Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

news.ycombinator.com

531–540 of 544 posts

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#531
post #138

I could try to ask companies to list their salary but it’s a fight I’m not going to win, at least not alone. So instead, I stay mine. The vast majority of any applications for me for the last 10 years have started with an incoming message from a recruiter (usually external, very often not engaged by the company). To filter out irrelevant conversations, I respond “Thank you for your interest” and I immediately put: *…

I like the cut of your jib, I'm going to try that with unsolicited recruiters for a while and see what happens. I've been getting pings over the last two years and if I can get them to a range, it's routinely 80% of my current comp and that never changes. Nobody is getting the idea that you need something to attract talent away from a current job to hire for a new one. There's no salesmanship in this at all.

it works really well. the interviews generally won't be a waste of time, though I've definitely been offered down-leveled roles sometimes.

the key is that you want the recruiter to say, firmly, that your ask is within their range.

ANYTHING ELSE ("we can make that up in equity", "we're willing to do that for the right candidate", "we can't guarantee that, but our benefits package is stellar", "i'm not sure, but let's connect anyway?") is a sell and should be approached carefully.

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#532
post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

0.1-1% hire rate based on applicants, or based on candidates interviewed? 0.1% hire rate of candidates interviewed doesn't seem compatible with your described growth rate, even if you very conservatively assumes you spend 1 hour interviewing each candidate, thats 25 weeks of straight interviewing per candidate hired. And thats 1 hour of time across the whole company, if you have 2 interviewers spend an hour each, tha…

Oh, for sure, that would be nuts. 0.1–1% of applicants .

So to be clear for a given position you get 100 to 1000 resumes, then interview how many of those before deciding on 1 person? I am curious what the funnel looks like.

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#537
The bizarre situation in the UK is that most companies will not post a salary on their job ads, but recruitment firms, advertising the same role, will post a salary.

This means I will always go for the ad with a salary and the company will have to pay the recruiter their finder's fee.

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats a contract position, not a salaried position. Most tech job in the US do not pay hourly. A salaried position says you will make X per year including benefits like unlimited PTO, 401K matching, reserved stock units, discount stock purchasing program, life insurance, medical insurance, etc... There is also no logging of time because your pay cannot be raised or reduced on a weekly basis.

jobs on salaries still have an expectation of how many hours you will work and some provide PTO comp for "overtime". tracking this often does mean filling out a time sheet or punching a clock, even though those times don't directly figure into your paycheck.

This is just simply not true for most tech workers, especially here in California. I'd argue most companies have moved to "unlimited PTO" so that workers are not accruing vacation. Businesses no longer want to have millions of dollars outstanding on their books when it comes to vacation time. I've worked for two Fortune 15 companies, done an IPO, and have consulted with all the big names in the valley, no one is clocking in or filling out time sheets, in fact doing so would put the employer in a precarious/legal situation.

Maybe it's different elsewhere, but where all the tech companies are, it just doesn't work the way you're describing it. If you're being forced to punch a timecard and salaried, I would contact an attorney.

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#539
post #520
post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I'm considering the $70k place where as right now I have the $500k total comp. I can't say I hate my job but I have zero interest in it. Where as I had lots of The biggest reason I haven't pulled the trigger is there's no guarntee that taking the $70k will actually be fun this time. I have my criteria for taking the jump though and if they're met I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Let's say you're in your 20s, single and want to travel the world. 500k requires you to live in San Francisco, commute to the office every day at strict hours and is at a soul crushing, bureaucratic big corp. 70k allows you to work from anywhere in the world, async an on your own schedule. Also, you get more vacation. 6k USD per month is a lot in many countries. If you want to live now not later, I can see why you'd…

That's true, but you could also just work the 500k job for 5 years and then possibly (semi) retire. 2.5 million before taxes is a pretty nice chunk to have before your late 20s. It's just delayed gratification.

Re: Tell HN: You can't hire because you don't post salary ranges

#540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

jobs on salaries still have an expectation of how many hours you will work and some provide PTO comp for "overtime". tracking this often does mean filling out a time sheet or punching a clock, even though those times don't directly figure into your paycheck.

This is just simply not true for most tech workers, especially here in California. I'd argue most companies have moved to "unlimited PTO" so that workers are not accruing vacation. Businesses no longer want to have millions of dollars outstanding on their books when it comes to vacation time. I've worked for two Fortune 15 companies, done an IPO, and have consulted with all the big names in the valley, no one is cloc…

> Maybe it's different elsewhere, but where all the tech companies are, it just doesn't work the way you're describing it. If you're being forced to punch a timecard and salaried, I would contact an attorney.

When I was salaried at a FAANG, they had us start clocking to pay OT when we exceeded 40h, which was most people much of the time. It was a way to keep the pay competitive. This was ten years ago, so no idea if that’s still a thing.

Post reply on HN