“What are you looking to earn?”
This is one of the trickiest questions that come up during a job search. Fear not! There are several effective approaches to help improve the outcome.
Salaries for new grads are more tightly banded than those of more experienced hires. But it’s worth learning now about all the angles. These are things that will serve you well throughout your career.
There may be other forms of compensation in the mix beyond salary. Bonuses, including sign-on, moving allowances, commissions, and profit-sharing could be on the table. Equity may also be part of the package.
Negotiating is something of a dance. Here are a few tips for getting a fair shake:
Company: “What is your desired compensation?” Response: “What do you think is fair compensation for this role?” This lets the company go first, generally a good negotiating tactic.
If you are pressed further, and it’s early in the hiring process, try to kick the can down the road. Let them fall in love with you during the recruiting process. Push off the money talk. Say “I’d really like to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of the job before I can really assess my value to the company.”
If pressed further, you could ask “Could you give me a ballpark range of what you pay for this role and I’ll tell you if it’s worth continuing the discussion?” This is often what the hiring company is interested in knowing. It’s not worth putting the candidate through the recruiting process if you are too far apart. This question also has the advantage of having them go first.
If they continue to push, you’re probably going to have to give a range. Understand that they may very well come back with an offer that is the bottom end of the range. After all, that’s what you said is the least you would accept! So think hard about the range you offer up. Some good sources are Glassdoor.com, Vault.com, your college’s career services annual salary survey, PayScale.com, Salary.com, and conversations with family and friends to gather intelligence. Do your homework!
The company may also ask “What’s your salary/bonus history?” This generally has little relevance to the early-career candidate. Also, a growing number of cities/states are making this an illegal question, since it is viewed as suppressing the earnings of some categories of candidates. How is what you’ve earned before relevant to what the job in question is worth? So expect this to come up less and less. If pressed, say your compensation is considered by the company to be confidential information. Then redirect the conversation toward the previously suggested “What do you think is fair compensation for this role?”
Have you had a particular challenge or success in the dance of negotiating compensation? Please share your experiences in the comments section of this post. Need help in job search areas like negotiations (or want to help your young adult?) If so, reach out to me. Click DanzgerGroup.com/contact-us to send me a message.