The Compensation Illusion: Why the "Wide Salary Range" is Actually a Red Flag

Pay transparency laws were supposed to give candidates ultimate leverage. Instead, they’ve created an entirely new psychological game.

When you look at job postings in 2026, you will repeatedly encounter absurdly massive salary bands. You will see Senior Engineering roles listed as $110,000 to $240,000. This isn't "flexibility"; it is a highly calculated defensive posture.

The Anatomy of the Massive Band

Why do companies publish a $130,000 spread for a single role? There are two primary reasons, and neither of them benefits the candidate:

1. Protecting Internal Equity: If a company lists a job for $180k, and they have three engineers currently making $140k on that team, those engineers will revolt. By publishing a massive range, they give HR plausible deniability. ("Oh, the $200k top-end is only for someone with 15 years of experience.")

2. Preserving the Low-Ball: The wide band allows them to hook Senior talent with the promise of the massive top number, get them through five rounds of interviews, and then anchor the final offer to the candidate's *current* compensation, effectively low-balling them while technically staying "within the advertised band."

How to Fight Back

If you are walking into an interview for a role with a $100k salary spread, you must assume the actual, unapproved budget is clustered precisely at the 40th percentile of that range.

Force the Anchor: When the recruiter asks for your expectations on the initial screen, never give a range. Look at their published band, pick a number at the 75th percentile, and state it as an absolute integer constraint. E.g., "Based on the scope, I am looking for $185,000 base."

If they claim that number is "only for unicorn candidates," politely ask them to define the exact skill delta between the 40th percentile and the 75th percentile of their band. They almost never have an answer.