A month ago I applied for a job in a local non-governmental organization (NGO), and a couple weeks ago I was invited to the next step, an online questionnaire regarding specific skills and experience, which I completed. I am a good fit for the position, and think it is quite possible that I will be invited to a face-to-face interview.
The problem is, I have fairly strong suspicions that this organization will not pay well, probably less than where I am right now. The job advertisement said nothing specific about the salary, and I don’t know anyone who has any inside knowledge into this place. When I am invited to interviews, I take them very seriously and really prepare a lot for them. So if the pay in this place makes it a non-starter for me, I would like to know now to save my time and theirs.
Having seemingly exhausted my personal networks, I am wondering whether I should ask this NGO’s HR department to give me an idea of their salary band. But I have never done this before, and I am torn. On one hand, it would save everyone time to know up front if the position is a non-starter for me. On the other hand, it is materialistic question (and presumptuous) and may make me look like a shallow candidate.
Well, you applied for the position suspecting that the pay might not be what you want. So money must not be your only consideration, so I’d prepare for the position and interview in good faith.
If the money really is just too little for you, you can always turn them down. It’s also good practice for future interviews.
Do they have any idea how much you’re making right now? If they do, and they’re offering significantly less, I’d think they would tell you. I’m sure they don’t want to waste their time either.
IME, not broadcasting their salaries and not asking about mine at this stage is not that unusual. But I generally have a pretty good idea beforehand about the organization. This is the first time I really don’t know anything.
The time to ask about salary is at the time the offer is given. Asking any earlier just makes you look like a money-grubber.
If you’re working with a recruiter they can usually handle the delicate nature of figuring out that your salary requirements and the company budget are not in sync, but if you’re dealing with the company directly I wouldn’t say anything until you’re at the offer stage.
You can search online for salary ranges for this position for your area. That should give you a ballpark idea.
That said, go on the interview. It’s good practice, and you may have an in for the next time they have a position available that fits better with your salary requirements.
Yes, I agree that interviews are good practice, but my problem is that on average I put in about 2 full days (i.e. 20 hours) of preparation for each new interview. That is a lot of time for a job that I may turn down because of salary. I also tend to get rather emotionally invested.
In the end I will have to make a calculated decision on how much to prepare if I do get called, but for now I am just interested in knowing whether it is considered appropriate or not at ask HR about salaries in advance…
If there are several candidates for the position, and you don’t give your name, how could it hurt to ask? They won’t know it was you.
If you’re the only candidate for the position, so they know it’s you who asked, are they likely to go back to having zero candidates just to punish you for asking?
Is HR going to blab to whoever conducts the interviews and/or whoever makes the hiring decisions that somebody asked this question?
Personally I think it’s a very reasonable thing to ask about from the get-go. A lot of companies include salary info in their help-wanted ads, and it’s standard in my field (auto repair). It’s hard for me to grasp why they would get their nose out of joint from someone asking. But of course you’re not concerned about my reaction, so I don’t have an answer for your question. Sorry.
Well, if you’re concerned about the time invested, go ahead and search online for the salary range. At least you can go to them with, “My research shows this position averages $X. With my experience, I’m looking for $Y. Is this something we can negotiate?”
Agreed. And its one of the few good things about working with a recruiter - all parties get to show cards about salary.
But…as a recent job seeker, the whole thing drives me crazy. I can’t give you salary expectations on an internet application because I don’t know the job, and I don’t know the benefits package. I might be willing to take $20,000 a year less in exchange for awesome health care and a great 401k match. I might say $80k because I’ll do an easy job for $80k, $80k would pay my bills, then in the interview discover that this is a bang your head against the wall sort of job with a lot of complexity that I can do, but I’d want $110k and a better title to deal with that level of bullshit.
I hate how salary is cryptic. I applied for a job I didn’t really want and during the initial interview they asked my range and they said their position didn’t match that. I just said, “what range are you offering?” She gave it to me. I said that it was workable. I ended up getting a second interview. Why waste people’s time?
I hate that, “make sure it isn’t about money” line. Of course it is about money! It could be the greatest job in the world where I get daily dances from Taylor Swift and I’d still turn it down. I have rent to pay and people to feed.
A recruiter should know ahead of time, and also know your salary, and not even offer you for a job where they are out of sync.
However I strongly disagree about being considered a money grubber. There is nothing shameful about wanting to get paid for working. While you certainly can’t expect to be given a specific salary, asking for a range for the position is perfectly fine. If it is well below one’s current salary interviewing is a waste of everyone’s time. You can either be asked to be considered for a more senior position, or just say no.
There are an awful lot of questions about things like performance evaluation and raise and promotion policies which candidates never ask about. I would if I were ever interviewing again. Some companies have liberal promotion policies, some promote two weeks after never. Some give raises to everyone, some give only to “top” performers. HR and interviewers will never volunteer this information, but they may talk about it if asked.
If you wind up somewhere, get pissed off at this stuff and leave in a year, no one wins.
I was once contacted by a headhunter with a job offer. I asked about money and she said it was competitive. I asked for some numbers and she said she’d like to meet with me to discuss it. I hung up.
She called back and said we were cut off. I told her no, I hung up on her and then hung up again. When she called back a third time, her first words out of her mouth were the salary range. I wound up signing a one year contract.
I don’t think that applies with recruiters. They’re screening you to find out if you’re a good fit for the position. Not only are they not going waste someone’s time who’s looking for six figures when the job pays $12 an hour, my career coach told me it raises a red flag if the job pays $75K and you say you’ll do it for $40k. It raises questions on how secure you are in your abilities. Bottom line, research the position and the company.
When you are interviewing for jobs, the Department of Labor is your friend. They maintain a full and comprehensive data base of what each job type pays in a given area. They show minimum, midpoint, and maximum. If you’ve been doing your type of work for a while, you should be able to at least command the midpoint. When I’ve had someone hem and haw and tell me that figure seems a little high for the job, I’ve whipped out my DOL data and shown them.
Even if you’ve been working at your type of work for a long time and have experience, you still shouldn’t expect to be offered the maximum salary for your position. Companies figure in the time it takes you to get up to speeed and like to leave sufficient headspace for a salary adjustment early on if you are blowing them out of the water. So I’d go easy on trying to push for the maximum wage rate, but definitely be strong/aggressive about the midpoint salary range if you feel you’re bringing that level of security with you. The company will have a lot more leeway at the midpoint then they would at the maximum point.
I think that should be whoever gives a number first loses. That’s why a lot of companies demand your current salary. They bring it up first, but if you give it to them you have pretty much put a cap on what you are going to get offered.
Salary is a taboo subject in the Us, among private companies at least. This is because many people are not making what they should, and are not fairly compensated relative to others. This is for a variety of reasons, not necessarily the company being evil. The only time you have negotiating power is when you get an offer. Use it. Chance are if you accept something $10K low you’ll never make it up. Unless you win a Nobel prize or something.
Oh bullshit. I don’t want to waste my time or theirs continuing with a process that won’t pay anywhere near what I want/need. If that gets some hiring managers bonnet all kerfluffle, then tough shit. You don’t negotiate literally anything else on Earth without discussing the price up front.
Any NGO that pretends like their employees aren’t expecting to get paid is not the kind of NGO you want to work at.
Running an NGO requires the same kinds of skills as running a business, and that means that they are competing with the private sector for employees. While NGOs often face real financial barriers and may not be able to offer private sector salaries, any NGO that doesn’t at least acknowledge that they are a part of the labor market is likely to be trouble in the way that only an unprofessional NGO can be.