Salary expectations

[Buzz84]

I am at a stage where I feel like a change is needed, no progression here and various other reasons. to be closer to home get off shift work and to have improved family time life (got a 2 year old and no2 is on the way) .

10 years ago when I got my current job, all the adverts simply stated a salary or a salary range it was all simple and straight forward. I just cannot get my head around the way job applications all seem to ask the applicant to submit a salary expectation.

It feels like I am bidding for the job! What if I am too high? have i undersold myself? Could my application be binned before even being processed just based on that number? or could they interview and then offer at a lower salary that they wanted to pay all along? (which begs the question why ask in the first place...)

I looking to apply for something that's different but related, it's would be promotion and working 8 till 4 so I don't really know where to pitch it.

I have worked out what I could afford to drop too (the lost shift pay will be a lot more than any supervisor related pay, plus the company I work for pay well) but don't want to sell myself short with a figure when they might have paid for more. Or ask too much and get overlooked.

With the vast knowledge on PH I am sure there are some HR/employeers/recruiters on here that might help enlighten me a bit.

[parabolica]

This popped up in on my YouTube recommends this morning as it happens: https://youtu.be/WChxbBSlWnQ

Take with a pinch of salt but he makes a few good points.

[alorotom]

Underselling is probably the biggest risk and the job market in the UK plays on the uncomfortableness of discussing money that is innately bred into people.

Ive approached it by being brutally honest. Any change I make I want X+10% as a minimum and thats my starting point.

In recent conversations I have stated a package overall value and said Id be happy to commence negotiations in Y ballpark, depending on other benefits etc...

[QuartzDad]

Buzz84 said:

I have worked out what I could afford to drop too

Good start. 'Afford to' and 'want to' are two different things though. Assume the next company are tight with raises, can you still 'afford' the same number in two years bearing in mind your costs are only going to go one way?

Buzz84 said:

but don't want to sell myself short with a figure when they might have paid for more.

Start off above your 'afford to' level to give yourself some negotiating room. Be as sure as you can about the company and the people, they can make a positive or negative impact that massively outweighs a few % on the salary.

Buzz84 said:

Or ask too much and get overlooked.

Rare IMO. If they won't pay what you are worth, what the market currently supports, then it’s their loss not yours.

[Buzz84]

parabolica said:

This popped up in on my YouTube recommends this morning as it happens: https://youtu.be/WChxbBSlWnQ

Take with a pinch of salt but he makes a few good points.

That was very interesting, Thank you. sort of confirms my thinking that its pretty much just another test that needs passing to get my application processed.

he range suggestion seems good, though be does seem to suggest an extremely wide one $60k-$120k well i guess with that range you cannot be wrong, but the answer is pretty useless lol

[Buzz84]

QuartzDad said:

Buzz84 said:

I have worked out what I could afford to drop too

Good start. 'Afford to' and 'want to' are two different things though. Assume the next company are tight with raises, can you still 'afford' the same number in two years bearing in mind your costs are only going to go one way?

Buzz84 said:

but don't want to sell myself short with a figure when they might have paid for more.

Start off above your 'afford to' level to give yourself some negotiating room. Be as sure as you can about the company and the people, they can make a positive or negative impact that massively outweighs a few % on the salary.

Buzz84 said:

Or ask too much and get overlooked.

Rare IMO. If they won't pay what you are worth, what the market currently supports, then it’s their loss not yours.

Yes very true, there are several other factors to be included too, some can be quantified like less commuting and associated costs as well as those money "cant buy" things like more quality family time and being home to support my wife with a newborn, mental well being etc.But at the bottom line we all have bills to pay.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

What do people put when they ask "desired salary"? I'm tempted to go with £3m. £4m would go to my head but £2m isn't really enough.

OK, I know I'm not going to get that as a shelf stacker but they did ask.

[Tall_Blk]

I usually ask them to make me an offer and I’ll consider it. If they really like you they tend to anyway. There are a lot of factors that has to be taken into consideration and i always mention it’s about the full package and not just the baseline figures.

When I changed job a few years ago, the offer I accepted wasn’t the best of the bunch I received but in terms of work life balance, it was an absolute Peach and to date I have no regrets as I get to see the children every evening before bed.

An employer that does not put a value on you is not one I’ll consider working for as you will find yourself requesting for pay rises instead of them simply offering it.

[anonymous-user]

There are a lot of variables that have the potential to impact the answer.

I had this recently regarding a prospective contract that could be in a verity of locations throughout the world. How is anyone supposed to give a clear and concise X amount when you could end up in some st hole dangerous country or some expensive European city or perhaps some cheap as chips paradise?

Same goes with commuting, responsibilities, training etc etc. All impact upon what I would or would not accept in terms of remuneration so I would put the ball in their court for sure. Or simply pitch it high and take things from there.

[iphonedyou]

alorotom said:

Underselling is probably the biggest risk and the job market in the UK plays on the uncomfortableness of discussing money that is innately bred into people.

Ive approached it by being brutally honest. Any change I make I want X+10% as a minimum and thats my starting point.

In recent conversations I have stated a package overall value and said Id be happy to commence negotiations in Y ballpark, depending on other benefits etc...

Is 'X' your current salary?

For me this doesn't play that well. I don't really care what your current employer pays you. You could be undervalued, overvalued, whatever; rather I care what you're worth to my business.

[StuTheGrouch]

iphonedyou said:

alorotom said:

Underselling is probably the biggest risk and the job market in the UK plays on the uncomfortableness of discussing money that is innately bred into people.

Ive approached it by being brutally honest. Any change I make I want X+10% as a minimum and thats my starting point.

In recent conversations I have stated a package overall value and said Id be happy to commence negotiations in Y ballpark, depending on other benefits etc...

Is 'X' your current salary?

For me this doesn't play that well. I don't really care what your current employer pays you. You could be undervalued, overvalued, whatever; rather I care what you're worth to my business.

That's an uplift in salary to make it worthwhile changing jobs, factoring all the risks involved in doing so. If your value of that individual is less than X + 10% then you will probably need to find someone else.

[iphonedyou]

I might well think they're worth X + 10%.

But it won't be because another employer, in a different business, at a different time, agreed to pay them X for doing what is probably a slightly different job.

[boyse7en]

iphonedyou said:

I might well think they're worth X + 10%.

But it won't be because another employer, in a different business, at a different time, agreed to pay them X for doing what is probably a slightly different job.

Well that's fine, because you wouldn't place a job advert asking people to state what they want as a salary, you would place a job ad that stated the salary your were prepared to pay for the role. Anyone who didn't think it was enough wouldn't apply.

[iphonedyou]

boyse7en said:

Well that's fine, because you wouldn't place a job advert asking people to state what they want as a salary, you would place a job ad that stated the salary your were prepared to pay for the role. Anyone who didn't think it was enough wouldn't apply.

We typically state a range, then make a call dependent on the individual. Pretty common approach.

[StuTheGrouch]

Definitely a better approach than stating "competitive" or other such nonsense.