You are in a named job search. A hiring company has you in its process for an outside role.

The first pay discussion is on the calendar. The offer follows it.

In Connecticut, the hiring company now shows its number first.

Connecticut Public Act 26-12 was approved by the governor on May 11, 2026. Its posting rule took effect on October 1, 2026.

A covered employer may not leave the wages or wage range out of an internal or public job advertisement. The advertisement must also carry a general description of the benefits offered with the position.

If the role was never posted, the rule still reaches you. The employer must give an applicant the wage range and a general description of benefits. It must do so on her request, or before any discussion of pay or an offer, whichever comes first.

This post is Connecticut only. It is not legal advice.

Translation: the hiring company must state its bracket before it asks for yours.

What you will hold when you finish

One folder, built before the first pay discussion. In it: the posting, dated the day you saw it. The posted range and benefits description, exactly as written. Three outcomes from your record that answer what the posting asks for, each with a dated receipt.

If the role was not posted, the folder holds your written request and the reply.

The scene to prepare for is specific. A recruiter asks, "What are your expectations?" on the first call. The folder means the answer starts from evidence, not from a guess.

The one myth

"The posted range tells me what the role pays."

It tells you what the hiring company budgeted for the seat. It says nothing about what your record is worth to this buyer, or where inside the bracket that record places you.

See the difference? The range describes the seat. Your record describes what the seat would get.

The steps

Step 1. Confirm the rule reaches the role. (2 minutes)
Read the work location and the reporting line. The rule covers positions performed in Connecticut. It also covers positions performed elsewhere that report directly to a supervisor, office, or worksite in Connecticut.

Step 2. Capture the posting the day you see it. (3 minutes)
Screenshot or save the full posting as a PDF. Make sure the date shows in the capture. Postings change. The capture does not.

Step 3. Lift the range and the benefits description. (5 minutes)
Write both down exactly as posted. Do not round. Do not summarize.

Step 4. If the role was not posted, ask in writing. (5 minutes)
Before the first pay discussion, send the recruiter one line.
"Please share the wage range and benefits description for this role, per Connecticut Public Act 26-12." Log the date you sent it. Log the date and content of the reply.

Step 5. Set three outcomes beside the posting. (20 minutes)
Read what the posting asks the role to deliver. For each of three asks, write one outcome from your record that answers it. Attach a dated receipt to each: a report, a published result, a deliverable from your consulting line. Outcomes, not activities.

Step 6. File it and date the decision. (5 minutes)
One folder you control. Write the date of the first pay discussion on the front. That is the day the folder has to be finished.

The example

This is an illustration, not a client.

A consultant who still holds a salaried role is interviewing for an outside position that reports to a Hartford office. The recruiter screen is set for a Tuesday.

On the Friday before, she captures the posting with the date visible. She copies the range and the benefits description word for word. She writes three outcomes that answer the posting's three main asks, each with a receipt.

On Tuesday the recruiter asks for her expectations. She already holds the company's bracket and her own record, side by side.

Translation: the hiring company's number arrived first, in writing. The record decides what she does with it.

Your template

Copy this. Fill it in before the first pay discussion.

CONNECTICUT OFFER FOLDER  (Public Act 26-12)
Hiring company (the party that will sign the offer): ____________
Role as posted: ____________   Work location / reporting office: ____________
Posting source and URL: ____________
Date captured: ______   Captured as: screenshot / PDF
Posted wage range (as written): ____________
Posted benefits description (as written): ____________

If the role was not posted:
  Written request sent on: ______   to: ______
  Reply received on: ______   What came back: ____________

What the posting asks for, and my record against it:
  Ask 1: ____________   My outcome: ____________   Receipt: ______
  Ask 2: ____________   My outcome: ____________   Receipt: ______
  Ask 3: ____________   My outcome: ____________   Receipt: ______

First pay discussion: ______   Offer expected by: ______

What the record does not do

The folder holds the hiring company's bracket and your evidence, side by side.

It does not tell you where inside that bracket your record belongs, or whether the bracket is too low for it. A range is their budget. It is not your number.

That number comes from valuing the documented record. Documentation is not valuation.

Before the first pay discussion, hold a number built on your record, not on the bottom of their range.