--- id: pat.compensation_double_bind type: pattern title: "Compensation Double Bind" lang: en registry: 1.0.0 canonical: https://hoba.work/patterns/pat.compensation_double_bind json: https://hoba.work/api/v1/patterns/pat.compensation_double_bind.json --- # Compensation Double Bind The candidate has to name a compensation expectation first: a high number ends the process, and a low one lowers the level the candidate is assessed at. ## At a glance - Evidence: supported ## Trigger rule The candidate is asked for a compensation number before the band for the role is stated, and the band is not stated in return. ## What it looks like Composite excerpts, written to be typical rather than copied. No particular message, company or person is quoted here. **The asymmetry, in four messages** — *reconstruction* ``` screen, minute 3 Recruiter Before we go further — what are your compensation expectations? screen, minute 3 Candidate Happy to discuss. What is the band for the role? > screen, minute 4 Recruiter We prefer to hear the candidate number first so we can match it to the right level. screen, minute 5 Candidate Understood. My expectation is in the range of 85–95k. ``` *What to notice* The number is required from one side and withheld by the other, and it is collected before the level is fixed. Both outcomes below follow from that ordering. **The two branches** · the same question, two candidates, one week — *reconstruction* ``` > Quoted 95k — We are not able to proceed; the expectation is outside the range we have for this role. > Quoted 70k — Good news, we would like to move ahead. Based on the conversation we are looking at this as a mid-level hire rather than senior. ``` *What to notice* A high number ends the process and a low one moves the level. There is no answer that leaves both the process and the grade untouched — which is what makes it a bind rather than a negotiation. ## From each side The same entry from inside each position that meets it: what reaches them, what it means from there, and what happens next given what they control. ### Candidate - **What reaches them:** A request for a compensation expectation at the screen, and a band that is not stated in return. - **What it means from there:** The number is collected before the level is fixed, so it is an input to the level rather than an answer to it. - **What happens next:** Names a range without the band, without the level, and without knowing how many others in the pipeline have already named one. ### Recruiter - **What reaches them:** A screening form with an expectations field that has to be filled before the candidate moves to the panel, and disclosure rules for the band that are set elsewhere. - **What it means from there:** The number is the cheapest available check on whether the process is viable, before panel time is spent on it. - **What happens next:** Asks for the number first and records it in the field, and says about the band exactly what is permitted at this stage. ### Employer policy - **What reaches them:** A band per level and a rule about what may be said about it, both reviewed on a cycle measured in quarters. - **What it means from there:** A stated expectation is the input that places a candidate on the grid; a band stated first becomes the floor of every negotiation that follows. - **What happens next:** Publishes the band where a disclosure rule requires it and not elsewhere, and keeps levelling a decision separate from the number. ### Public policy and industry standards - **What reaches them:** Postings in covered jurisdictions, which either carry a band or do not. - **What it means from there:** A published band is measurable and enforceable; the level a candidate will be assessed at is neither. - **What happens next:** Requires the band in the posting, which closes one branch of the bind and leaves the levelling branch untouched. ## What this pattern establishes - An information asymmetry works as an uncalibrated filter before technical merit is assessed. ## What this observation does NOT establish - Does not establish that the employer has an unlimited budget, or that any of this is malicious. ## Related entries - [obs.generic_closer_alignment_rejection_template](https://hoba.work/observations/obs.generic_closer_alignment_rejection_template) — Generic "closer alignment" rejection template - [obs.compensation_band_reduced_or_altered_mid_process](https://hoba.work/observations/obs.compensation_band_reduced_or_altered_mid_process) — Compensation band reduced or altered mid-process - [mech.unstated_compensation_band_discrepancy](https://hoba.work/mechanisms/mech.unstated_compensation_band_discrepancy) — Unstated Compensation Band Discrepancy - [mech.experience_age_grading_mismatch](https://hoba.work/mechanisms/mech.experience_age_grading_mismatch) — Experience-Age Grading Mismatch --- hoba — a public, versioned atlas of hiring obstacles. Content CC BY-SA 4.0. This document is generated from the registry; the canonical page is linked above.