Thought I would share this with you all

Recently applied and received an interview. This involved a 1 hour phone screening and then a 2 hour in-person interview. They said they really liked me and wanted me to come in for an interview to meet the team and CIO.

The HR gal fired an email ~1 day later asking me what worked for me, I said Tuesday or Wednesday would be perfect, keep in mind this was already Thursday afternoon, so the time frame is more than acceptable.

One catch this was going to be a half day interview, meet the team etc so I would of been forced to use leave, I am okay with that. Well......... Nothing was mentioned about base pay, so I said in the email I would like to make sure the salary range was in the same park.

That was the kiss of death lol. I like my job a lot so I just laughed it off but I thought that was odd.

Maybe I broke some rule I missed in school ha.

Anyway curious to see your thoughts or rationale behind this. If I did break some egregious rule then please do tell.

But for the life of me, I swear I don't know if I could stomach burning 4 hours of vaca to interview for a job that could potentially pay jack crap........

Oh one last thing, the application asked me what I was making but didn't ask a range so I really didn't know....... I did a search on Indeed using the salary filter but that isn't always perfect, I believe it estimates if there is no salary associated with that company and job title.

Thanks.....

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NetworkNewb

Did they say they didn't like you asking that question? I think that would be a valid question on your part... I've had to take time off to go on an interview, then offered the position, only to end up turning the position down because of the low salary. Definitely sucks wasting the time.

The worst part of that was I was told by the Dept manager that salary was negotiable, because I let them know beforehand my range was higher then what they listed the position as. But then after the interview and after they sent me the offer letter and I responded to them with what I needed for the position, HR said it wasn't negotiable and acted like I was crazy. Very annoying.

DatabaseHead

NN - Short answer no, they never replied back.

The email was phrased can you give us a couple of days where you would be available, I mentioned tuesday or wednesday of next week would be fine, any hour, that I would be taking off that day. (Shows commitment)

Second paragraph (more like two lines) was asking the range of the position and was very polite about it.

Never heard anything after that email.....

TechGromit

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Recently applied and received an interview. This involved a 1 hour phone screening and then a 2 hour in-person interview. They said they really liked me and wanted me to come in for an interview to meet the team and CIO.

... I said in the email I would like to make sure the salary range was in the same park.

Nothing wrong with asking for a rough idea of the salary position, I would have asked for a salary range for the position during the phone interview, no way I'm taking off work, driving, parking and try to sell myself to you when your thinking 50 to 60k and I'm thinking 80 to 90k. My time is too valuable, the mystery salary thing might fly with someone unemployed or trying to break into the industry, but for experience in demand professional don't waste my f'ing time.

networker050184

I really doubt asking about money had anything to do with it. It's a completely normal part of interviewing/hiring.

GreaterNinja

You got to look at it this way: You are spending your personal time and resources to see if its a good fit for you and them. They are being paid to look for a candidate such are yourself. It is their job and its on company time. In any case, its more efficient to find out the pay range up front so your time is not wasted. I see nothing wrong with it at all. Salary disclosure and negotiation is more of a poker game where one person caves in first.

mgeoffriau

Asking is fine, just need to present it the right way. I can see an employer being turned off by a candidate wanting to immediately jump into salary negotiations.

My usual tact, if I feel I need to get some info early in the process, is to just tell the prospective employer that I wouldn't want to waste their time if it ends up being not a good fit financially, so if they can provide a possible salary range, that will help me determine if I should continue interviewing. That way if I'm not interested they can move on to other candidates.

YesOffense

Seems unfair to be put off by someone assessing the situation completely before devoting likely an entire day to them. Nothing wrong on your part, you're the one taking the risk.

DatabaseHead

Thanks for the follow-ups. I've got a few other irons in the fire so this is nothing at all, just was taken back a little. Next time this is coming up before any in face interview. No reason to waste time going to an in-person interview if they aren't paying what you want.

Amature hour on my part, should of asked before I interviewed.......

cyberguypr

+1 to what others have said. I never move a muscle before I have at least a ballpark number.

iBrokeIT

If they are going to be that petty over asking a valid question regarding the position, who knows what else is lurking behind the scenes that you have yet to experience. I think you dodged a bullet!

MitM

just curious...did you ever try to follow up with them to see what happened?

I don't think you did anything wrong. This is the most annoying part about the job hunting. I've seen it at companies that I've worked where the application says the person wants to make 100k, but HR knows darn well, they are only paying 75/80k. Why bring them in? It doesn't make sense. They waste the applicant's time, and the hiring manager's time too.

I've never tried this, but maybe instead of asking what the range is, it's better to make a statement about what your range is. If I want to make 125k but know I won't accept a position for less than 110k, I'd rather tell them my range is 110-125, instead of them telling me the range is 90-115k.

scaredoftests

You did nothing wrong. You should follow up and see what is up, just for grins and giggles.

DatabaseHead

Yeah maybe that is the way to do it. I try to remain cordial and polite but still need to get a range or like you said state a range.

Part of me wonders if this was some nonsense to get "numbers" and then move on.......

Mooseboost

I don't see anything you did as wrong - it seems odd that they would go quiet after that. They may be waiting to schedule interview though or decided against you because they made an offer to someone else already and they accepted.

Let us know if you hear anything further from them.

Matt2

Asking about salary shouldn't have caused a problem. If it did, be glad it stopped now and not later. I've had just the opposite happen where companies want to be sure we're in the same ballpark for salary before moving to additional interviews.

UnixGuy

In this day and age...it depends on the 'feelings' of the hiring manager at the point in time you asked the question; so it's completely random and irrational.

TechGromit

MitM wrote: »

If I want to make 125k but know I won't accept a position for less than 110k, I'd rather tell them my range is 110-125, instead of them telling me the range is 90-115k.

If they say the position range is close to what you want to make, I think it's still worth it to interview. I think with a qualified enough candidate they would be willing to meet your figure. If there too much of a delta between what they want to pay and want you want to make, then it time to pass on the job and look for something else.

MitM

TechGromit wrote: »

If they say the position range is close to what you want to make, I think it's still worth it to interview. I think with a qualified enough candidate they would be willing to meet your figure. If there too much of a delta between what they want to pay and want you want to make, then it time to pass on the job and look for sometting else.

Absolutely.

That's if they give a range. My thought was maybe instead of asking them for a range, give them your range.

NotHackingYou

iBrokeIT wrote: »

If they are going to be that petty over asking a valid question regarding the position, who knows what else is lurking behind the scenes that you have yet to experience. I think you dodged a bullet!

My sentiments exactly. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

EANx

I've learned to always ask salary/benefits questions in a real-time conversation and only to the hiring manager. I prefer to ask that question in-person. Yes, it sucks taking leave to go in-person but you only do that if you have a really good vibe about the job. You go, get that vibe moving great and ideally they ask what it will take to get you there. You lead-off with a little joke about "So, what year will my company Ferrari be? Because the 2014 has this little problem where..." and then go into "I kid, I kid". But you really don't, because it establishes that you know you're someone of value.

volfkhat

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Amature hour on my part, should of asked before I interviewed.......

Hmmm.... not necessarily :]
What if you learned something important during the interview that affected your payrate?

What if you found out the workload was more than expected?
Or what if you found out they have a tuition/training budget perk?
Or SUper great health benefits? Work from home, etc?

You never can tell.
You felt it was important to ask; when the moment was right.
Good on you!

If they were offended by your question... then Too Bad.
Interviews go Both Ways.

Sounds like they may be looking for someone who keeps their head down, and doesn't ask questions.
(Desperate people are easier to manipulate than non-desperate ones...)

It sounds like they failed the "culture" test, as far as i am concerned...

DatabaseHead

Volf - Makes a lot of sense I agree. I know some feel like the question didn't create the outcome, I personally think it did.

I did reach back out to "smooth" things over I didn't receive anything, just crickets......

Anyway moving on, like I mentioned earlier in the thread. I am not clawing my way out of my current position it's actually quite nice.

TheFORCE

First thing i do before i even consider the thought of an interview is how much does the job pay. Does it pay below what I make now? No thank you, we move on. Does it pay more, ok lets talk, what is the range? Am I happy with the range ok lets talk a bit more and then we schedule the interview.

Dont do anything if they dont give you numbers from the get go.

Danielm7

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Volf - Makes a lot of sense I agree. I know some feel like the question didn't create the outcome, I personally think it did.

I did reach back out to "smooth" things over I didn't receive anything, just crickets......

Anyway moving on, like I mentioned earlier in the thread. I am not clawing my way out of my current position it's actually quite nice.

Good idea, move on. No point in even going back to try to smooth things over. They might have just been busy and will get to it in a few weeks, then if you start coming back over and over it just feels awkward and desperate.

NetworkingStudent

Nothing wrong with being honest.

When I first started out in IT I was afraid to ask for a certain amount of money, but when I changed jobs I had a recruiter ask"why do you want to make less than you're currently making?"

This made me think .............hey I'm worth xyz dollar amount or more.

Only you can place a dollar value on your skills and abilities. If no one is buying you need to move on.

DatabaseHead

They followed up this morning apologized for not getting back to me, ~1 week. Then answered my question in regards to the pay range as: I don't feel comfortable answering this question I didn't get a chance to interview you. We have a great culture and environment, let's try to focus on these things until after we interview.

Thought that was strange for giggles and grins I said okay and gave her a time and date to interview and she still hasn't gotten back to me. She is really bad at her job or something......

Once she confirms I am going to cancel. No idea why I said I would agree.

networker050184

No way I'd interview without discussing at least a ball park figure first.

volfkhat

So...
You already did the initial face-to-face.
But now you have to burn 4 hours of PTO (for the follow-up)... and they still won't give you a range?

For sheets & gringos....
i would do a No-show on that interview.

but that's just me :]

DatabaseHead

She still hasn't responded to my latest email, I am so done with this place. I failed to mention on the last email she threw the hiring manager under the bus saying "she wished she moved quicker"...... ha

IronmanX

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Then answered my question in regards to the pay range as: I don't feel comfortable answering this question I didn't get a chance to interview you. We have a great culture and environment, let's try to focus on these things until after we interview.

They asked you how much you currently make but they don't feel comfortable telling you what their hiring range is....

Sounds to me like they pay less then you currently make.
They are trying to hire someone cheaper but are having trouble that is why they are stringing you along.
If they do get around to giving you an interview who knows maybe the environment and culture make up for the low pay, but maybe that is not important to you.