Salary not posted for position applied for....When to ask about it....

Mrs.McGuire

I have been busy looking for a new job and have submitted my resume and applied for multiple positions. Unfortunately the vast majority of those I applied for don?t provide salary detail upfront. I have had a few bites on my resume and I have a few phone interviews and one in person interview lined up this week. At what point in the process is it appropriate to inquire about salary for a position? Should I wait until it is brought up in the interview or when the ?do you have any questions for us? question comes up? I am going to admit that I am kind of afraid to sit through an entire interview (I know, sometimes it?s only 20 mins) and then find out that the position pays quite a bit less than where I am at now. But then again, it?s good experience to interview, and I am totally open to that. What?s the best etiquette? Thanks so much!!

Ready4theParty

I've been told not to ask this question until the company brings it up.  Usually in a phone interview the recruiter will ask what my salary expectations are, and I go from there.  If that doesn't happen, a salary is talked about by the second interview.  IMO going through the interview process and then finding out is the more appropriate way to go about it, than to ask outwardly.

festa677

My recommendation would be to wait till the salary is mentioned to you. Keep in mind once they give you the salary and its not what you are looking for you can always negotiate it if they offer you the job. People are sometimes afraid to negotiate salaries and they shouldnt be! Anyways, hope this helps you out!

soontobemsc

I completely understand what you mean. 

Last week, I was called for an interview, and when I got there, they took one look at my current salary, and said, "We can only pay $11/hour."  They acted like I was the idiot for asking for a decent salary. 

Big waste of time, and waste of money - I lost 4 hours of work to do that interview, which ended after 5 minutes.

bearkatjen

The rule is you're supposed to wait until they bring it up. DH has gotten screwed doing that though. Last summer DH interviewed on phone and then face to face with an organization, and they never brought up salary. It was only once they offered DH the position that he asked about the salary. It's was 50% less than his current salary, and not even remotely close to what they should be offering for that type of position, skill or education level. What kills me, is they knew DH had to fly from Texas to Ohio on his own dime for the interview.

 If an interview requires any kind of costs on our part (travel, child care), then we ask about salary when we are offered the face to face interview.

Mrs.McGuire

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it. I hate having to wait, for multiple reasons. I hate having to waste time on the employer looking for a candidate in the $ range they offer at, and my time too. Meh. Oh well. Off to my phone interview. Thanks!

kcpokergal

I am a hiring manager and I would expect people to ask if I haven't mentioned it though I try to discuss in the initial phone interview. If someone notes a higher salary than I offer when they apply, I discuss in the first 5 minutes of the phone interview. I've saved a lot of time this way.