how to ask about salary when you’re invited to interview

This post, how to ask about salary when you’re invited to interview , was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I have been applying for a few jobs and have had interviews. It seems that it takes some time getting through the interview process before salary expectations are discussed. More often than not, within my field at least, the salary ranges for the position responsibilities and requirements are notoriously low. I don’t want to waste any more time taking PTO to schedule interviews when I will end up withdrawing my name because I refuse to take a pay cut to be more overworked than I already am.

If a salary is not advertised within the job description upon application and I receive a request for an interview, how do I politely/tactfully ask the salary range for the position prior to setting up a meeting? Or do I just follow through with the initial interview and ask at that time?

These days you can generally ask right up-front.

That is a new development, and it’s a good one. Until the convention started changing a few years ago, this used to be a thing that you had to delicately dance around because loads of hiring managers found it outrageous and offensive when candidates asked about salary right at the start. It’s hard now to even understand how that used to be the case, but ridiculously the thinking was that you shouldn’t come across as if you were applying for the job because of the money — !!! (Seriously, read these quotes.) Of course you were applying for the job because of the money and it was bizarre that we used to have to pretend otherwise.

That has changed.

Now, when you’re invited to interview, it’s okay to say, “I’d love to talk with you about the role. Before we set aside time for an interview, can you share the salary range so we can ensure we’re in the same ballpark?”

Or, if you didn’t do it before your first interview, you can ask about it before scheduling the second: “We didn’t have a chance to touch base on salary yet. To make sure we’re on the same page before we move forward, can you tell me the salary range you have in mind?”

Be prepared, though, that they might turn the question back on you and ask what you’re looking for, which is annoying but still pretty common unless you’re in one of the small number of states that now require them to tell you.

You still can’t generally get the info before you apply, which is also annoying, but once they’ve contacted you to interview? Ask away.