Larry Wilson, MSW, LSW, Career Counselor, Social Worker
November 7, 2022
Perhaps the most important information when you are considering a new job is the salary or hourly rate. However, this information is often not provided in job postings, particularly private sector ones. Instead, potential applicants find missing, incomplete or misleading information such as:
“Compensation based on experience”.
The top of the pay range only: “Pays up to $20/hour”.
The permanent – but not “day one” rate. While the announcement lists a rate of $20/hour, the initial (training) rate turns out to be $13.50/hour for the first 90 days.
An out-of-date or just plain false rate. The announcement lists a rate of $20/hour, but at interview time, applicants are told that since the listing date, the starting rate has been revised to $16.50/hour.
Pay transparency laws seek to address this information problem in several different ways. A number of US states and cities have adopted or are considering such laws. In New York City and Colorado, employers of a certain size are required to include salary ranges in their job announcements. Similar laws become effective on January 1, 2023 in Washington state and California. Other states and cities have or are considering laws that require salary ranges to be disclosed on request during the initial interview. Still others require the range to be disclosed at offer time.
As more states and cities adopt pay transparency laws, ways will be needed to address non-compliance with the letter or the spirit of the new requirements. These include safe and practical ways to report non-compliance, and addressing non-compliance by third party recruiters. Already, social media reports indicate that compliance is spotty, that meaningless ranges are being used (e.g. $0 - $200,000), and that some job announcements exclude applicants from states with pay transparency laws. There are also problems in interviews, with some interviewers not sharing the true pay range as required.
So, other than advocating for pay transparency laws in your jurisdiction, how do you approach the job market under these circumstances? Here are a few thoughts:
1) Continue to focus most of your energy and time on the job announcements that are the best fit. It’s still important to tailor cover letters and resume summaries.
2) If salary information is not included in the job announcement, absolutely do some research on the pay range for that position/organization. The best way to do this currently is to sign up for Glassdoor (www.glassdoor.com). You will need to provide some information about one of your previous positions, including your salary, in order to get access to all the information available. Once you have done this, look up the organization and position you’re interested in. If the pay range shown is satisfactory, proceed. If it is not, or if there is other negative information provided, you can move on to considering other opportunities.
3) Unless your research leaves you fairly certain that the pay will meet your expectations, don’t hesitate to ask about the pay or pay range in your initial interview. At this state, or any future stage, where you are not provided pay or pay range information, you need to decide whether or not to continue.
4) While it is illegal in Illinois and some other states for employers to ask for your salary history, they can and do ask what your pay expectations are. When you get this question, the best approach is to bracket the upper end of the salary range you found in your research with the lower end of the range you give for your expectations. Example: your research shows that the Senior Analyst position pays $40,000 - $55,000 per year. If asked your expectations, you can say you are looking for $50,000 to $60,000 per year, or simply say “low to mid 50’s”.
In short, there is no single approach that will work in all situations. But using the guidelines above, you can decide which jobs to pursue, and how to get the best compensation possible!