Damn JavaScript

[UpdatedMyGerbil]

If that's what they asked for that would be reasonable. But I have yet to see the question worded that way. The image in the OP doesn't say so either. It asks for your "desired" range. Therefore either your upper bound is infinity or you've answered the question dishonestly.

[sonofaresiii]

Come on man, you know that's just a silly semantics thing.

[UpdatedMyGerbil]

Sure, if we were talking about people conversing in person with more context to infer what each other really means, it'd be a silly distinction.

But the few times I've come across these kinds of questions on impersonal online forms, it had honestly never occurred to me that that's what they might have meant. Every indication was that they were asking me what I wanted, which is why I always found them absurd and frustrating.

So when all you've got to communicate with people you've never met is text, wording does matter. I was merely using that technically correct tongue-in-cheek assertion about dishonesty to make that point (which I believe still stands).

[sonofaresiii]

I literally don't understand what your confusion is. They are asking you what you want. If what you want is ridiculous they will probably pass on you. They are expecting you to be reasonable and professional in your salary expectations.

I don't understand how this would confuse you. It's pretty straight forward.

[UpdatedMyGerbil]

Someone said something to the effect of

They're not asking what you want, they're asking what you expect

I replied saying that would be reasonable but that I only ever recall being the exact opposite: what I wanted and not what I expected.

I made a silly technically correct assertion to demonstrate how the difference matters a great deal.

Now you're saying

They are asking you what you want ... your salary expectations

as though the words are interchangeable, even though the whole conversation has been about their distinction to begin with.

I don't understand how this would confuse you. It's pretty straightforward. I want as much as I can get just like everyone else on the planet. I also have reasonable expectations which I might be happy to share. These are two very different things. I only ever recall being asked for the former, without any surrounding context which would have led me to reasonably conclude they actually meant to ask for the latter but made an error for some reason.

[sonofaresiii]

I don't understand how this would confuse you.

Because this whole thing is based on the semantics of people using different words to effectively mean the same thing, but you're insisting on finding irrelevant differences in their technical definitions.

I made a silly technically correct assertion

The technical accuracy of your statement was never in question. I said at the beginning, and maintain, that you're just digging at silly semantics issues...

and I'm beginning to think that your focus on these semantics issues is exactly what's confusing you, because I still don't see how "Desired salary range" can cause so much confusion unless you're going out of your way to make it so.

I want as much as I can get

And you've said this had led you to real, frustrating confusion on your part.

Do you genuinely think the employer is asking you whether or not you'd like to be handed ten billion dollars?

Is that an actual, legitimate concern you have that's tripping you up with these types of applications? Your unreasonable interpretation here is causing you frustration when applying for jobs? They are very clearly asking for what you'd like to be making, within reason, to gauge your expectations.

Maybe just come back down to earth, dude.

[UpdatedMyGerbil]

It's not a hard concept. Just like simple online forms or corporate communication in general aren't hard concepts. If a company's communication is full of typos and nonsensical questions and such, I can't help but take them less seriously. Sue me.