How to End Job-Edging and Get the Role (and Salary) You Deserve

Finding a job has never been harder. From multiple, lengthy video calls to thorough tasks to "test" your skills, (but feel like an official piece of work an employee should be doing) you can really get put through the mill. You're immensely prepped and geared up for a role, convinced you know it inside out and have a glimmer of hope from the seven interviews you've made it through ... before being let down, sent away, or in extreme cases, ghosted. I present to you, job-edging.

That feeling of being so close yet so far is becoming unfortunately familiar to many. One X user shared their experience, writing: "Eight interviews over two and a half months, a technical exercise, a presentation … and I did not get the job. Life really ain't fair man."

Job-edging is a timely and costly experience. According to Quizlet, the average cost of attending an interview exceeds £100, so it's no surprise that 40% of graduates struggle to cover the travel to job interviews and two in five can't afford appropriate workwear to look the part. Not to mention the time it takes to work on a task, often more than one, to the best of your ability, only to become part of the 26% of graduates who are rejected from jobs.

Job-edging might even be something you submit yourself to, probably unwillingly and because of a lack of communication from the company you're applying to work for. Maybe they didn't disclose the salary until the second interview and you realise it's far less than you expected, or the job listing failed to present the full details, and you find yourself in the process for a role you weren't looking for. Either way, pulling out of a job application that wasn't for you isn't a bad thing, but alas, the job hunt continues.

On TikTok, Lauren Spearman amassed over 45k followers through documenting her tedious job hunt, which lasted well over five months. Despite making it through to the final round of interviews for over 10 major brands before landing the job, she was either ghosted, told the company were no longer hiring or pulled out of the process herself because of the low salary.

Spearman is certain there are two reasons for job-edging, aka the never ending job application process. She tells PS UK: "Firstly, the current state of the economy means a lot of businesses are making cuts, often staffing costs first, so we're seeing a rise in redundancies or roles not being replaced when people leave. This supply and demand issue means companies are able to take advantage of the excess of applications and on occasion ask for what is beyond right for an interview process. Because of this, I often see candidates being asked to do ridiculous tasks, or even do the work entirely, just to demonstrate they would be right for the role.

"Secondly I think there needs to be focus on upskilling hiring managers to be able to carry out adequate interviews," Spearman adds. "If you are a skilled interviewer who knows what questions to ask that would allow the candidate to demonstrate their experience and passion you could wrap up the interview process fairly swiftly in minimal stages."

Even though her job hunt is over, Spearman is still using her platform for salary transparency, career advice and the red flags in job listings and processes her viewers to look out for. Keep reading for some exclusive tips from Spearman on how to end job-edging for good, land your role and get the salary you deserve.

"I think avoiding lengthy job processes would ideally be nipped in the bud at the source: the responsibility should be on the company hiring to get their processes in order," Spearman tells us. "Constant rescheduling and disorganisation of interviews or feedback calls along with excessive stages and drawn out processes aren't a good sign and can demonstrate that the team or organisation is overly consensus driven, indecisive, or has issues driving things to completion."

To avoid this, she encourages candidates to ask about the hiring processes at the earliest stage of the conversation with the employer. "Ask how many stages there are, who will you be meeting, what style of interview will it be, how long before they expect to give feedback and when they hope to wrap up the process. These questions will help steer you in the right direction and allow you to decide if that works for you."

"A lack of connection with the people hiring you is a red flag," Spearman begins. "Chemistry is important and you want to feel like you'd get along with the people you'd be working with. Although not that well … I hate the use of 'family' in job listings, as well as 'fast-paced environments' which is often a euphemism for understaffed, disorganised, lack of communication resulting in constant schedule changes and unclear deadlines, long working hours and stressed out people."

Green flags for Spearman include details of team structure, development opportunities that may be available at the company, active listening and a genuine interest, to name a few. She adds: "I love to see a clear salary and compensation package. If the company is upfront about this then you should get a good feeling that they value equity and diversity (and recognise that compensation deserves transparent discussion). One of my favourite green flags is that lots of employees have grown within the company, and finally hiring for 'culture add' not 'culture fit', proving that the company is open to fresh ideas and diverse perspectives feels healthy."

Spearman is hugely passionate about salary transparency, especially when it comes to ending job-edging for good.

She explains: "Businesses that share salary bands when recruiting are seen favourably as it says a lot about the transparency, engagement and culture of the company. It's a demonstration of them having their ducks in a row internally, and that value is really attractive to prospective talent. It's also hugely beneficial in the quest to close the gender pay gap by addressing potential discrepancies which could be discriminatory. This sign of trustworthiness has a knock on effect for employer branding and even appeal to customers too."

Spearman insists on keeping your current salary quiet during your interview. "The potential new employer isn't paying you to do that role, so it's irrelevant. Also we have a gender pay gap issue in the UK, so this often is even more unhelpful for women too."

"Instead, I'd encourage candidates to try and research salaries in that role or industry as much as possible. It's also why I openly share my own salary. It allows us to benchmark ourselves rather than rely on 'competitive salaries' that companies often advertise their roles at. This will allow you to have a clear view of your market worth and what range you'd be happy with for a new role," Spearman advises.

Lauren Gordon is the editorial coordinator at PS UK, where she creates lifestyle and identity content. Lauren has a degree in journalism from University of the Arts London and previously worked as a showbiz and TV reporter at The Mirror US. Lauren specialises in pop culture, hair and beauty, focusing on trends, sharing in-depth tutorials, and highlighting hidden gems in the beauty industry.