Range-reading rules

Let me ask you something. Have you noticed that job postings started showing the salary? Right there at the bottom, a real range with real numbers. Did you ever stop and ask why? Because companies didn't suddenly get generous. The law changed — and it's handed you more negotiating information than any generation of candidates has ever had. So today we're talking about pay transparency, and what those posted ranges actually mean for your salary strategy. Quick ground rule first, because it matters: I'm a recruiter, not a lawyer. These rules differ by state and by country, and they keep changing, so treat this lesson as a map, not legal advice, and verify the rules where you live. All right, here we go. So here's the lay of the land, in one minute. As of this year, roughly eighteen states plus Washington D.C. have some kind of pay transparency law. And about a dozen of them require the range printed right there in the posting you're reading. A few more require the company to tell you the range when you ask for it. And here's the wrinkle that makes this bigger than it looks: remote postings generally have to satisfy the strictest state that can see them, so a lot of companies just publish one range for everybody, everywhere, because they don't want to juggle fifty different postings. Which means these laws probably protect you even if your state never passed one. Now let me tell you what that posted range really is, from the hiring side of the desk. That range is the budget conversation you were never invited to. Before the job ever posted, somebody in HR approved a pay band for the role — and when you open that posting, you're looking at it. Once you can read it, you can play it. So let's learn to read it, number by number. Number one: the midpoint is the center of gravity. Most offers land between the minimum and the midpoint of the band, and an offer at the very top usually needs somebody senior to sign off before they can give it to you. Number two: a very wide range is a signal. When you see ninety thousand to two hundred thousand, the company hasn't decided what level they're hiring at, and your positioning decides which version of the role you're competing for. Number three: the law requires a good-faith range, meaning the numbers the company honestly expects to pay. And the range is usually real. But the top of it is a boundary of honesty, not a promise they've made to you. And now the strategy shift, because this is where the old advice breaks. You've heard it: never name a number first. That rule assumed the number was secret. It isn't anymore. So when the range is public, the game isn't guess the number anymore — the game is argue your placement. Where in that band do you belong, and what's your evidence? So try this language: the posting lists a range of X to Y, and based on my experience with this specific skill, I'd be targeting the upper portion of that range. See what that does? You're not being pushy. You're being literate — you're using information the company chose to publish. Now, four moves to make this real. First, benchmark before you apply. Collect posted ranges for five roles comparable to yours, because a set of five is evidence and a single posting is an anecdote. Second, log every range in your Command Center, the tracker you built back in module five. Your negotiation prep starts the day you apply, not the day your offer lands. Third, write your placement case — three sentences arguing for the upper portion of the band, each one anchored to a number you can prove. And fourth, if you're in a state where ranges come only on request, ask at the right moment: after the recruiter shows interest, before you commit to a long interview process. Can you share the compensation range for this role? One sentence, asked once, professionally. Now picture how this plays out. Say you're a project manager, and the offer comes in near the bottom third of the posted band. Old you takes it, because negotiating blind feels like you're walking off a cliff. But new you already has five comparable ranges in the tracker and a placement case ready, so you counter with evidence instead of hope, and the whole exchange takes two polite emails. That's the difference information makes. Not courage. Information. And here's the honest part. Asking about money still feels awkward, doesn't it? Like asking someone on a first date what they earn. So let me hand you the reframe: the law made this a normal business question, and recruiters answer it every single day now. The discomfort you feel is a leftover habit from an era that's ending. Shed it early, because one more thing hides in the fine print — the posted range usually covers base salary only. Bonus, equity, benefits, flexibility — all of that sits off the posted range, and that's still where your offer most often gets meaningfully better. The range is the floor of the conversation. It's not the whole conversation, and it never was. So here's your assignment, and it takes ten minutes. Pull up five postings for your target role. For each one, write down whether a range is posted, how wide it is, and where your target number sits inside it. Log all five in your Command Center, then draft your three-sentence placement case. Go run that range audit.