I work in civil engineering and have recently interviewed intern candidates. When I have brought up what salary they are expecting as an intern, and then what salary they would expect with a full-time position offer after their college graduation, they have all frozen up and said something along the lines of “pay is pay, I will earn my wage as time goes on”.
I wish I could be this optimistic about firms in America today, but I have been deeply scarred by constant leveraging and uncomfortable conversations about my wage with my supervisors, who would barely give me annual raises if I didn’t play the squeaky wheel and constantly interview at other firms to leverage higher okay (fairer pay).
I am I guess flattered by the inherent trust, but I have had to yell and scream at my company to get the proper raises/promotions I have deserved. They do not just hand them out like we all think of in a 50s utopian corporate environment. When (at least for white men) there were fair wages and much more proper meritocracies.
I do not know how to tell candidates I am interviewing to be more upfront about their pay. My firm will always encourage managers to low-ball or give them a min salary within a range. But when people ask for particularly high wages and they are confident and present their case, they are usually listened to and requested salaries given (in my field at least).
How do you tell job desperate graduates that their compensation should be more discussed than it was for the past 60 years?