Employment

One of the questions that candidates find during an interview is about financial expectations. Recruiters from the PEOPLE HR consulting company in many cases recommend candidates to indicate the salary spreads, the range of which reaches about 15-20%. People’s analysis shows that only about 10 % of companies on the Polish market publish information about the proposed salary, while about 90% of candidates would prefer their salaries in job advertisements were public. Most of the employers who disclose remuneration proposals are IT companies or state-owned companies – says Sebastian Popiel, PEOPLE Board Member.

A candidate considering a job change usually wants to improve their financial situation and compensate for the risk of taking up a new challenge. In a persistently strong candidate market, wage bargaining opportunities increase. It is worth remembering, however, that the largest companies usually pay at the market median level (i.e. the middle value). However, these employers are open to more and more attractive non-wage benefits.

Candidates often fear that the amount they propose will be too high or too low. So it is worth getting acquainted with public payroll reports or interviewing friends from the industry before the interview. By showing that we have market knowledge about earnings and the awareness of our advantages, it is easier to negotiate the amount of remuneration. A safe solution, especially in specialist positions, may be to provide a salary bracket, the range of which ranges from about 15-20% – says Katarzyna Jesionkiewicz, Recruitment Consultant from PEOPLE HR consulting company.

It is worth remembering that employers, especially corporations, have pre-priced positions and fixed pay scales. In the market belonging to a candidate, it is more common to exceed these limits, but usually by no more than 15-20%. The bigger the company, the more rigid the wage rules – says Sebastian Popiel, Member of the Management Board of PEOPLE HR consulting.

Explicit earnings in job advertisements

The practice of publishing salary spreads is used in many European countries (including Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands) and in the USA. In Poland, information on the level of remuneration is usually published by corporations or state institutions. There are also industries where it is an increasingly common practice, e.g. IT, in which it is difficult to convince a candidate to participate in recruitment without providing information about the proposed salary.

Explicit salary brackets guarantee transparency and often greater effectiveness of recruitment, but the systemic imposition of such a solution raises some doubts. Many companies do not want to publish such information, incl. due to competition or current employees who compare their earnings with newly hired ones. On the other hand, more and more companies operating in Poland decide to enter the spreads, knowing that in this way they save their time and those of candidates who have clearly specified the level of expected earnings. I think it may gradually become a market practice – says Sebastian Popiel.

Questions about current earnings

During many job interviews, candidates also hear the question “ What is your current salary? “. Business advisers’ opinions on how to answer such questions vary, often extremely. Some suggest avoiding direct answers or redirecting the question to salary expectations. According to others, it is worth answering directly by specifying the amount of current earnings and any bonuses and then refer to your salary expectations, specifying what we make them dependent on.

The candidate is not required to provide information about current earnings. During the recruitment processes conducted by us, candidates often talk about their current salary – we do not ask about it. However, when this question is asked, when answering, it is worth taking into account the practices in a given industry and an agreement with the current employer, in which there are provisions on non-disclosure of the amount of remuneration. For the recruiter, it is more important to know how much the candidate wants to earn in a new job – says Katarzyna Jesionkiewicz.

For example, in New York it is forbidden to ask candidates about their payroll history. However, candidates in Poland can decide in what situation and in what context to disclose such information – explains Sebastian Popiel.

 

Leave a comment