Today I posted a comment on LinkedIn after reading a top interview tip:
“Don’t ask about salary, bonuses, team lunches or company massages in your first interview”.
I then commented that I felt it was old school advice and salary should, in fact, be one of the first topics discussed.
However, we tell our candidates religiously, not to mention salary and only focus on the role and company. But this is because we’ve already spoken about salary and ensured that the clients’ budget fits the candidate’s expectations.
Another reason why we ask candidates not to mention salary is that humans are emotional beings. You could have fallen head-over-hills in love with the company and role and out of desperation to get the job, blurt out that you’ll move for the same salary. (Which we all know once you get home, that’s not true). Or the interview could be going so well, you could have spotted the directors Ferrari, Herman Miller chairs and thought to yourself why not push your luck and add an extra R10K (and we all know getting greedy doesn’t get you anywhere either).
So everything is relative depending on whom you working with, how you got the interview and who’s managing the processes.
At the end of the day, recruiters have a good place in the hiring process.