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It’s a question we all know is coming and many of us are unprepared to answer: “So, what is your salary expectation for this job?” How do you answer the question without sounding too greedy?  Or too cheap?  Is there a wrong answer? (Note: Yes, there is.) Can you avoid the question and focus on it later in the interview process?  You can, but there may not be a ‘later’ if you can’t – or won’t – provide an answer.  Fortunately, you can tackle the trepidation in answering the salary question, but it involves gaining a better understanding of the situation first.

Understanding the Question:

The salary question is designed to figure out whether you fit within their budget.  In fact, it would be counter-productive for a company to try and ‘low-ball’ you on a starting salary.  Think about it…if you started a position at, let’s say, $45,000/year, how long do you think it would take for you to discover that the guy in the next cubicle – doing the same work – is making $60,000/year?  Now the company has a disgruntled worker on their hands, or worse yet, you simply quit.  All that time and effort (and money) spent to recruit and train you is lost.  As much as possible, companies want to bring you on with a salary somewhere near the current market rate.

Understanding the Market Rate:

To effectively answer the question, you need to educate yourself on the market rate for a specific position.  For example, if you’re up for an administrative assistant job, find out how much admin assistants typically get paid in your area.  Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources available to you.  Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, and even the Bureau of Labor Statistics can all help in identifying salary range.  Of course, you have to consider the specific job requirements as well (for example, an executive admin assistant makes considerably more).  If we plug our example into these three sites, it looks something like this:

Each of these sites has their benefits and drawbacks – the BLS site, for example, doesn’t distinguish between full- and part-time positions.  Looking at the other two, however, you can start to gauge what the “going rate” is.  Now it’s time to figure out where you fit in that range.

Understanding Your Value:

Knowing your value is important during your job search as well as during the screening/hiring process.  If you believe your value is $80,000/year, don’t waste your time applying to $45,000/year jobs.  However, you’ll want to make sure you’re qualified to nab one of those higher paying jobs – be careful not to over-value your skills and experience.

Once you’re in the screening/hiring process, and once you know the general range for the position, it’s up to you to figure our your value within that range.  A good place to start is with the median salary, then add or subtract from there.  Are you new to this career field?  Do you meet many, but not all of the job requirements?  Then perhaps you ask for the median salary or slightly below.  Is the position something you have a lot of experience doing?  Then perhaps you favor the higher end of the salary range.  It’s also fine to give them a general idea versus a specific number – for example: “I’d be comfortable in the $45,000 to $50,000 range.” Be careful not to price yourself out of the job.  If you know the market rate is $35,000 – $45,000/year, don’t say you’re looking for $60,000/year.  They simply can’t afford you at that salary.  At the same time, don’t under-value yourself. What that does instead is make you look desperate or sends the message that you don’t believe you are worth the market rate.

Having the dreaded salary conversation with a potential employer can be stressful, but these three steps can help you through it!

If you’re looking for more job search assistance, click here or call 855-994-8300 to learn more about National Able Network’s no-cost services!