Salary Negotiable

TSx · 14 March 2017 at 1:39AM

One of my friends recently went for a job as an office manager/PA to director/receptionist (general dogsbody as far as I can see)

She enquired about the salary and was told it was negotiable (this was by the current office manager) based on experience. She has plenty of experience across all these roles and is currently employed.

She turned up to the interview with a prepared answer for the salary expectations question but instead was told straight away that it was £14,500 per year (approx £7.50 per hour) - they then asked how much she was on and it became clear there was a difference in expectations. She left the interview feeling like it was a waste of her time - and also theirs.

I've had a similar situation with agencies (agency saying they'd offer a salary, then company saying they wouldn't pay that without more experience) before but this seemed really strange when going direct - they wanted an experienced PA - it's rare to be on minimum wage in that type of job. Why wouldn't they just say the salary in the job advert.

Any tips on how to filter out these kind of jobs? She asked up front about salary but was given the impression it was more than minimum wage and flexible for the right candidate. Is it just a one off or has anyone else come across this before?

gettingready · 14 March 2017 at 10:41AM

As a general rule I never apply for a job where a salary or at least a range "between x and y" is not stated in the job advert.

Unfortunately most advertised as "competitive", "negotiable", "attractive" etc are NMW or just above.

[Deleted User] · 14 March 2017 at 10:42AM

I've come across this before, got terribly boxed in on a job that paid 1.5k more then current position and showed such a salary on job advert which become apparently I don't know they wanted to pay if really had to.

Conversation even included how much my pension contribution % was with current employer - that just floored me but I guess that interviews today.

I always interview worse when in employment though.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser · 14 March 2017 at 12:40PM

Not much you can do. Maybe they had planned to be flexible but had seen someone immediately before who they liked well enough and who was prepared to do it for 14.5K, so they thought why bother paying more.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser · 14 March 2017 at 12:42PM

gettingready wrote: »

As a general rule I never apply for a job where a salary or at least a range "between x and y" is not stated in the job advert.

Unfortunately most advertised as "competitive", "negotiable", "attractive" etc are NMW or just above.

Well most of the jobs I have had have been advertised like that, and they have all been well paid professional positions pitched at market rates - it was unthinkable that they would be anything like minimum wage. I imagine it depends on the industry you are in.

Gavin83 · 14 March 2017 at 12:56PM

gettingready wrote: »

As a general rule I never apply for a job where a salary or at least a range "between x and y" is not stated in the job advert.

Unfortunately most advertised as "competitive", "negotiable", "attractive" etc are NMW or just above.

I agree with this, I generally wouldn't apply for jobs that don't list the salary. I always assume that if they're unprepared to advertise the salary it must be bad enough that they feel it might put people off, or alternatively they'll push you hard to take the minimal amount possible. If the salary is that great why wouldn't you mention it?

tykesi · 14 March 2017 at 1:45PM

Deleted%20User wrote: »

I've come across this before, got terribly boxed in on a job that paid 1.5k more then current position and showed such a salary on job advert which become apparently I don't know they wanted to pay if really had to.

Conversation even included how much my pension contribution % was with current employer - that just floored me but I guess that interviews today.

I always interview worse when in employment though.

In English?

Doshwaster · 14 March 2017 at 1:51PM

Gavin83 wrote: »

I agree with this, I generally wouldn't apply for jobs that don't list the salary. I always assume that if they're unprepared to advertise the salary it must be bad enough that they feel it might put people off, or alternatively they'll push you hard to take the minimal amount possible. If the salary is that great why wouldn't you mention it?

I can't remember the last time I saw a job that I was interested had a specific salary advertised. It's always "Competitive".

However, I always make my expectations clear as soon as possible to save everyone's time. I recently had an email from a recruiter though LinkenIn who said he had the "perfect job" for me and his client was "eager to speak with me" (which is usually recruitment speak for "I'm on a fishing trip. They've never heard of you". I told him that it did indeed sound interesting but also told him what I was earning at the moment and that they would have to beat it by at least 10% for me to consider moving. His reply was that they were looking to pay half of what I was currently earning so that was the end of that.

Salary Negotiable

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