When looking to hire someone...
 

is there a general rule of thumb not to consider a person if they immediately ask how much the job pays?

Well, it can be a bit of a turn off, but it can also help you decide if you are on the same page before you spend a lot of time on them.

For example if the person simply will not consider a job that pays less than 50K and you are offering 25K I would rather know before I spend too much time on them.

most jobs have the salary, benefits, experience, etc.. in the job description. why hide it?

Depending on what the person does and how much they presently earn, why waste your time if they are looking for something you won't be willing to pay and they are comfortable with (and most likely won't move without it)? I personally have always asked around to find out before so I don't waste my time with interviews and 'growing attached' to the probability of the new position. Although, I must admit, the jobs I've settled for a lower pay have always been the ones that my pay moved up and surpassed the previous job quicker, go figure.

you'd be surprised when they say "competitive salary" and its really 25k on a should be 50k salary.

being in this industry for over 10 years now I find that asking about salary is more professional the second interview. The first should be a "get to know you" session where they learn of your strengths as much as you know about theirs.

Once they see how right you are and the amount of potential business you bring to the table - I usually request a second meeting where I layout the structure of the meeting for example " so why dont we schedule a meeting in 2 days so that we can discuss strategies as well I can get to go over your site a bit more - in addition you can work on a proposal that includes salary expectations - commissions and any other benefits you wanted to fit in.

If you don't mind sending that to me prior to our meeting so that I have a chance to review it I would appreciate it. Please keep in mind that my current job offers me $xxxx a month with these benefits. I really like what I see here and hopefully our next meeting will be to discuss when we can start working together to everyones benefit"

How about this then...what if the pay was posted in the job description/posting and they completely ignored it?

then either they are idiots for ignoring it - or were too quick to contact you meaning they were desparate. Either way - the way hiring is done today is very much like our fast food industry - few spend time negotiating and are too quick to make any decisions - same can be said for firing - far too often companies just drop someone instead of retraining them or coming up with a solution rather than realize how much more it costs bringing on someone new

That's a different story - maybe they are interested but not particularly keen on the pay? Also, is it a possibility that they were 'referred' to as having a position open and perhaps never read the job posting?

then that should tell you all you really need to know about that person eh? Ignoring things isn't usually a trait one looks for when filling positions :2 cents:

ask them how much they want.. then see if it's less than what was posted. :)

If the job description is posted and includes the salary and someone ignores that, it would mean they weren't reading, which means there is little likelihood of them being hired, if they miss such an important detail....like income.

Attention to details is obviously not one of their strong points!

who did it, drop names