As soon a as company contacts you, ask the wage. They'll dodge the question, so you say "I notice you didn't answer my question about the wage, so what's the wage?" And you keep asking and they keep dodging until one of two things happens:

They say "we're looking for someone who is motivated by more that just money." And then you say "well people work for money, however I am also motivated by other forms of compensation like pensions and profit sharing."
They ask you to come in for an interview, and you say "I can't take the time to come in for an interview when you haven't even told me the wage yet."

It seems pretty clear you didn't need those jobs, so why are you playing along?

[–] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure you read what I wrote? Sometimes they will spout the wage, but not adhere to it.

These were historic, nowadays I don't deal with it unless I just want to waste their time on purpose.

But you're right, I didn't need those jobs, but I'm always looking. I believe one should always be applying. There is no such thing as loyalty to one company - it doesn't typically pay off or work in your favor. In 5 years of job hopping I've tripled my base salary, that would never have happened staying put.

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

I don't think they "got played". They knew the situation and invested the time knowing that some companies are badly organized but actually pay reasonably. Then after determining that these companies were no good, they bailed. Should they have bailed earlier? Maybe so, but it's a gamble either way. Everyone has to use their own instincts based on their individual situations.