Thinking Out Loud

Let’s be honest, when you’re on the job hunt one of the first things you do is skim down to the bottom of the page to check the salary. Yes, ideally you want to work for an organization you believe in and a worthy cause but when it comes to the meat and potatoes…you’ve gotta make rent and pray to not live in your friend’s basement forever. Not listing salary on a job posting and putting “DOE” which stands for “Depending On Experience” will not only drive pretty much all prospective candidates up the wall, it will inevitably lead to other imbalances that (I think) could easily be avoided if we were just honest from the get go.

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  Everyone needs to support themselves and their families I don’t understand why an employer will not bring up salary until the very end of the interview process. There really shouldn’t be this expectation that a candidate should wait till the last minute to bring up salary. It also seems a bit hilarious to ask salary expectations. Everyone can just Google the position description and get a pretty solid idea on glasssdoor.com.

  
  


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  You’re wasting everyone’s time A lot of people looking for a new job already have a full time job (not to mention a family). It takes forever to write tailored cover letters, fill in a new form and use a resume generator program on each organization’s website. Which is another issue all together. None of those resume generating programs input all your information the corrct way so there always ends up being a duplication of efforts. I understand that many organizations have to use a resume filtering program because of the sheer volume of applicants but YIKES. Someone please come up with a better system. Most of us don’t have the extra time only to find out we can’t even live on what they’re offering.

  
  


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  It’s discriminatory for a number of reasons. Firstly, many cultures don’t find it appropriate or socially acceptable to negotiate wage or be aggressive with a superior. Plus, let’s be honest…women are still said to be paid 78cents to the dollar compared to a man. It’s useful to at least list a salary range. What’s the least you’ll pay someone and what is the most you will pay a candidate?

  
  


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  DOE really means trying to get someone for as little as possible. Just because your current or previous position didn’t pay what you deserved doesn’t mean you weren’t worth it or should be punished in your next one.

  
  

Ultimately, transparency on both sides of the spectrum would be best for both parties in my humble opinion. Do you want to start your relationship off with unrealistic expectations or not giving someone what they deserve? Let’s become trail blazers with job equality, equal pay and for goodness sake…let’s make “DOE” DIE.