Ask Vicki: Is it okay to ask a recruiter for a job’s pay range before applying to it?
Each week, Monster’s career expert Vicki Salemi — a former recruiter who utilizes 15-plus years of experience in recruiting and human resources to empower job seekers — answers user questions on Quora. We’ll be republishing the answers here. If you have a question for Vicki, send it to socialmedia@ monster.com.
Is it okay to ask a recruiter about a job’s salary before applying to it?
You can absolutely ask a recruiter for a job’s pay rage before you apply to it. In asking this question, you’re actually doing recruiters a favor by saving everyone time — yours, theirs and the hiring team’s. But I caution against not applying for a job with a recruiter based on salary alone.
Many of the candidates who applied to my positions didn’t have my contact information to reach out and ask about salary ranges — and truth be told, I never revealed salary ranges of the jobs that I was recruiting for — but they applied anyway. You should, too, even if you learn the salary and it doesn’t seem all that attractive.
The big reason for doing this? Once your resume and application are received into the applicant tracking system, you’re not only linked to that specific job, but your resume also becomes available to all recruiters in that company who are searching to fill other positions. A position you were lukewarm about applying to may end up being a catalyst for an internal recruiter to reach out to you for a much better one!
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Read Vicki Salemi’s answer to “Is it okay to ask a recruiter about a job’s salary before applying to it?” on Quora.