{"id":71,"date":"2009-03-10T10:07:10","date_gmt":"2009-03-10T10:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/?p=71"},"modified":"2012-08-18T16:51:59","modified_gmt":"2012-08-18T16:51:59","slug":"when-they-insist-you-answer-the-salary-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/when-they-insist-you-answer-the-salary-question\/","title":{"rendered":"When They Insist You Answer the Salary Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Leslie, I am talking to this company that I am very excited about, but I\u2019m not quite sure how to answer this question. I told the company in my cover note that \u201cI\u2019m fine with market rate for the job\u201d but they are insisting on me giving them a specific range of my salary expectation before the interview. What I care most about is getting the job, and the salary really isn\u2019t important to me. Also, I don\u2019t have a sense of what is a standard range for this kind of position, since it\u2019s a little different than what I\u2019ve done before. Any suggestions on how to address this would be very welcome!
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There\u2019s a lot of conflicting advice about salary negotiations and how to respond to requests like this.<\/p>\n

Some people tell you to avoid salary conversations at all costs. But when someone sidesteps my questions as a recruiter, it makes me think they are being evasive, and no one wants to hire evasive people, so I can\u2019t advise doing it. And, as you can see, this company isn\u2019t buying that as an answer.<\/p>\n

I always believe honesty is the best policy, though sometimes it has to be honesty with an explanation and a bit of a spin.<\/p>\n

As you answer questions like this, start by putting on the hat of the hiring manager. Their concern is that if you’re looking for too little money, you might not be at the right level for them, and if you’re looking for too much money, that they won’t be able to afford you, or that you’d be unhappy if you accepted less for the job.<\/p>\n

I think that the best salary expectation you can have is to be paid fairly according to the new company\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that most companies have a range they can pay for a job, and it could be a pretty big range. I\u2019ve worked on jobs that were listed from $80K to $120K, for instance, which gives a lot of wiggle room. Because my job as recruiter is to find the very best possible person, the hire is usually close to the upper end of the range, while someone promoted from in-house might come in at the lower end of the range.<\/p>\n

To get an idea of the salary ballpark for a particular job in your area, check out sites like www.salary.com. You can also go to monster.com or other job posting sites and search for jobs in your area in your field and see what they pay. Try searching for the company\u2019s name, and you may even find that they\u2019ve posted something with a salary in the past.<\/p>\n

And ask around. A friend who works in that industry or a recruiter who places people in your field may have information that is more first-hand and local.<\/p>\n

Then give your answer with honest information, but with your reasoning and spin.<\/p>\n

If you suspect the new job pays less than you made at your last job, you could say: \u201cMy last salary was $xx, which was the company\u2019s going rate for my level; however, money has always been low on my list of priorities, and I\u2019d never turn down an interesting job with a great company like this because of salary.\u201d A response like that gives them the information they have asked for, but it also lets them know money is not a motivator for you.<\/p>\n

If you suspect the new job might pay more than you\u2019ve made, you could say \u201cMy last company wasn\u2019t known for their high salaries; I made $xx plus bonuses when targets were met. I just want to know that my salary is in line with what other people at my level in the company are making. If I didn\u2019t trust a company to be fair, it wouldn\u2019t be the right place for me.\u201d That way, you\u2019ve let them know that what you want is going to be relative to what their company usually pays, and the ball is in their court.<\/p>\n

And if you think the salary level is probably comparable, just tell them what you made, and let them know that while you certainly won\u2019t turn down more money, it\u2019s not what motivates you, and that what you really care about is the content of the job and the kinds of people you\u2019ll be working with.<\/p>\n

Or you could stay very open, but without looking like you\u2019re being evasive, by saying \u201cI was making $xxK in my last job, but honestly, salary isn\u2019t a big factor to me. I\u2019m interviewing on one very interesting job that only pays $50K, but passed on another that paid $100K that I wouldn\u2019t want to do for twice the money. I like having the freedom to accept a job I really like, without having to worry about how much it pays, and this job looks like it could be a great fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re talking with them in person, you can follow up any of these statements with \u201cCan you tell me what your budgeted range is for this position?\u201d Remember, it\u2019s a conversation, and you\u2019ve shared, and you can ask them to share, too. You can then ask them what kind of experience and skills would get the top end of their range.<\/p>\n

Answers like these are informative and they show that you know what you want, and it\u2019s not money. What you really don\u2019t want to do is give an impression of desperation, or to have them feel that you\u2019d take anything and that you\u2019ll say anything to get the job. Even in tough times, employers want to hire the candidate who is making a thoughtful decision, because that person is much more likely to stick around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Leslie, I am talking to this company that I am very excited about, but I\u2019m not quite sure how to answer this question. I told the company in my cover note that \u201cI\u2019m fine with market rate for the job\u201d but they are insisting on me giving them a specific range of my salary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,23,6],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-articles","category-answers-to-your-job-search-questions","category-interviewing","tag-salary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejobsearchguru.com\/notesfrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}