Summary

The article discusses the importance of salary transparency in job postings and the frustration caused by companies that withhold this information.

Abstract

The author expresses dissatisfaction with recruiters who do not disclose salary information upfront when reaching out for job opportunities. The article highlights the prevalent issue of job advertisements lacking salary details, often labeled as 'competitive', which leads to a lack of transparency and potential exploitation of candidates. It suggests that the traditional corporate approach to salary negotiation is a game of cat and mouse, attempting to gauge the candidate's current salary and expectations against what the company is willing to pay. The author argues that the sunk cost fallacy, where candidates feel compelled to accept an offer after investing time in the application process, is becoming less effective as job seekers increasingly recognize their worth and are less willing to commit to employers that are not transparent about compensation. The piece concludes by emphasizing that people are now more likely to abandon job applications and search for better opportunities if they sense a lack of salary transparency.

Opinions

The author believes that not disclosing salary information in job postings is a tactic that exploits candidates and wastes their time.
There is a clear frustration with recruiters who avoid revealing salary details, expecting candidates to invest time in the application process without knowing the compensation.
The article suggests that the trend of hiding salary information is part of a larger problem of companies trying to control the narrative and pay candidates less than they might otherwise expect.
The author points out that the era of the sunk cost fallacy, where candidates feel obliged to accept an offer due to the time invested, is coming to an end as people become more aware of their value in the job market.
The piece criticizes the use of the term 'competitive salary' without providing actual figures, implying that this practice is deceptive and unhelpful for job seekers.
It is implied that companies should be more courteous and transparent about salary to attract potential employees based on the merits of the job and fair compensation.

Don’t Ask Me To Work For Your Company Without Telling Me How Much I’m Being Paid

The sunk cost fallacy is dying.

LinkedIn recruiters are at it again.

I got a message the other day asking me to come and check out this vacancy for a particular company. She sold it to me well in the message, so I clicked on the link to read the JDPS for the job.

To my horror, I couldn’t see the salary on the job advertisement or in the JDPS.

I know it’s typical of companies to do this, so I asked the recruiter for the salary and she sent me the following message:

Well Megan, guess who’s no longer interested? Why are you willing to listen to my desired salary, but you can’t just tell me the starting salary? Seems to me as though this would be an organisation where everyone is paid differently due to experience (and gender).

When it comes to looking for a new job, people are messing around anymore. Do you want to go through two or three interview rounds, maybe even an assessment, to find out the salary at the end is the same or even lower than what you’re getting paid now?

Didn’t think so.

Do you want to get your hopes up and believe there’s a positive career change on the horizon that you can put all your experience and your skills towards, for them to exploit you even after all you’ve demonstrated to them so far?

Didn’t think so.

What is also annoying, is looking at job adverts that don’t advertise the salary or just label the salary as ‘competitive’. Who am I competing against? Myself? In which case, surely I’ll be being paid more?

What is the big deal behind hiding the salary? You’ll have less people wasting your time when they apply because they would be wanting to do the role and be accepting of the salary.

“In traditional corporate environments, the salary is often hidden because it’s a game of cat and mouse trying to figure out what salary the candidate is currently on, what they’re expecting, and what the company is willing to pay.” — BBC

We’re being exploited by the second. I’m not surprised at all. After The Great Resignation and other corporate shenanigans, you would think companies would be a bit more courteous now.

“Employers who refuse to be more transparent about pay seem confident that they can rope in potential employees based not on the merits of the job, but based on employees feeling that it’s a sunk cost — they’ve already dedicated so much time and energy into interviewing for this job, and looking for another job will just mean repeating the cycle again, so they might as well accept whatever they can get.” — Refinery29

Let me tell you now, times have changed and the sunk cost fallacy is dying. People don’t care how much effort they’ve invested anymore, if you’re not paying us the right amount or they’re not getting the right outcome, they will be searching elsewhere until it’s right. Folks are recognising their worth more and more as time goes on.

With this new self-love and self-recognition combined with the rise of bills and life in general, you better be honest about how much your employees are about to be paid.

Any company that isn’t transparent about the pay, I won’t be applying. You won’t be wasting my time today!

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