Compensation · 2026-08-20 · 5 min
Say the number on the first call
Keeping the compensation range back until the final round does not protect anyone. It just wastes the first two weeks.
The case for holding a range close is that it preserves room to negotiate. In a senior search it mostly preserves the risk of spending a month on a finalist who was never within reach of the budget.
We agree a written range with the client before the search opens and give it to every candidate on the first call. The people who stay in the process after that are the ones for whom the number works.
The offer stage then becomes a conversation about how the package is built, rather than a surprise about how big it is.