Why do HR Departments do this?

WoodyMax

Could anyone tell me what is the thinking behind companies not telling you what the salary is for the job you are applying for?

I have been applying for job but need a 'minimum' amount or it is not worth my while applying. Companies seem to be very secret squirrel about what their salary amounts are. I have even asked what 'salary band' a job is in and they won't even tell me that. I cannot really understand this. You go through the whole process of adjusting your CV and preparing a cover letter and waiting until the closing date for them to ring you (if you're lucky) and ask what salary you are looking for and then telling you that particular job is in a lower salary band etc.

Just wondered what is behind this. Is it just to get people to do the job for less money if possible?

Thanks

TimBear

Most probably because they want to be able to get away with giving you as little as possible.

In most interviews I've had I've been asked what sort of salary I'm expecting. If I were to say, for example, £18k but they had in mind £20k, they'd offer me closer to what I was expecting.

Don't think this is 'the rule' just my general theory!

EconomicsGirl

I think its so they can alter the salary depending on who applies and maybe don't want to rule people out or in by setting a particular band. I presume they must have a range in mind though and I always find it really unhelpful when a range isn't mentioned - I can understand not a precise figure but a range of say £10k can't be hard to put on it or they could put circa. I tend not to apply for jobs with no salary mentioned unless I've worked for a similar organisation in a similar role but even then it can vary a lot.

brightonman123

perhaps they don't want current staff finding out if new peeps get offered more, and start asking for a raise!

scheming_gypsy

brightonman123 wrote: »

perhaps they don't want current staff finding out if new peeps get offered more, and start asking for a raise!

That was my answer.
there's rarely any loyalty from employers these days so they'll happily pay new staff a few grand more than existing. If they start advertising the rates then staff start kicking off and asking for a pay rise.

t0rt0ise

If they put a range on it every candidate is going to ask for the top of that range aren't they? By not stating anything and making the candidates name their figure, they are far more likely to get someone at a lower rate.

bap98189

I can only speak for own company, but I can tell you for certain that we don't do it to prevent existing staff from finding out other people's salary.

The real reason is that when we are recruiting for a post, we sometimes don't advertise a salary because it isn't fixed. It is open to negotiation as part of the application process. We also don't put a salary on the advert to ensure we get a broad a range of applicants as possible. If we advertise a position at (for example) 30k anyone who is earning anywhere near that level will ignore the vacancy. Yet the cost of employing someone earning 30k is probably in the region of 50k per year once you factor in overheads, NI, training and other expenses. If someone has really impressed during the recruitment process, we are very unlikely to turn them down for say an additional 5k, which is what 10% of theri employment costs.


Another reason we don't put fixes salaries on adverts is that we also don't always know what level of experience the person we end up recruiting will have. Even if we have an idea of the level of experience we are looking for in candidates, sometimes someone with little or no experience just really impresses you during the process and you decide to take a chance on them. Someone who has been doing a job for 20 years is normally going to demand a higher salary than someone relatively inexperienced.

paddyrg

I once had to go through 5 hours (no, really! 5 hrs over 2 days) of interviews where nobody would tell me the offer until the end of the final hour. It was comfortably 5-figures under what I'd been telling everyone would be my acceptable level the whole way through. Why carry on and not just agree they didn't want to pay what I had been upfront about wanting?

brightonman123

Its time firms started realising that loyalty is a 2-way street, or they will lose their talented staff..

Googlewhacker

brightonman123 wrote: »

Its time firms started realising that loyalty is a 2-way street, or they will lose their talented staff..

Employers market at the moment so no need on the most.

magenta22

Googlewhacker wrote: »

Employers market at the moment so no need on the most.

But one day it won't be :T

I do agree with this especially if you attend an interview and you are looking for a salary of say 20k and then they say Oh dear, we're offering up to 16k for this role, even if you could be that flexible they are not going to offer it to you at that much lower than what you are expecting.