Requirement to provide salary details at application stage: Why do
employers ask you to provide your salary details when you apply for a job? To
screen, remember? They don’t want to waste the time talking to you if they
can’t "afford" you in their budget stage. Your best approach to their ads is
to acknowledge their need to screen, then stick to your principles about
postponing money until there’s a match.
So in your cover letter write something like: "I understand you’ve
requested a salary history. I’m paid roughly the market value of a [job title]
with X years’ experience and, though I’m not willing to publish my
compensation package, I’d be happy to discuss it in an interview. I don’t
think salary will be a problem." Then in the interview say, "The amount of
responsibility looks right, here, and since I’d be interested in fitting into
your salary structure I’m sure we can come to a good agreement. Let’s discuss
the job and the match for the moment."
The same applies to an application form. When it asks for salary
expectations, write "Open." When it asks for previous salary history, leave it
blank. If it says, "Fill in blank and answer every question," put
"Competitive" with an asterisk in the salary slot and a note at the bottom
saying: I'll be glad to discuss this personally in an interview." In
the interview say, "I’d be glad to discuss it in the hiring interview.
I don’t think salary will be a problem. Let’s see how I can help you."
Discussing Salary at Interviews: what do you usually say when you’re asked:
"What are you earning now?" or "What did you earn last year?" These are very
difficult questions to answer and you must be very careful. If you give too
much information, you will paint yourself into a corner when it comes to
salary and compensation negotiations.
Don't allow yourself to be badgered by the salary issue. Even today, it's
still not uncommon to hear the old refrain: "Our policy is not to pay a new
employee more than X% higher than he/she is currently making." Sorry, that
doesn't fly. The real issue, and the only one at stake here, is whether or not
your prospective employer is willing to pay WHAT YOU ARE WORTH. And, your
worth is a function of the job itself and your capability and willingness to
perform it.
In most organizations, there are clear parameters for a given job, a range
of salary that is adjustable depending upon the market and the applicant's
experience. In most cases, unless you are very good, you will have to work
within those limits. But, within the limits, what you are worth is a matter of
mutual agreement based on your own knowledge of your worth and your ability to
convince those interviewing you. So, to sum it up: Know the range of
compensation for the job you're seeking, make your own realistic determination
of what you're worth, and then be prepared to stand your ground.
During job interviews always follow Salary-Making Rule 1: Postpone
salary discussions until you have been offered the job. However, during
information-gathering interviews, salary discussions can sometimes be
appropriate. Occasionally, people will want to know your salary expectations
as a way of understanding what level of work you want and are able to handle.
That brings up the question of how to ask for salary information when
you’re not interviewing for a job. In the US and UK, discussing one’s
salary is practically taboo in social conversation. People are curious about
who’s making what, but are too afraid to ask. So when you offer a
you-tell-me-yours-and-I’ll-tell-you-mine deal, it’s too good to pass up. Even
then you’ll be getting only a range, with their salaries situated anonymously
in the middle.
People often attach identity, status, value, and prestige to their incomes,
so revealing them can be scary, too intimate. I know counselors, lawyers,
mechanics, and even baby sitters who are too shy to ask peers what they charge
per hour. Nevertheless, if you intend to add a networking approach to your
job-hunting campaign, you’ll need to discuss salary with your contacts. It
will probably feel awkward to discuss it and awkward to avoid it, but you need
to discuss it.
Keep in mind again that your salary is linked to your level of
responsibility. You need to treat salary as a thermometer; you’ll be telling
people how much heat you can take. Before you seriously talk to people on your
job hunt, do some research in the library and in publications that advertise
for the kinds of jobs you are seeking. Look at the jobs and ask yourself which
one you realistically think you could best handle. Get the range by looking it
up. Then do a reality check on your expectations by discussing your findings
on information-gathering interviews such as calls to recruitment agencies.
If you are really put on the spot, the short answer is that I suggest using
ballpark figures. Example: "Last year, I was in the ballpark of the middle
100s’." Or you may be able to twist it slightly by answering that you’d rather
talk about expectations. Then go on to say: "My expectation is that I am
compensated at a level commensurate with my expertise and proven track record,
and at a level comparable to similar positions elsewhere."
What if They Get Angry with Me?: People sometimes say, "If I don’t answer
the salary question, the interviewer will get angry with me, and then I’ll
never get the job!" Sometimes they’re right. Indeed, some interviewers
declare a staunch inflexibility about their budgets right away by announcing
things like:
A) "This position pays X dollars; there’s no negotiation. If that’s not
acceptable to you, then let’s end the interview ~‘
B) "I absolutely have to know your current earnings," or
C) "This application must be filled out completely before the
interview can proceed."
They may feel frustrated that they can’t screen you. Sometimes you’ll
notice that your interviewer seems perturbed, thinks you’re not being
cooperative. You worry that that will get in the way of building the rapport
essential to being hired.
What should you do? Should you go first?
First, let me say that inflexibility is the exception. You will find most
interviewers quite amenable to postponing salary talk once they’re assured
that you’ll accept a fair market-value salary.
Second, odds are that they’re worried you’re too expensive. (People rarely
get upset about your being too inexpensive.) As long as you know that
you’re interviewing at, or that there’s potential to reach, the right level of
responsibility, it’s to your advantage that the company worry about
affording you!
You may find circumstances in which discussing the "dollar size" of the job
will help position you better. So, if salary talk won’t screen you out and you
think it will help the employer think bigger, you can share your target market
value before there’s an offer. But if you just want to tell to avoid tension,
think again.
A word about tension: Use your common sense to avoid escalating tension to
anger. Postponing salary talk is generally the best option. But even if
you do decide to discuss it up front, remember you still can be committed to
negotiating later anyway. Poorly executed negotiations are thousands of
dollars more valuable than no negotiations at all. So if you’re tempted to go
first, to discuss price before value just to placate the interviewer, think
twice, then decide.
When you do find yourself in that tension in an interview, remember that,
without thinking, your old habits will be in charge and are likely to steer
you to the path of least resistance: giving in. If your habits are controlling
you, you will feel like going first. If you act on those feelings or on your
considered judgment, here are three ways to handle that impulse: least
effective (and easiest), better, and best.
Least Effective: The least effective way is to cave in and
reveal your salary history or requirements. You risk losing several thousand
dollars in that ten-second conversation, and you risk being screened out as
too cheap or too expensive. Coughing up a salary figure will get you off the
hook, but since it compromises the principles of being hired on value, not
price, it’s not a tremendously positive sign that you’re starting a virtuous
cycle.
If, however, you do choose the least effective method, at least
discuss your salary expectations (not your history). Determine
your market value and communicate a range: "Well, I expect a fair salary for
this kind of position. My research indicates a range of X dollars to Y
dollars, but every job is unique, so let’s discuss the job and my potential in
it. Then we’ll both have a better idea of my value."
Better: If you choose to bypass Salary-Making Rule 1 (in which
you wait for an offer), there’s still a chance to follow Salary-Making
Rule 2 (in which the interviewer goes first). When the company is adamant
about discussing salary, you can probe its budget and say that it’s a good
starting point. For example: "My salary expectations? They’re simple: a fair
market value. Perhaps you could help me there; what is the range you’re
thinking of? I’d be glad to tell you if it fits."
When you get the range, say, ‘That’s in the ball park; I’m sure we can make
a good salary agreement if you want to hire me. Let’s keep talking."
If they STILL play coy, your first response should be to
summarize the responsibility the position:
Let me see if I understand all that is involved with this position an d
job. I would be expected to xxxxxxxxx. Have I covered everything or are there
other responsibilities I should know about?
This response focuses the salary question around the value of position
in relation to you. After the interviewer responds to your final question,
answer the initial salary expectation question in manner:
What is the normal range in your
company for a position such as this?
This question establishes the value as well as the
range for position or job - two important pieces of information you
before proceeding further into the salary negotiation stage. employer
normally will give you the requested salary range. he or she does,
depending on how you feel about the figure, can follow up with one more
question:
What would be the normal salary range for someone
with my qualifications?
This question establishes the value for the individual
versus position. This line of questioning should yield the employer's
salary expectations without revealing your desired salary and also
indicates whether the employer distinguishes between individuals and
positions when establishing salary figures.
At this stage, if you are prepared to state your expected
salary, you can either state a specific figure or a salary range. It's
preferable to state a range. Your best strategy is to place the top of the
employer's range at the bottom of your range. This gives you common ground
from which to negotiate the final offer. If you do this, you should be
able to increase your salary above the employer's norm.
The preemptive strike is similar to this "let them go first" option. The
difference is that instead of turning the tables on the interviewer, you
initiate salary talk so you’re never in the position of answering the
question in the first place.
Here is one way to handle it: I instructed one client of mine to begin
her networking interviews with a salary discussion. Since she was working
for a temporary-services agency, she could be mistaken for an
eight-dollar-an-hour gofer unless she made her potential clear. She started
her conversations with a statement like: "I know I’m able to handle
responsibilities that pay in the high thirties. I’m flexible about where I
start and I’m interested in talking with you to identify paths to that end. If
I’m valuable to you, I’m sure that finding a fair salary will take care of
itself."
Here’s how the preemptive strike works. After you have developed some
rapport with the interviewer and have had some discussions about your skills,
the job, etc, you casually pop this question, "By the way, Mr Employer, I know
it’s too early to discuss compensation in detail, but I know it’s too early to
discuss compensation in detail, but I wonder if you can give me a rough idea
of the range you were thinking of with regard to this position?"
It doesn’t matter what they answer! Later, when you get to the "judgit"
stage you’ll still be able to negotiate your best price. What does matter is
that by getting them to spill the beans, you avoid them asking you what your
salary expectations are. On the other hand, this option runs a small risk of
appearing more interested in money than the job and the risk, too, of them
turning the tables and asking about your expectations.
And once they’ve answered? The following response will steer you back on
the main road, Thank you. I’m confident if I’m the right person for the job we
can find a salary that works." Then focus attention back on the job interview
with, "Tell me more about the key problems you want handled on this job." Or,
"Let’s discuss the management style your company wants to see." Any question
that puts the interviewer back on exploring the match between you and the
job/company will do.
Notice how this question and reply not only helps the employer relax about
being able to afford you, but also postpones real salary discussion until
later. Properly done, your reply doesn’t accept the range as-is, you’re still
free to negotiate more.
Best: Stick to your principles. You don’t have to answer every
single question an interviewer asks; you’re not on the witness stand. Often
you can defuse discomfort by commenting on it, like: "I find talking about
money at this point awkward. Perhaps you do, too? I hope I’m not upsetting you
by asking to postpone it."
This "best" kind of response takes practice. Most people have interviewing
habits, and most often they have the specific one of answering every question
they’re asked, as if the interviewer really knows what to ask! I have
news for you. Interviewers ad out of habit, too!
Worst: here’s an example of what not to do: Tom, "Well, that’s
what I thought. It makes me want to clear up a misunderstanding we may have
had earlier in our discussions. When you asked me, ‘Where are you now?’ I
responded $95,000. You should know that that was the value of my entire
compensation package, including projected year-end bonuses and benefits. My
actual base salary is $75,000. if you think this discrepancy would have any
adverse effect on the Atlanta company’s offer, we should clear it up now."
Recruiter, ‘That’s terrible! Why did you say that? Now I’m in a bind with
the Atlanta company. That means they’d be giving you a 60-percent raise!
They’ll never go for that." He continued to vent for a while.
Mind you, this was a top recruiter from a high-end, well-respected,
IBM-of-the-industry retained-search firm. He was basing the offer on
current earnings, not the freely agreed-upon market value!
The short of it is that the company did rescind the offer. In my
opinion, it was not because the money wasn’t right but because the company
insisted on people who could be absolutely trusted in those positions, so
didn’t want to start a relationship from a "Well, I lied" foundation.
End of story.
So what do we learn from this?
If Tom had held firm in the beginning he might have avoided that trap. He
could have said, "I can’t disclose my exact earnings now but, let me tell you,
it’s a lot! What’s more important is my worth in a next move. I’ve researched
the industry, and I think my next move should be to responsibilities paying
anywhere between $110,000 and $175,000. That total package would be composed
of a significant base and good performance incentives. The actual dollar
number will depend on location—the colder the climate is, the more money I’ll
need—overall growth potential of the position, range of autonomy, visibility
in the industry, benefits, perks, relocation package, signing bonus, and many
other factors. Why don’t we see if I like the job and, if they like me first,
salary won’t be an issue for the right job. What is the company?"
This response is honest, clear, based on research, and completely avoids
current earnings. Will a recruiter buy it? Maybe; maybe not. It’s worth a try.
Salary Boxes: Sometimes you’ll be negotiating with a company that has
compensation all figured out ahead of time. Perhaps it has implemented the Hay
system, or the ranges have been set by law—public-sector positions are often
confined so— and you fit into a category. Teaching positions are
systematically boxed into academic degrees and years of experience. Each box
has its own salary attached. The federal government has grades and steps
within grades; positions are assigned a rating of G.S. 8, G.S. 9, and so on,
and a standard salary.
You can negotiate these, though it’s harder. If you can’t change the
salary attached to the box, perhaps you can change the box. Doesn’t your
volunteer work with Great Books and your adult-education class work really add
up to another year of teaching experience? Perhaps your two years in that
inner-city school is equivalent to three or four years of normal teaching. (It
took several years off your life, that’s for sure!)
The other strategy to use is reassigning the grade itself. The earlier in
the formation stages a job is, the easier it is to do that. If the job has
been classified as G.S. 5 for years and years, it’s unlikely you can make a
case for upgrading it, unless you can negotiate some added responsibilities to
it. But if it’s a new position, you might be able to show how it really should
be upgraded.
