Why companies and the recruitment agencies usually do not make the salary the known information in the ad? There is couple of reasons for that. Let’s see the interviewing from the hiring company and its processes view.
Blue collar positions salary
If we want to talk about the manufactory, the job salary of the operation workers is set by so called “rate”, or some bonuses for shifts, 24h shifts, etc., and it’s simple and it’s clear to everyone, the same conditions for everyone. In this case, the wage usually is shown in the ad. We all can see then the differences among wages with the different companies. But, the salary in the ad can be composed by different components. One company sums it all (fixed wages plus bonuses, plus extra salary, rate for extra shifts, overtime, etc.) Then the final salary amount is huge and lots of people go for it. Another company talks only about the basic salary, gross wage, in the ad or the government employment office listing. And only during the personal proceedings with the recruitment agency or the company itself you find out you can up your salary with the bonuses based on quality of your work, attendance, fulfillment of the goals, etc. What do you think is right? The vague possibility or the set salary with the knowledge you can put the work in for better money. And as we already see, it is not that simple and we only started with the wage transparent blue collar positions.
White collar positions salary
Let’s go through the office-management positions, white collars. We collaborate with lots of different companies and no one is ever telling us: “our service technician gets 20K gross salary, period.” Mostly it’s always some from/to. They always add though that it’s not the final sum and that the employee can always end up with extra, the quarterly bonuses, some commission, etc. Sometimes these bonuses can double the original pay suggestion. So again, it’s not easy to estimate how much the company wants to/can offer. For example, with the management positions, we are often talking about tens of thousands of differences. The idea is for instance salary for the candidate between 40K to 60K. In the end they will promise 65K to the above average candidate or 30K to someone less experienced.
The companies are trying minimize the cost, as everyone else
Every company wants to make a profit. They want to save and minimize the costs, and it applies to the salaries as well. For example, the payroll accountant ad with the salary 30K to 40K. The applicants will be wanting this sum and if they have experiences, they aim for the higher end and feel disappointed if offered the lower money. If the company doesn’t publish the amount, it is always the question of the personal negotiations. Usually this accountant comes up with the idea of 20 to 25K. The company is happy because the budget was higher and the applicant is also satisfied because they got the money they asked for.
What? The new hired person got more than me?
The present job market is merciless. There are many industrial companies that are trying to get the technicians, ideally with the foreign language knowledge. Often happens, that they offer higher salary to the new person. Usually the present position is covered by someone doing his job for years, working overtime, but cannot sell his skills. So that’s why he’s stuck at the same salary for years. Everyone is aware of his qualities, but to be honest, no new person will do this and for such little money. And because the company needs another person, they make an ad and offer more money for the same position. Well, the stable good worker finding out he is underpaid, what does he feel like? He will train the new colleague knowing he will get more money doing the same job… Another reason why not to stay the salary in the ad.
Un-fairness?
The companies approach the salary question differently.They have strict limits about the money and the positions and they keep these set limits trying to be fair and appreciative of the employees based on the company work history of the worker, worker’s performance and qualities etc. We respect such companies. BUT, its not easy for them in the hiring process because their starting salary is lower then he rival companies. The employees can work their way up after some time and make more money. Most companies takes the approach described in the paragraph above, but trust me, in the reality, with the business of the companies with thousands of people, lots of contracts to be filled and not enough people, the fairness is not easy to maintain. The applicants are different, they have various experiences, different personalities… everyone offers something else. How to find the fairness? It’s difficult.
Ad and the salary
Naturally, most of the applicants would like to know how much the company offers. We do not want to wast the time with replying to the offer where the salary is not what we expect. But the companies are wise already from all said above and they refuse to state the certain amount. What the company do not like is when the candidate cares only about the money. They want to see you are the suitable candidate, that you will handle it. Thank you will be a contribution to the company. Then they will negotiate the salary. That’s why it’s the best to discuss the money issue as the last subject of the interview and do not ever mention that higher salary is a motivation factor for you. No company would hire such person, believe me.
We have all the inside info but as mentioned above we respect the companies policies and do not use details in our ads. We will welcome any applicants and discuss the details in a person.
Last year I made a video on this topic: How are your salary requirements?