The salary expectations game

[Inbox]

So how do people handle this one?

I think it is a bit of trap and people generally either under-value their worth and get stiffed or go over and don't get the role. I have looked at Glassdoor and others trying to get a view but the role is quite niche.

Is it better to not play the game and defer such discussions until later in the process or does not playing the game put you off the field?

Thoughts appreciated.

[FlyVintage]

Presumably the application has already asked for your current salary and has been advertised with a salary range? In that case you could merely state that you would be seeking an uplift commensurate with the increased role responsibilities etc. There is no need to be specific, but equally, you don’t want to waste your time on a role that has no prospect of meeting your expectations.

[BritishBlitz87]

Alas I am at the stage of my career where the pay negotiations generally consist of "This is what you're getting, like it or sod off"

But really the whole thing is a slimy practice. Advertise a salary and give the job to the best applicant who deems it sufficient. If none of the applicants are good enough, advertise a higher salary

Personally I'm of the opinion that salaries should be made public.

[Inbox]

They haven't advertised a salary or a salary range, there was a box in the online form that wouldn't accept a range so got sent in with it blank.

Received an email asking for my expectations, I do know if I put my previous salary in I would get tagged as 'too expensive'.

Now my skills, knowledge, etc is known to the company, the role is quite different to previous roles but I use existing skills and knowledge in a different way.

I am under no illusions about a salary hair cut but how big a cut do I accept or offer.

[FlyVintage]

Inbox said:

I am under no illusions about a salary hair cut but how big a cut do I accept or offer.

Short of being in a current position of having no job at all, why on earth would you consider a salary haircut to be necessary?

[Inbox]

FlyVintage said:

Inbox said:

I am under no illusions about a salary hair cut but how big a cut do I accept or offer.

Short of being in a current position of having no job at all, why on earth would you consider a salary haircut to be necessary?

a) because I don't have a job.
b) different organisations have different depth pockets.
c) hiring market is difficult for obvious reasons.

Priority here is get a job.

[FlyVintage]

The trouble with positions advertised without salary range is that even if you do reply with an expectation, recruitment is often a multi stage process. At what point do you insist on an answer? 1st interview? 4th interview? They’ll just play you along and offer below your stated expectation knowing that you have invested significant time and money in the process already. The reality is often that there is no indication of salary for a reason.

Of course, none of that helps your initial question. For that, you could just indicate your minimum, plus 10% for negotiation, but that would seriously devalue anyone’s position.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Inbox said:

So how do people handle this one?

I think it is a bit of trap and people generally either under-value their worth and get stiffed or go over and don't get the role.

This has been me, my whole life. I absolutely hate job interviews, so once I get offered a job I usually just say yes to the salary immediately.

A few years ago I was sent a job by a recruitment agent which sounded interesting. He asked me what I was currently on, I told him and said that was more than they were offering, but he would see what he could do.

So I had the initial interview over the phone and then did an online C# test. I obviously did well on the test because I got a job offer at my current salary (apparently higher than they were initially offering. I decided I was reasonably happy in my current job, so decided to turn it down. The agent called me, asked me why I didn't want it and said he would try and get more money, next thing I know he is offering me another £5K over their initial offer. I turn it down and in the end had to block his phone number as he wouldn't leave me alone.

It was a very eye opening experience, so clearly when you are not that bothered and don't take the first offer there is more money on the table. Made me seriously think about how many underpaid jobs I had had, and how the other members of staff were probably higher paid than me.

I don't really know why jobs hide the salary, as if it isn't enough for you to live on, what is the point of even applying, it just wastes every bodies time.

[spikeyhead]

Salaries often aren't advertised, as if there are ten people currently working for between £35 and £40k a year and you need another two, but know you'll need to advertise at >40k then you'll have a lot of staff that are miffed.

[Car bon]

You can put a fairly broad range & say it's dependent on the total package / other benefits etc. The etc includes things like working hours, location of the role and many other things that you can bring in later on to justify wantng to be higher vs lower in the range you specified.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

It depends on many things imo but the biggest is life stage/expectations.
Where I am currently if they aren't going to offer an incentive to move, re-establish my reputation, build, go in multiple times a week, etc. Then I'm not interested.
So I worked out what that number would be, and that's the number I give. Of course it's a move that means I'm closing doors to other opportunities but given the flexibility of my current situation I know that unless they pay that number it isn't worth it.

So that's part one of my advice to you; work your number out, and don't accept less than that.
Other part is that more often than not I've put forward a number (having worked my figures out) and it was lower in the band than I thought. So if you can get them to speak first, all the better for it.

[Terminator X]

I've never understood this. I personally wouldn't interview unless I knew the job was paying what I needed. Otherwise it's a waste of time for them and you surely.

TX.