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Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

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Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#1

Post by xrigau »

I'm trying to do a bit of research on compensation in software engineering, and I have seen some companies being open about their compensation. For example Monzo have their salary bands in their job descriptions (https://boards.greenhouse.io/monzo/jobs/2578108). Others seem to take the transparent salaries approach (see Buffer: https://buffer.com/salaries).

I'm curious to know what other companies are doing something similar, do people have more examples of this? Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#2

Post by gamechangr »

I wouldn't put much confidence in that. I know of a friend that applied for a job with a $100k-$149k total compensation stated. He ended with a total comp of $360k. When he asked about it, the company said "we could never advertise above a range seen as normal, but we pay above our states ranges pretty regularly ". '

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#3

Post by pc86 »

gamechangr wrote: post #2

I wouldn't put much confidence in that. I know of a friend that applied for a job with a $100k-$149k total compensation stated. He ended with a total comp of $360k. When he asked about it, the company said "we could never advertise above a range seen as normal, but we pay above our states ranges pretty regularly ". '

This seems pretty silly. There are plenty of people who will outright rule out anything below 200, or 250, or 300. None of them will apply in this scenario.

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#4

Post by jstx1 »

Many companies do in the sense that you can often find out a range from the recruiter although the information isn't usually published in the ad. There's some push in certain states and countries to change this but I'm not that convinced that it's a significant/positive change. I guess we'll see.

If you need it for research, just about any dataset you collect will be biased in some way - you just need to be aware of how it's biased for your analysis.

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#5

Post by Oras »

gamechangr wrote: post #2

I wouldn't put much confidence in that. I know of a friend that applied for a job with a $100k-$149k total compensation stated. He ended with a total comp of $360k. When he asked about it, the company said "we could never advertise above a range seen as normal, but we pay above our states ranges pretty regularly ". '

That's weird. Compensation is one of the most important factors to attract talent. I'm sure they miss a lot of qualified candidates with this strategy.

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#6

Post by pc86 »

I work with recruiters often, and they're typically very open about salary ranges. I would say 60-70% of the time you can get a range in the second message - either they reach out, you ask for the range, and they give it, or you reach and ask for the range in the first message, and they give it. You get a couple old school folks who really want "a 5 minute chat" before disclosing, and they're easy to block and report.

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#8

Post by igetspam »

pc86 wrote: post #3
gamechangr wrote: post #2

I wouldn't put much confidence in that. I know of a friend that applied for a job with a $100k-$149k total compensation stated. He ended with a total comp of $360k. When he asked about it, the company said "we could never advertise above a range seen as normal, but we pay above our states ranges pretty regularly ". '

This seems pretty silly. There are plenty of people who will outright rule out anything below 200, or 250, or 300. None of them will apply in this scenario.

I do. I flat out ignore comp in postings and negotiate based on my own perceived value. I've always ended up above the posted ranges. Have for the last 15 years or so. It's why I hesitate to publish them in job descriptions. I worry about weeding out top talent because my standard comp is below their range. I hire a lot of mid/senior and the range is based on them. If a truly unique person shows up that we think could really elevate the team, we'll pay for that but I can't advertise that and set incorrect expectations for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#9

Post by xrigau »

jstx1 wrote: post #4

Many companies do in the sense that you can often find out a range from the recruiter although the information isn't usually published in the ad. There's some push in certain states and countries to change this but I'm not that convinced that it's a significant/positive change. I guess we'll see. If you need it for research, just about any dataset you collect will be biased in some way - you just need to be aware of…

Thanks for the insight, yes, the EU is pushing for all job listings to include some salary information (https://twitter.com/levelsio/status/1495790443900334080). I'll keep this in mind!

Re: Ask HN: What companies hire with upfront salary ranges?

#10

Post by xrigau »

pc86 wrote: post #6

I work with recruiters often, and they're typically very open about salary ranges. I would say 60-70% of the time you can get a range in the second message - either they reach out, you ask for the range, and they give it, or you reach and ask for the range in the first message, and they give it. You get a couple old school folks who really want "a 5 minute chat" before disclosing, and they're easy to block and report…

Good call, this is not something I typically do, but I'll definitely start doing it. Thanks!
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