How to Really Turn Me Off
Published at 22:00 on 4 August 2015
List a job that I would otherwise want, but make the only way to apply for it be to fill out a web form that demands you supply an expected salary range.
It’s almost as bad as demanding you furnish your salary history. Particularly if, like the two jobs I just ran into this for, it’s either a public-sector job or one at a nonprofit. The former typically have more generous benefits packages and less generous salaries. The latter typically have less generous salaries. In neither case is simply plugging in a market-rate number (of which I have a fair idea) appropriate.
In this case, the nonprofit’s mission is such that I’d be willing to take less money in return for my work being particularly socially valuable. But, I have no idea what their budget is. So my choice is to either sell myself short by putting in a low number that they will take advantage of, or to sell myself short by putting in something higher that will scare them off from interviewing me, even though if the job is appealing I’d be willing to bend on that figure. There’s no way to specify that latter fact, either, of course. A number and just a number must be entered.
A similar conundrum exists for the public-sector job. The easiest solution is for me to just pass on both and move on to someone who doesn’t use such sleazy tactics. Which is probably just what I will do.