[abid786]

Except that if you’re an exceptional candidate you might get uplevelled or they might find money in the budget for you that didn’t previously exist for the role (more so if it’s a small company)

By asking these questions up front you might weed yourself out even though the role might have been a good match.

[oblio]

In my experience those are unlikely events and you save a ton of time by asking directly.

Especially if you make X and they reply with X - 20% (or worse).

[pdimitar]

Meh, that happens super rarely. Most people are never the perfect match, and the people who land on their supposed perfect role and not care about money are way too young to be that valuable for the company anyway.

Plus we don't work for glory and smiles. A while ago I always made it clear during interviews that I don't enjoy the money negotiations -- of course, that has been used against me so I learned to keep my wits about myself, and nowadays I am like "sure we like each other but I still would not work if I had my needs covered so what are you paying?" (obviously not asked in that form, of course).