Interviewing for Schrödinger’s Job

I had a conversation with a client today about her job search. She has been doing several interviews, and her persona is quite polished and professional. During today’s call, she told me about an odd experience she had recently. I will paraphrase for you:

A few weeks ago, I applied for a job in my field. Based on the posted job description, I was not very excited about the opportunity. However, when the recruiter contacted me for an initial interview, I agreed. I waited for her call until 20 minutes after the appointed time, at which point I emailed and asked if she needed to reschedule. About 45 minutes later, I received a response from her saying that she was in a meeting that went long and wanted to reschedule. I understand that meetings go over time, but she didn’t even let me know. Red flag number one. 

We rescheduled for yesterday. She called at the correct time and launched into a brief overview of the role. About ten minutes into the call, she brought up compensation. “What are you looking for in terms of compensation?” I don’t like this question. I think that companies should disclose the comp range and let candidates decide whether or not it is amenable to them. I replied by saying, “Why don’t you tell me what the range is for this role?”

This is where the interview took a turn into the realm of the absurd. Her response to my reasonable question was, “We don’t really have a range. We like to see where candidates are at and go from there.” I was a bit confused by this statement, so I asked, “There’s not a budget for this role?” “Oh, no. There’s a budget. We just don’t have a range.” “Okay, if you tell me what the budgeted range is, I can tell you if we are aligned.” “Do you have a bottom line number you can share with me?” 

At this point, I ended the interview. There was no reason to continue. If a hiring company won’t tell me what they’re going to pay, what else are they going to mislead employees about?

The compensation package is a crucial component of the decision-making process when evaluating a role. Without this information, you cannot make an informed choice. This is BASIC information that should be communicated to the candidate up front. This recruiter also insulted my client’s intelligence by telling her that there was no salary range for the role! That’s not how things work. In order to open a hiring requisition, there must be a budget in place. Because hiring managers need to have money with which to pay employees. It’s pretty simple. 

I told her this sounds like Schrödinger’s job, simultaneously budgeted and without a salary range! If a company is not going to be transparent about something as basic and critical as compensation, its culture is clearly not rooted in open and honest communication. My client handled this appropriately. Do not disclose your compensation targets to the employer first. Sharing your salary expectations can prevent you from receiving a fair offer. If you share a lower number than the company could offer, they are more likely to offer you that low compensation. If you throw out a number higher than what they could offer, they could become disinterested and decide to pursue a different candidate. Many companies these days are publishing their salary ranges in job postings. This is the best practice, ensuring everyone is on the same page. After all, you’re also interviewing the company.

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