Job Descriptions Without Salary Information
I happen to be looking through my email this rainy morning and I noticed a post on SOLOLIB-L regarding job postings without salary information.
The librarian said:
"I can't help but notice that when jobs are posted, they rarely include salary information.
Personally, I would never enquire about a position without an idea of the salary range.
(OK, I did once, we were all ecstatic about my fit with the organization until I revealed my salary requirements and the hiring managers blanched)
I find it is insulting that employers can be so specific about qualifications, and leave candidates uninformed about a critical parameter of the position.
Am I WAY off base here? How does everyone else feel?"
Amen. I am of the belief that it is a great waste of time for both the applicant AND the employer. I once applied for a position (a couple of years ago) that had a wonderfully detailed job description. It mentioned all of the languages, skills, and programs they required to do web development. However, it not only failed to mention salary but it also failed to mention that it was a TEMPORARY position. Only at the interview did I discover these things. Imagine how I blanched when I discovered that after a year I would be looking for another job.
My particular favorite ads are the ones that mention, "competitive salary" or "commensurate with experience and qualifications." These phrases just make me more frustrated and also make me wonder if they have really low salaries and are trying to lull more candidates in.
The vast majority of librarians I have talked to do not like the practice of posting job ads without salary. So why is this done? After all, don't the librarians write the job ad?! How many librarians complaining about the missing salary information have also posted job descriptions without salary information? If you have, then aren't you perpetuating the problem you are also complaining about?
I realize for some of us our institution or H.R. makes it a policy not put the salary information in the job ad. For those librarians where this is the case, have you asked why or tried to insist that the salary information be included?
There are always going to be people applying for jobs whether a salary is listed or not. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you are attracting the right employees or are you missing a large group of potential stars because you don't list a salary.
2 Comments:
One reason why it's done: institutional insistance. At a former academic employer, the HR department would not include salary range information because then it was pinned into a certain range: In some cases, depending on the preferred applicant's experience and such, HR would downgrade the position grade to save money. There apparently was a small amount of leeway for doing so.
While I think it is the candidate's responsibility to seek out salary information when it's not provided in the job description, the previous comment does pinpoint one of the sources of this practice -- the HR department. Hiring managers need to vociferously contest this practice of "hiding" salary info. Plainly stating the salary range improves the quality of candidates applying for a position in that they self-select based on salary requirements, and responses to a position posting which includes salary ranges give the hiring entity valuable information about whether or not the salary is truly competitive. Krafty's experience of going through an entire interview only to discover that salary is a stopper shouldn't have to happen. It's a waste for everyone involved. Don't let HR dictate on this particular matter, but stand up for the importance of including salary info in a job posting. It's the professional thing to do.
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