Most people looking for jobs feel uncomfortable when they have to specify the salary they would want.
Employers often use salary requests to weed out the unsuitable job hunters from the candidate pool. If you put in too high a request, the employer naturally thinks you are too expensive for them. On the other hand, if your salary expectation is too low, the prospective employer might think that you don't value yourself and thus many not be a valuable employee for them.
There are three kinds of advice experts give on how to tackle the issue of mentioning salary expectations. These advices may seem contradictory, but each advice has sound logic. Read them carefully and decide what is suitable for your particular case.
Three strategies for replying to salary requests:
- Ignore salary request
- Get around the salary request
- Meet salary request with a range
Some experts will tell you to ignore the salary request. Now, what are the repercussions? If you totally ignore the salary request, the employer might think that you overlooked it because you are unsure of what you deserve, you are careless in filling forms or you are desperate and want to negotiate about salary but would accept whatever you got. If the employer specifically mentions a salary request, they have reasons for doing so. Usually, the salary request is a method for making sure that the candidate knows her/his market value.
The second advice you'd get is “Don't think that employers are so easily fooled if you omit your salary expectations! They will wonder why you didn't mention it.” So, try to get around this dilemma by using phrases like “Each position in my career has brought fresh challenges. I've been promoted regularly with suitable benefit packages. I'd rather discuss this issue of salary and benefits face to face during the interview.”
The third advice from the experts is “Meet the salary request directly with a range.” One good way is to put a little more than the minimum you can accept as the lower figure on the range and the higher figure a reasonable notch higher. A typical example would be “Depending on the nature and scope of my responsibilities, I could negotiate for $35,000 - 45,000.”
Overall, if the job ad doesn't mention a salary request, it is better that you don't either. There is a possibility that you are screened out if you give the wrong salary expectation. You have better leverage in negotiating a better salary package during the interview process itself.
