I'm constantly flabbergasted by all the “You shouldn't ask about salary during interviews” articles / quotes / anecdotes people post here. I was a recruiter in HR for about 6 years back in the late 2000's (and was lucky enough to work for a great company). I did hundreds of interviews for many positions.
And right there, on every single job posting, was the exact salary range we were looking for. We knew our budget, candidates know their general market worth, and it was ridiculous NOT to post it. Otherwise you just waste both parties' time.
Also, vacation time, sick leave, benefits, etc. were part of the very first interview, because why wouldn't they be?
(And this wasn't a directive given me by upper management–it was simply something I did out of common sense. I never received an ounce of pushback from any higher-up.)
Now I see all this crap about “asking about salary shows you're not a good employee” or “wanting to know about vacation time is entitled.” How in the blue hell is wanting to know the basic information about a job entitlement? Should a candidate say “You shouldn't ask for my qualifications or education in the first interview–that's more of a 3rd or 4th interview-date thing”?
I'm genuinely curious here. I've been out of HR for over a decade (and don't really miss it). Does anyone have any insight into the culture change? The justification? (I'm looking for something more substantive than “companies are greedy,” which is obvious).