Is it acceptable to offer to take a lower salary than advertised?

PenguinOfDeath

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

When we advertise a job at £35-40K, there will a be a lot of people who basically "fit the requirements" but are paid £25K. The thing is, we don't want them. We want the ones who do the same role but are worth £35-40K. If you think you are worth the £35-40K then by all means apply, but be prepared for the fact that if your current employer doesn't think you are worth that, you are going to have to justify why the new one should pay it.

If you go in and say "I would do this for £30K" then my reaction would be, "So you're a person worth £30K. When we want one, we'll call you."

Wow, what a load of BS. What has previously salary got to do with a prospective one? An employer is going to pay what they can get away with, not necessarily what an employee is 'worth

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Based on this logic no one would ever progress to a higher salary...

Well this has nothing to do with salalry rises internally, of course, whiuch you prove yourself worthy of.

When you move from job to job you move up, naturally. Not from £30K to £35K as a matter of course, though. You have to make a case for why you are worth it. If you have been stuck on £30k for 5 years in your last job, that's going to be hard to do.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

PenguinOfDeath wrote: »

Wow, what a load of BS. What has previously salary got to do with a prospective one? An employer is going to pay what they can get away with, not necessarily what an employee is 'worth

Well yes, if you can pay £30K and get someone worth more, all the better. But there's no way I am going to pay £35K to someone just because they "fit the requirements". It's not about fitting the requirements. It's about actually being good at your job. Previous salary is a way of measuring how good a person is at their job. it's not infallible, but it's a broad guide.

If you advertise the same job at £25K then you might well take someone less good. There's no "rate for the job" in a lot of industries; it's a rate for the person.

hyubh

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Well yes, if you can pay £30K and get someone worth more, all the better. But there's no way I am going to pay £35K to someone just because they "fit the requirements". It's not about fitting the requirements. It's about actually being good at your job.

It's about having the skills/knowledge/experience that the potential employer needs, and the chances are those needs will be different to those of the current employer. Thinking a jump from 30K to 35K is a big deal is defeatist, and will cause a self-fulfilling prophesy.

sulkisu

Not a good idea.

They have a budget for the role and that is what they are prepared to pay. Public Sector bodies have to consider applications based on your suitability for the post - your application will probably be competency based - so offering to accept a lower salary will make no difference and to be honest, doesn't make a lot of sense. Imagine if you were a strong candidate for the position but discovered that you had been unsuccessful because another applicant had offered to work for free, or next to nothing! You wouldn't be happy. If you do not meet the requirements of the post, (I noticed that you say you meet most of them) then don't apply or apply but don't be surprised if you are unsuccessful. Offering to accept a lower salary does not mean that your employer will expect less from you if you were successful.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

hyubh wrote: »

It's about having the skills/knowledge/experience that the potential employer needs, and the chances are those needs will be different to those of the current employer. Thinking a jump from 30K to 35K is a big deal is defeatist, and will cause a self-fulfilling prophesy.

To whom?

You do realise I told him NOT to say he wants £30K for a £35K role, don't you?

Gavin83

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Previous salary is a way of measuring how good a person is at their job. it's not infallible, but it's a broad guide.

In my experience salary is an extremely poor way of judging how good someone is at their job. I've known people paid a huge salary who are awful at their job and similarly people paid peanuts who are great at their job. You might as well judge how good someone is at their job by their height or how many syllables they have in their name.

If anything I'd say someone's salary is a measure of how good someone is at negotiating, or !!!!!!!!ting.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Gavin83 wrote: »

In my experience salary is an extremely poor way of judging how good someone is at their job. I've known people paid a huge salary who are awful at their job and similarly people paid peanuts who are great at their job. You might as well judge how good someone is at their job by their height or how many syllables they have in their name.

If anything I'd say someone's salary is a measure of how good someone is at negotiating, or !!!!!!!!ting.

Well I'd say you are wrong, and my experience, in my industry, backs me up on this. People with 20 years experience on a low salary are generally poor, while people with 5 years experience on a high one are good.

There are exceptions, but I don't believe that every other company is run by incompetents. A small few are. Most are run by sensible, capable people who pay salaries accordingly.

xapprenticex

it wont work, they have a budget set aside for that role, that wont change because you are trying to undercut everyone else.

They want the best for the money they are offering, they expect 35k or work out of you, not 30k of work if you know what i mean.

mattcanary

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

When we advertise a job at £35-40K, there will a be a lot of people who basically "fit the requirements" but are paid £25K. The thing is, we don't want them. We want the ones who do the same role but are worth £35-40K. If you think you are worth the £35-40K then by all means apply, but be prepared for the fact that if your current employer doesn't think you are worth that, you are going to have to justify why the new one should pay it.

If you go in and say "I would do this for £30K" then my reaction would be, "So you're a person worth £30K. When we want one, we'll call you."

Does your company run at a financial loss? Doesn;t sound a very shrewd attitude at all....