Great advice, but there's no need to memorize Ms. Trunks' suggested responses. Many years ago I gave a number when asked, and as a result started out with an outrageously low salary. I have learned my lesson: during my last job interview, when asked how much I expected to make, I just said flatly that since they are the ones making an offer, they should be able to come up with the number that would be included in that offer. The interviewer wasn't shocked or offended at all. I received an offer - with a number - the next day.

vered

Are these answers acceptable when companies require you to give them an answer to desired salary in the application/resume?

lesbiansayswhat

VERED: That exact thing happened to me, I must have tried 10 times to avoid the question and in each case where I tried to get them to say something first they just kept asking me. Eventually I decided that we all must move on with our lives and I blurted out a number which I thought wasn't too high, but not too low. The position was in a field I really wanted to break in to so really I would have taken anything.
Well, the number I blurted out was about 25% more than they wanted to pay as the guy immediately told me after I said a number. A totally unrecoverable situation (due only to the closed minded position taken up by the interviewer).
The only saving grace was that later in the interview this guy liked the sound of his voice so much that when he asked a technical question and I gave an answer he immediately said "no no that's wrong its..." and then proceeded to say the exact same thing I said. Something that clearly was not planned based on the look of the guy assisting with the interview. That and a few other things told me this was not someone I wanted to work for.

nakedcode

The funny thing about salary negotiations is that 99% of the time the company knows exactly what they're going to offer, so this question is purely for manipulative purposes: either weeding out people that shoot too high or for taking advantage of people that shoot too low.

edosan

I'm a recruiter and as part of my screening process. I have an initial conversation with every candidate about comp. I want to know a person's salary history and and how it's structured. Without the information, I can't truly tell whether my client is going to have the package to even get them to make a move and whether it's worth the time an energy for the candidate. The more specific, the better...

If they are the right person for the role, I need to coach my client on putting together an attractive offer, not a matching , or bottom of the range package. I've never felt that any candidate I've worked with left money on the table, and certainly have had to deal with a few clients who can't believe they stretched the range as far as they had to.

It always sounds like good advice and it is the way to negotiate in most cases, but in what I've experienced it sets a candidate up for not being considered or low initial offers.

nelking

I personally don't think this is very good advice.
For my current job I was refered by a friend at the company who had told me the salary was higher than what it actually was.
In the interview when I was asked what salary I would work for I just told them what I had been told the salary was. I managed to win them over in the interview and later received an offer phone call saying what the salary actually was. This is where I negotiated and came out at the high end of their bracket.
Point being if they really like you, which they should if they are gonna offer you the job, they will try to negotiate you down if you've asked for too much.

sacred_hoops

POTKETTLEBLACK: what if the interviewer says "I need a number before we can continue this interview"? Assuming you really want the job, what would you do?

vered

NEVER MENTION A SALARY RANGE. The possible outcomes are AWFUL:
1- You're in the neighborhood of their range: They will give you the bottom of your range, and you have left money on the table.
2- You're over their range: You will not get the job, you are overpriced.
3- You're under their range: Either you are not hired because you're not up to the value of the job, or you will have severely low balled yourself.

You should research the position before and have an idea of what they pay. Vault.com is a good resource for graduate degree type jobs. You can ask people at big companies about their salaries.

And you should never be the first to mention a number. Non-committal answers, "Something commensurate with the scope of work and my background," "A competitive salary and benefits package," "I think that's open to discussion." are all pretty good ways to shoot it back.

PotKettleBlack

CAPTAINCYNIC: just like in any negotiation, you can only stand your ground when you are willing to walk away. If you are not willing to walk away from a job, and the interviewer insists, then you are probably right - you will need to give a number.

vered

This advice is BS. I've seen dozens of instances where experts tell you not to mention a salary range. In the real world, it just doesn't work that way. I've been in situations where the prospective employer simply won't proceed with the interview process unless you provide an answer to the question. You try to avoid the question, you don't get a second interview, or sometimes even a first interview.

The only realistic way to handle this question is to have a good understanding of your value and the market salary for the job you are interviewing for. You tell them your range, then negotiate from there.

But, in the real world, not answering the question doesn't get you the job.

CaptainCynic

I have frequently seen advise like this in various columns. It looks like these articles are written by people who have no hiring experience and they surely haven't applied for a job in the 21st century.

In technical jobs, most of the recruitment has been outsourced. The companies float the requirements to their "preferred vendors" who in turn, float these requirements to their "preferred vendors" and so on. Finally, some recruiter in India, who doesn't know the difference between Oracle DBA and Oracle Apps DBA and who happens to find your resume on Monster, will call you. The first question is "what is your salary requirement?". There has been no discussion of any job profile, the requirements or anything. The employer has already given a number and the recruiter will try to match it. If you quote a number too high, it is not the end of the world. Most likely, you will get a counter offer right there and then. If it is acceptable, the recruiter will have you acknowledge the salary in writing upfront. Only now your resume has any chance of making it to the recruitment manager.

If you are looking for a tech job, best have salary numbers ready for every major city in the US. Be very upfront in quoting your salary requirements. If the counter offer is within a suitable range, it is fine. Otherwise, do not be afraid to say "no, your number does not work for me in xyz city".

It is total demand and supply and there is no need to apply any finesse. The company has already set a number. They will take whatever they get for that number. It is pathetic.

arungupta

I've read studies before that say the exact OPPOSITE of this advice. They showed that you getting hired was not attributed to asking salary at all, but instead attributed solely on interview skills and experience. I've read multiple times to always ask higher than what you're worth, because if they want you, they will negotiate a proper salary with you.

At my current job I asked for a ridiculous salary and somehow they thought it was reasonable and offered it to me.

PowerLlama

@mtaylor - that's exactly the world i left. actually, you'd be surprised how much room there is for negotiation in the k12 world, at least in illinois. I bumped starting positions $$ with negotiations by 8% my first position, about 10-12% my second district, and then also negotiated 5% over posted plus extra vacation weeks at a third district that i eventually turned down (felt a bit of a heel doing that after negotiations, but what are you going to do?).

Although they want you to believe that these figures are all set in stone, it really comes down to how much did they actually budget, and are they willing to go back to the school board and either request more or justify the extra expenditure if necessary?

TechTalk WRLR 98.3FM

I'll chip in with my 'nay' on this advice also ... I just recently (6 months ago) switched jobs from public to corporate, so it was difficult to know what would be a reasonable figure. I was asked the question 'how much do you want' in different ways from nearly every interview I went on that progressed past the first one.

I was fortunate enough to be offered a position early on that I turned down, so my response after that was to say that "other firms have offered me in the range of $nnnK ... however I was unable to accept their offers." This set a good ground level for negotiation without pinning me in - and no one ever asked if the reason I didn't accept was due to money, so I never clarified.

Although I was telling the truth, if you have a good idea of your worth and what you want you could probably shade this a bit and come off as interested in negotiation but also aware of your value.

And you should never begin negotiaion for salary if you don't know what you will be happy to accept, what you'd just be OK with if you got, and what you figure you would not take regardless of other perqs and benes.

BTW the position I eventually accepted offered me to the penny what I had decided prior to negotiations what I would be happy to accept.

TechTalk WRLR 98.3FM

The concept of salary negotiation and leaving money on the table simply doesn't work in some fields, like education (K-12 and higher ed). Quite simply, a lot of universities or school districts have standard base salaries at each job level for all new employees. If you are offered the position, you are offered the standard salary, take it or leave it. Increases may be based on merit and experience, but starting salary is not.

In these types of situations, there is almost no room for negotiation, at least until you get to the senior management level, such as VP or dean. And even then, most of the "negotiation" is for extra vacation time, conference attendance, travel expenses, work-from-home options, etc. - not straight salary.

That being said, if you are asked what your salary range is, you can counter with a higher than expected amount and simply say it's negotiable after you learn more about the position. This leaves the door open for them to "talk you down" and keep you in the running if they like your qualifications.

mtaylor924

It's called 'anchoring' a negotiation. You determine the range in which negotiations will occur (or really, whomever throws out a number first is anchoring the negotiation.)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting your salary expectations. The key, as in all sales jobs (and if you are job hunting, you are indeed in sales)is to have properly built value before naming price.

I've walked away, as you must at times. And I have always gotten the offer within my acceptable range.

The acceptable range is where most candidates fall down. If you don't know your acceptable range, and don't have facts to back it up, you are not prepared to negotiate and shouldn't be interviewing.

All money negotiations are the same. You do your homework and set a range for yourself. You want to end in the high end of the range, the opponent in the low. It's no different from buying a car or a house. Same process.

theysaidwhat

Well, I think it needs to be a case by case basis. If you have any decent interview and interpersonal skills, you can get a feel for how you should react. I am sure there are situations where you need to keep your mouth shut.

However, let me just cite a personal example. I was offered a certain amount and through discussion of my experience and what I felt I could bring to the company, I negotiated a 31% increase by saying what I was worth.

Then, when it came time for my review and raise discussion, I had a candid talk with my boss and in talking about what I thought I was worth, what I could be making, etc, I found out what type of potential pay I could see over the next few years (in addition to gaining a greater sense of job security). Then he hinted at what he was thinking of giving me and I simply said, well $xx would really make me happy...and that is how I ended up with a 24% raise instead of a 14% raise.

Just my $0.02. Good luck job hunters and raise seekers!

criticman

Our sales teacher said just that, if you say a price they will lower it... if they say it you can then bargain.

Don't you dare to sell yourself cheap!

whiskey

I was asked this question when applying for my current job and I had no idea how to answer it. I was moving from the service industry (a country club, to be specific, where the pay was hourly versus tip-based) to non-commissioned retail. I didn't want to low-ball myself, nor did I want to price myself out. At the time I didn't know where to look to find out what the average pay was. I told them what I started at in my previous job ($7.50/hour), how long I had been there (4 years), and what I was currently making ($12.50/hour, with an obnoxious amount of overtime). I also told them that if they were willing and able to move towards what I was making at my then-current job, I'd be willing to leave, after all we've all got bills to pay, right? Ultimately, I got something above the median for that field in my area, but less than what I was making at my other job, which is basically exactly what I expected.

I suppose, technically, I failed at that negotiation, but I'm all right with that because I'm much happier where I am now - and that was a trade-off I was willing to make.

AndrewH

@CaptainCynic: I agree with you 100%. You need to know the value of your skill set. Ive been in situations where I've actually asked for a salary higher than what I should have gotten, but then justified it with confidence in my experience and work ethic. If I was interviewing someone and they didn't provide a specific number, I would just say "Okay then you're willing to work for free. Great! So when can you start?" This whole thing boils down to knowing your profession and being proactive about fully researching your trade.

Joseph

At one of my early career interviews, my now ex-boss, realizing that i was quite green, pressed me for a salary range. I was sent in by a recruiting agency and told clearly to avoid discussing salary, but my ex-boss kept pressing me.
I gave him my range (which was quite lower than market), and guess what - they offered me not a penny more than the lower end of the range. Luckily I had other offers and the recruiter leveraged that fact to negotiate a salary that was 20% higher.

Nowadays I just say something along the lines of 'Well I'm not entirely certain because each organization places a different value on this role, so I really can't pin down how much you want me to work here.' This reminds the interviewer that THEY want YOU to work there and its up to them to make the decision. If you let it look like you need them more than they need you, you're gonna get screwed over anyway both in terms of salary and your career.

Dravidian

If you apply for a federal government job you'll see the salary range in the job announcement (if not, the job's grade will be listed and you can look up the range using a public salary table.

Outtacontext

Joseph: If someone said that to me, I'd treat him like a complete fool and walk out of the interview.

TheOptimizer

After reading this article, I started checking out other articles on this site. One of the articles was, "How to turn an interview into a job..." and one of their suggestions was:

4. Go to the gym. Taking charge of the first 15 seconds of an interview is critical. An interviewer will judge you first and most significantly on non-verbal cues, and having a great interview outfit alone may not be enough to make the best impression. This is because thin, good-looking people are more likely to get hired than overweight, less attractive people.

After reading that I have lost all respect for the authors of this website. Sorry but employers are not looking for a date, they are looking for the best candidate for a position.

jasonleduc

I always hated the "what did you make in your last position" question... seems like something you would be expected to answer and, at the time, I couldn't think of any good way out of the question. Stinks even more when the company you're with isn't quite competitive with the market, but the future employer is...

auto_exec

Clearly, you want to go to an interview with an idea of the salary range from your networking and researching. It is obvious that the employer has a budget in mind for the job, or they would not be hiring. When the employer presses for a salary, you can certainly state a figure, knowing that you will either price yourself out of the job or be paid less than what the job might have offered. Neither of these scenarios are productive for someone trying to earn a living!

So, it would seem that the advice to avoid stating a figure is correct, and that you should be prepared to have good answers to the question about your salary requirements. Suggesting that your current or past jobs were special circumstances (implying that you were paid a lot), or that you are most interested in working for a solid, or creative, or (fill in the blank) company with good benefits (assuming you know they have good benefits) is a perfectly reasonable answer. Today, people are looking for jobs with flexibility, working with good people and for good companies with nice perks. Salary isn't necessarily the key factor, and there is nothing wrong with saying so in an interview.

Be prepared if you want to have any chance of "winning" this question. The ball is really in your court. Since there are few balls in your court during a job hunt, don't toss this one away!

Miriam Salpeter, Keppie Careers
Resume Writing and Career Coaching
www.keppiecareers.com
wwww.keppiecareers.wordpress.com

Keppie

In my experience as a hiring manager, I've asked for salary history. The reason for asking for salary history is an INTEGRITY CHECK. If the candidate says s/he's received X at his/her last employer, I'd call the employer to verify. I would do this only if the candidate is going through the final round.

Another reason is that there is usually a range in mind and if the candidate names something that is out of the range, it will count against them during the final analysis. I'd hate to hire someone who started off feeling that they were making less money than they were making previously, unless there was a compelling reason (career change, lifestyle accomodations).

The problem here is GREED on both sides. Employees want to make as much money as possible, employers want to pay their staff as little as possible. My advice to job seekers is research the field and position so that you have a credible idea of what the market rate for that position is, and use that.

Lefty63

@PowerLlama and others: I'm with you -- my salary negotiation philosophy has long been "make them gasp" by erring on the high side of what I think I deserve. Of course, I'm usually not out of the realm of possibility, so that helps, but I can't think of a time where aiming high seems to have cost me a job offer. On the contrary, I can think of several times where I ended up with offers that made me do little happy dances.

I'm sure it wouldn't work in every case -- people without relevant work experience might not be able to pull it off, and obviously if your references aren't good, you're probably not going to get an offer no matter what -- but if you're qualified for the job and you know it, I believe it pays to show it.

kateoneill