Why this matters
The pay range is the first thing most candidates read in a job post, and in a growing number of states and cities the post has to include one. Set it too low and the people you want never apply. Set it too high and you pay for it every year, and your current team notices.
Most small HR teams set it by gut feel, or by checking two or three competitors’ careers pages on a busy afternoon. That misses the posting that closed last year, the range a recruiting agency inflated, and the number that came from an anonymous salary site.
In this module you hand that afternoon to Claude Research. It reads the job posts nearby employers publish for the same role and writes a report with a source for every range. Then you do the part only you can do: open a source, catch what the report missed, and bring talking points to the partners while the decision stays with you.
What you’ll build
A cited report on Project Coordinator pay near Lakemont, a made-up city, for Fernhill Architecture, a made-up firm: four employers’ posted ranges, work setup, paid time off and lead benefit, each with a source, next to Fernhill’s draft of $50,000 to $56,000.
You catch the catch: one employer’s posting is from March 2025 and the job is filled, and the report treated it as current. You mark it, then get three talking points for Thursday’s meeting: the draft starts below every current posted range, hybrid is common, and Fernhill’s paid parental leave is an edge no one else mentions.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceClaude is a practice copy. The employers, websites and ranges are made up, and nothing is searched.
- A paid Claude plan, to do it for realResearch is on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. On Team and Enterprise an Owner turns on web search in Organization settings > Capabilities.
- The job you are about to postThe title, the main duties and the experience level, so you compare like with like. Titles mean different things at different firms.
- Your draft range and benefitsOnly what will be public in the post. Never paste your current employees’ salaries into a research request.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Ask for the source of every number
A research request that says where to look, what to find, how to lay it out and what to compare against gets a report you can check. Asking for a source for every range, and for a flag on anything old, posted by an agency or reported by employees, is what makes the check fast.
An employer’s own careers page is the best source. A recruiting agency’s post may show a different range, and salary-review sites are a handful of anonymous reports.
Open the sources before the number goes in a post
Job posts close, get reposted and change their ranges. Claude can read a page correctly and still miss that the posting is a year old.
In the lesson, the report treats a filled 2025 posting as a current competitor. One click on the citation shows the date. That is the habit: check every source you will use in a pay decision.
Research informs the range; people decide it
Tell Claude not to pick a number for you. A pay range touches internal equity, budget and local pay-transparency rules that a web scan can’t see.
What Research is good at is the prep: where your draft sits, what competitors lead with, and what you can say honestly in the post, like a benefit nobody else offers.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Pay range research requests (.txt)The research request, the follow-up, and a blank version to copy for your next role.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. One competitor’s range comes from a recruiting agency’s post on a job board. What should you do with it?
- Treat it like the employer’s own range
- Keep it, but note it is agency-posted and check the employer’s site
- Delete the whole report
Show the answer
Keep it, but note it is agency-posted and check the employer’s site. Agency posts can differ from what the employer itself publishes. Use it with a flag, and look for the employer’s own posting.
2. You open Calder Studio’s source and see “Posted March 3, 2025. This position has been filled.” What now?
- Nothing, the range is still a range
- Mark the row out of date and don’t count it as a current competitor
- Copy it into your job post
Show the answer
Mark the row out of date and don’t count it as a current competitor. A filled posting from last year is not today’s market. Mark it and lean on the current postings.
3. Why does the follow-up say “Don’t pick a new range for us”?
- Claude can’t do math
- The range depends on budget, internal equity and local rules the scan can’t see, so people decide it
- It makes the reply shorter
Show the answer
The range depends on budget, internal equity and local rules the scan can’t see, so people decide it. Research prepares the decision. HR and the partners make it.
Get Every New Hire Ready for Day One: Track Onboarding with an n8n AI Agent
With a range you can defend, your job post is ready. Next, make sure every new hire is ready for day one: Get Every New Hire Ready for Day One: Track Onboarding with an n8n AI Agent.
Start module 13 →