We know the salary range we advertised, but we really didn't mean it....

[SGB]

(Necessarily vague in terms of location and salary to protect the not-so-innocent.)

Last year I was interviewed for a position in a USA community with a very high cost of living. The position was advertised with a salary range based on experience. I went into the interview knowing that anything but the high end of the advertised range would not be a livable wage for the region.

The first comments from the municipal manager at the first interview basically were "We know we advertised a range from $X to $Z, but we plan on making our offer to the candidate of choice at $X."

And they had trouble understanding, when they eventually offered the position to me at $X, why I counter-offered up at $Z. "But we told you we were going to offer at $X; we don't understand why that offer is unacceptable."

No one in their right mind would have applied for this position if the advertisement had said $X, firm. After two people turned down offers at $X, the municipality finally hired a staffing consultant who told them to start the search over, beginning the salary range at $Z.

Last I checked, they still hadn't filled the position.....

 

[el Guapo]

Serves them right. People do get the government they deserve.

 

[Cardinal]

It's funny to look at some of the jobs and salaries posted out there. I think it was Santa Monica, recently, that advertised a job around $80,000 and still had to include "employee home-buying assistance." Who would want to live/work in a community where the prices are so ridiculous that you feel that $80,000 is a poverty-level wage?

 

[Mastiff]

But... Did it have a requirement that you must live in the city?

If not, there are times when you can have a well paid job and live in a more modest area.

 

[SGB]

But... Did it have a requirement that you must live in the city?

If not, there are times when you can have a well paid job and live in a more modest area.

There was not a residency requirement, but living in a more modest area would have meant at least an hour commute each way. I determined the job would not have been worth the commuting headache.

I'm a firm believer that a municipality should pay a living wage to encourage (but not require) residency of employees.

 

[Mastiff]

There was not a residency requirement, but living in a more modest area would have meant at least an hour commute each way. I determined the job would not have been worth the commuting headache.

I'm a firm believer that a municipality should pay a living wage to encourage (but not require) residency of employees.

I agree. But if I could earn $80,000 in Eugene and commute from here, I'd do it in a minute... and bank the extra cash.

 

[Dan]

I wonder how employers in Denver are faring. The tech bust didn't bring down the cost of housing, and salaries tend to be low considering the cost of living in the region. (A Planner II might start at $40K, with a typical SFR selling for $250,000.)

I hear that some regions with astronomical costs of living and terrible salaries, such as Vail, Telluride, and Aspen, have no problem finding young planners. They move to the area for the lifestyle, and don't care that they're living in a mobile home an hour away or bunking up with four other people in a one bedroom condo.

 

[Bullwinkle]

I hears that some regions with astronomical costs of living and terrible salaries, such as Vail, Telluride, and Aspen, have no problem finding young planners. They move to the area for the lifestyle, and don't care that they're living in a mobile home an hour away or bunking up with four other people in a one bedroom condo.

It's also not unusual to find that employees in communities like that have an outside source of income - a trust fund or a substantial inheritance or retirement income from a previous career. Unfortunately, that's not the case with me.