Why would recruiters ask “How much would you like to earn?” if the initial pay for all employees is the same?

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

I've recently been to an interview for a company that had a set pay amounts for each "level" of employees that is based mainly on the amount of time spent with the company. This basically meant that all new employees would be earning the same amount of money no matter what. They still insisted to ask me the famous question of "How much would you like to earn?". What could be the point of asking such a question if it won't really influence the pay of the employee?

manpreet 3 years ago

Typically these pay levels are a range and are attached to the position being filled. So, a 'Junior Widget Flipper' could have a range of 10k to 20k while a 'Senior Widget Flipper' could have a range of 30k to 40k.

Despite having these ranges established, this question gets asked for a few reasons:

1. To determine if the candidate's expectations are in line with what the company is willing to pay.
2. As a data point to evaluate in the future if the salary range is reasonable in the market.
3. If the candidate is really desirable, they could offer a salary higher in the range rather than lower in the range, despite it being for the same position. So, they ask to see if they're an affordable candidate.