think this is the real reason right here: it lowers our ability to negotiate with candidates and thus costs the company money.

I started making more money faster when I stopped answering the salary question and start countering it by saying, "How much are you authorized to offer?"

> it's not fair to us to post salaries, because it'll look low and we'll lose candidates *

Is that a valid argument ? I mean if it is low even after going through the hiring process people will end up rejecting the offer. Its just that both candidate and company would have sunk quite a lot of time in interview process.

some places are bottom feeders, they put in time trawling for people who don't know their worth
Is there anything stopping you from just telling the range to the candidate the first time you talk to them?
I do.
It could be as simple as a preference of the CEO/CFO, maybe a bad experience of someone at the top.