WHAT ARE YOUR SALARY REQUIREMENTS?
April 24th, 2008
The answers you put down for Current Salary and Desired Salary have more impact on your eventual offer, than anything you say during your interview. The current salary can be verified so you don’t want to misrepresent the amount. You should not include bonuses, incentives and other perks unless they are guaranteed. List your base salary and put plus signs next to the amount. When you are asked what the plus sign mean, you explain those represent your bonuses, incentives, perks, etc.
When an application form asks you to list your desired salary, you should put “open” “negotiable” “depends on entire package” or any answer other than a specific dollar amount. If you list a salary that is too high, you have eliminated yourself from contention before you even know if your interested or if their benfits more than make up for a lower salary. If you list an amount too low, you will leave money on the table.
With over thirty years of experience as a recruiter, I can tell you we NEVER know what a job will actually pay. It depends on how well “you interview!” If we sent someone who aces the interview and our client feels there is no learning curve, dollars go up. If the interview went “okay” and the client identifies red flags or a learning curve, dollars go down. That is why it is so critically important that your desired salary is vague until after the initial interviewing process.
Barb Bruno, CPC, CTS
