What Does It Pay? How To Handle The Salary Question

By Karen Conole

It’s a common dilemma: You’re considering applying for a position with a new firm but you don’t know whether its compensation will be worth the effort and the risk of moving from your current job. Seldom if ever do new applicants get to know what is budgeted for a position, and yet they are routinely asked to provide their salary history and requirements, even before being offered an interview.

While not exactly fair to you as an applicant, this is what you’ll likely encounter in any job search, so you’ll want to determine in advance what techniques you will employ to ascertain the information you need, what personal financial information you will and will not disclose, and how to respond when asked for it.

Although there is by no means universal agreement, it is generally considered presumptuous and therefore risky to ask about a job’s salary and/or benefits until after you’ve been offered the position. On the other hand, you don’t want to go through a lengthy application process only to find that the salary is below what you’re willing to accept.

So how do you find out, before expending your time and effort, if the job will be worth it? Neither you nor the employer want to waste time, but neither do either of you want to “tip your hand” in regard to what compensation you’ll accept/offer.

One way is to use an intermediary, such as a staffing agency or a headhunter. These services determine the requirements of job seekers, as well as employers, and then arrange interviews for only those potential matches which meet the criteria of both parties. The value in these intermediary services lies in their broad knowledge of the market (i.e., who’s paying what for whom, and who’s out there looking), which allows them to make the best matches for their clients’ needs. As one of their clients, you could be sure the positions for which you’re presented will be consistent with your career goals.

If, however, you would prefer to do your own job search, then you’ll want to do some research on the compensation for the type position you seek. Luckily, there are a host of on-line sources that do most of the legwork for you. Sites such as www.monster.com, www.hotjobs.com, and www.PayScale.com have wage calculators to help you determine the range you can expect for your skills, search area, job description, and other factors relevant to your situation.

Once you have a general idea of what salary range you can expect, fine tune it by determining your specific needs and desires. That is, think carefully about what would be the lowest amount you would accept for a position—what is your “bottom line price”—as well as the “best case scenario” amount that you could reasonably expect as the next step in your career. (Unless you are changing careers, it should always be a step up your career ladder.)

With a strong sense of what you will and will not accept, you are more likely to proactively seek your target salary, rather than just accept the first dollar amount you’re quoted. Most inexperienced job seekers believe a job’s salary is non-negotiable when, in fact, there is almost always some “pad” built in, to allow employers to tempt the very best candidates while not overpaying for a simply adequate one. Your job is to present yourself as that “best candidate” so that you can ask for and expect to get the most that has been budgeted for the position.

Which brings us back again to the age-old quandary: How do you know what is the most that the employer will pay?

While you probably should not ask what you can expect to be paid before even being offered the position, you can still inquire as to its pay range, so long as you do it politely and diplomatically. Because your interviewer doesn’t want to waste her time any more than you do yours, you could couch your request in time-saving terms, saying something such as, “While I enjoy working for my current employer, I am here because I’m looking for more potential for career growth, both in my job responsibilities and in my compensation. I know that you may not be able to give me specifics, but could you give me a range of the compensation for this position, so that we can both proceed, knowing that we’re not wasting each other’s time?”

You may then be asked what your current salary is—or what your requirements are. Bear in mind that your answer to this question will have a strong impact on what the employer will consider an appropriate starting pay for you, because most employers will align their offer as close to your current pay rate as they can. Remember: Any information you give can be verified (often with your requested check stubs), so answer truthfully but carefully.

If you believe your current salary to be less than the interviewer is willing to pay for the new job, then be sure to add to the raw numbers a quick listing of any “perks” that had made it worth your while to work at that rate. For example, you might say, “I am making $45K annually, which I consider below what my work is now worth, but the job is walking distance from my house, which enabled me to get home sooner each day and spend less on childcare expenses. Now that I’ve made other arrangements, however, that benefit is no longer significant, which is one of the reasons I am now seeking greater pay for my skills.” Be sure to mention in one or two sentences all mitigating compensation which caused you to accept your previous lower salary.

If you think your current salary may be more than the new position pays, but you want the new job anyway (as an entry point into a new career, for example), be sure to let your interviewer know that you are open to other forms of compensation, such as employer matching 401(k) contributions, paid health insurance, annual bonuses, flex time off or whatever you know from your research that the employer offers its staff. You might even be creative and suggest one or two forms of compensation that you think might help offset a reduced [starting] paycheck.

Sometimes you are requested to provide your salary history very early in the application process—maybe even to a blind ad! This is done by employers to mine the stack of applications for good candidates who are currently working at (or below) the salary they’re prepared to pay, and to cull out the applications of those who they can’t “afford.”

Since all compensation is tied to a job’s responsibilities and myriad other factors, your current job’s pay may have little to do with what you would expect to be paid for the new position, but that won’t stop them from asking. While you are under no obligation to provide this or any other private information about yourself in seeking employment, be aware that your refusal to do so may disqualify your application. Ask yourself, though, if you really feel comfortable sending this information out to non-hiring personnel—or worse—unknown recipients.

A better approach would be to treat your salary history much like your references. Just as your resume indicates “References provided upon request,” or words to that effect, you might also consider putting “Salary history provided in interview” where requested. That way, your privacy is protected and you will be able to frame the information in its proper context.

If you have no intention of disclosing your earnings to anyone, ever, be sure to indicate that in as professional and polite terms as possible. In your best calm, non-defensive manner, mention the unique nature of every job and the lack of relevancy of one employer’s job duties/compensation/overall environment to that of another’s. Then say that—as result of your research on compensation for the type of position offered—you feel confident that you can reach mutually acceptable terms based on what you can bring to that position’s special requirements. (Of course, if you had indicated that you would provide salary information in the interview, then you must not now decline to offer it.)

You might also invoke privacy issues, particularly if you’re currently employed, in which case you could then say, “I’m sorry but I am not permitted to divulge the terms of my employment agreement, which includes my compensation plan,” and be perfectly justified in doing so.

Whatever your approach, always keep in mind that employment is a two-way street: The employer is just as anxious to find good employees as you are to find good employment, and you are both out to make the best deal you can. Lose control over your end of the negotiations and you may lose more than a few days going after jobs that won’t help your career—you could lose months or even years in a job that pays you less than you’re worth.

So educate yourself to the market, know what you want and be prepared to negotiate for it all along the application process and you’ll not only move up your career ladder, you may even skip a few rungs!