Answering salary question in on-line job apps

[Opti]

I spoke to someone the other day who's decided to answer
the salary requested/required question as $1 instead of
giving a range.

Do you think this is a good approach or will he continue to
get screened out based on this question? If there are any
HR folks or those who write the screening software I'd be
interested in knowing how its generally used in practice too.

[suzwantstobefree]

I am not a Human resources manager, but I do interviews from time to time. We mostly use career builders and I have some one "screen" the resumes and postings for me. The person who does the prescreening initially looks for people with experience in our industry, experience with the computer system we use, and a SALARY range that is compatiable with what I am willing to pay. If someone either doesn't answer the question or puts in something that is unreasonable (like a $1 or something way higher than what I am willing to pay) but they have the experience, I will probably interview them only after I have interviewed everyone else that meets my criteria.

I often wonder why people won't put in salary expectations when we ask for it. If you have had a similar type of job or have done a little bit of research then it is pretty easy to come up with what you would like to be paid for the job. I have had some employees that gave me a number that I thought was a little too low for the job and once they were in the position and I was able to evaluate what they can do, I have set up a plan to get them to the rate they should be paid for the job. I would put a salary range in when asked.

[cronewitch]

We all hate the question, why can't jobs just list a range to let us know if we should apply. My current job was on Monster and listed a range. My job I was unemployed from had paid less than half what the one before paid and had nothing to do with what I was worth or wanted. I have also applied for a job to find after the interview they aren't offering even half what I want.

I applied at a CPA firm and was a CPA and they started at 24K when I was making over 50K doing something else. They needed to find people who passed the test and were desparate for experience, I was licensed so didn't need the experiance at a cut rate. This was 1992 or 93.

[Opti]

Dec 24, 2010 14:15:06 GMT -5 @suzwantstobefree said:

I am not a Human resources manager, but I do interviews from time to time. We mostly use career builders and I have some one "screen" the resumes and postings for me. The person who does the prescreening initially looks for people with experience in our industry, experience with the computer system we use, and a SALARY range that is compatiable with what I am willing to pay. If someone either doesn't answer the question or puts in something that is unreasonable (like a $1 or something way higher than what I am willing to pay) but they have the experience, I will probably interview them only after I have interviewed everyone else that meets my criteria.

I often wonder why people won't put in salary expectations when we ask for it. If you have had a similar type of job or have done a little bit of research then it is pretty easy to come up with what you would like to be paid for the job. I have had some employees that gave me a number that I thought was a little too low for the job and once they were in the position and I was able to evaluate what they can do, I have set up a plan to get them to the rate they should be paid for the job. I would put a salary range in when asked.

The reason I hate putting in salary expectations is you really
don't know what the job is when you are applying on-line. I
am trying to get back into UNIX administration and I have different
ranges in mind depending on how much 24X7 on call work I have
to do, potential weekend work, etc. None of that is really known
when I apply.

As an unemployed person I feel like I'm playing a guessing game.
If HR really wants to screen out who doesn't fit in the offered
salary range why not post the potential salary range and therefore if someone applies they are probably OK with it?
Also, many of the jobs I find are posted by recruiters so I
may not even know the actual job location or employer. I can downsize my salary needs for something close by but if its far and or requires regular travel to other locations I want to ask for more.

The guy I posted about is sick about the whole process and
that was his solution. I volunteer with quite a few unemployed
professionals and knowing the best way to answer this question
would help a lot of people. I had a feeling the $1 might put him
at the bottom of the pile.

[bobosensei]

if you can put in letters I usually write down negotiable instead of providing a range

[suzwantstobefree]

One of the problems I have is that I am getting candidates that are way over-qualified for the job I am advertising. They know it and I know it. If you are applying for a job that is in the $11 - $15 per hour range and you want to make what you were making before (ie $50K per year for a managerial position as opposed to a clerks position) we are wasting each others time.

My positions are pretty straightforward and it is well known what the ranges are. Recently I offered someone a job for $15 per hour. They were overqualified for the job and the amount I was offering was a little more than I should have (I feel it was worth $11 per hour). The candidate would have done a great job and was working at Starbucks for $9.50 per hour. She turned it down saying it wasn't enough money for her. Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to go forward. From an employers stand point, we don't advertise salary ranges because it could cause problems with our current employees - for example - we have employees through out the country and some areas require a higher rate of pay due to the physical location. Besides that, if I said $11 to $15 per hour, everyone would ask for the top pay even though they may not be qualified for it.

In the case of dealing with recruiters, I would probably put a pretty broad range and if you are called, explain the things you just said. A direct posting from an employer would probably answer most of those questions so that should be a little easier. Even if it doesn't say (for example 24-7 on call) it would probably be pretty easy to guess based on the type of company it is.

I wish your friend a lot of luck. I know it is really discouraging but the outlook for 2011 sounds much better.