Of course, when a job posting lists pay (which is often the case nowadays as a result of recent salary transparency laws), candidates can avoid applying if it’s out of their range. Unfortunately, not every employer has a culture of transparency surrounding pay, Fink says, so you might how to answer what are your salary expectations not encounter this hurdle until you apply or interview. I’m Josh Doody, a professional salary negotiation coach who helps High Earners negotiate their job offers. On average, High Earners improve their first-year compensation by $47,273 with my help.
Talk to People in Similar Roles or Industries
How you approach this interview question might be an indicator of how you approach problems at work — so be resourceful and strategic when answering. If you have room to be confident, then give them a higher number. On the other hand, if you really want to work there and don’t want to price yourself out of the running, a range is better, and you can negotiate from there. If you want to see how to handle the salary negotiation (final steps of the hiring process), we have a full lesson on this. For example, if you want to receive somewhere between $80,000 and $95,000, you can give a range of $85,000 — $100,000.
How to handle paper and online job applications
This is the most common objection I hear from recruiters who disagree with my advice on how to respond when asked for your current salary or salary expectations. Their concern is that they’ll invest lots of time—their time, hiring managers’ time, HR’s time—interviewing a candidate whose salary requirements exceed their hiring budget. Being prepared to answer «what are your compensation expectations» can greatly affect your negotiation and offer. Keep in mind to research your minimum acceptable salary, provide a range based on your value and market rates, justify it with examples, and be open to negotiation.
It put me in an awkward situation because according to company policy, I needed to stick to this offer. Crafting the perfect answer for the «what are your salary expectations» question is an alchemy, and even the most confident speakers can easily misstep. If you say a number, you should have something to back it up. The paycheck from your former employer, the statistics from a website that collects data of average salaries for various jobs, etc. Most often than not, you will find a salary range on the job offer.
Prepare your answer in 4 steps
Leadership roles often come with more complex compensation packages. Be prepared to discuss various components beyond base salary. Knowing how to negotiate your salary before a job interview can land you a higher-paying position. Perhaps this candidate wanted to follow that outdated advice of not giving the number first, but this answer is ludicrous. So learn from this example and remember that you need to research the local pay rates and industry and role averages before the interview. By giving such vague answers full of buzzwords that have little meaning, they’re putting all the power into the recruiter’s hands.
Know the Right Time You Encounter Salary Expectation Questions
Some individuals have a successful career, and although they are entertaining the idea of employment elsewhere, they may not need it. Asking for a higher range in salary can help weed out any lowballers that will not pay enough for the position. Sometimes employers love a candidate but cannot afford to hire them full-time. Countering with flexible work schedules can help both parties meet in the middle. Here are 10 ways to help you craft the perfect answer for your next job interview. You can then follow up with questions about the benefits that matter most to you like 401(k) matching or additional PTO.
Pay can come up in different ways in a job interview or application, and you can use different strategies on how to answer salary expectation questions (see below for more scripts and examples!). But no matter how you choose to respond, you should still know what your ideal salary is before this discussion arises. When you’re in the middle of a job interview or even filling out an application, not knowing how to answer “What are your salary expectations? You don’t want to say something too high and price yourself out of a job you want or need, and you don’t want to say something too low and end up not getting paid as much as you could or should be making. You might also be afraid that the interviewer will judge you harshly or unfairly based on your monetary choice.
- You might also be afraid that the interviewer will judge you harshly or unfairly based on your monetary choice.
- These questions are important because they help you to discover more about the company’s culture and whether you actually want to work there.
- Do a little research into market trends to provide them with an informed answer that will benefit you and the employer in the end.
- Show flexibility by offering a salary range instead of a specific number.
- For example, a graphic designer with six years of experience in New York will likely command a higher salary than a graphic designer with two years of experience in Cleveland.
- If you aren’t comfortable with a single number, you can also present a range.
- If you overestimate and tell them your salary expectation is $85,000, you may set off red flags that cause them to rethink the interview process altogether.
- Instead, convey that you have a clear understanding of your value and industry standards.
- The paycheck from your former employer, the statistics from a website that collects data of average salaries for various jobs, etc.
- These questions matter a ton, and how you answer them makes a huge difference in whether you’ll land a job.
- The only way for you to do the right thing is to be upfront and provide the range when they ask you.
- This answer demonstrates that you want to contribute to the company by taking on additional responsibilities and that you want to be well compensated for those contributions.
By doing this, you can gain a better understanding of whether you like the prospective job, team, hiring manager, and the company before deciding if it’s the right opportunity for you. The fact that you might not have years of industry experience doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t provide incredible value to a company. Here are some best answers you could consider when asked about your compensation expectations in a job interview. Without researching similar roles’ market value, you might misjudge your worth, resulting in unrealistic salary expectations. Compensation expectations are the amount of money and benefits a candidate expects for a specific role, including salary, bonuses, health insurance, and perks.
How to Answer the Interview Question “What Are Your Salary Expectations?”
Further down the line, there will come a time when you have to nail down a number. Hopefully, you can hold off getting to this point until the last possible minute, when you’ve had the opportunity to dig as much information about compensation out of them as possible. This is another situation where having done your research is critical, because you can use actual numbers to ask the interviewer a question instead.
So, although you do not want to seem desperate, you can still provide a vague answer to this common interview question. Comparing salaries with people in your network who have the job you want is another way to gain insight, Fink says. “Ideally, employers and recruiters would be upfront with salary information and volunteer it first, but that’s not often the case,” Fink adds. If you’re filling out a paper job application with questions about your current, previous, or expected salary, just leave those questions blank. Either the recruiter will just let it go, or they’ll verbally ask you for those numbers, and you can fall back on the scripts we covered earlier. Now it’s time for them to decide whether to extend a job offer.
