what are your salary expectations it's a
tricky question and one that catches a
lot of people
out here's how not to answer it
i think my experience brings me to
around 40k
thanks for asking mary i'll look into it
and get back
[Music]
one million dollars
oh i'm really just happy with the job i
mean whatever whatever you're offering
does any of that ring a bell i get it
it's a tricky question
and whether you get asked it at the
beginning or at the end of the interview
process
it's really easy to catch you out
because on the one hand
you're worried about not underselling
yourself and then finding out that
someone is doing the same job for a lot
more money which would be very annoying
or you don't want to be inflexible and
price yourself
out of getting an offer completely so by
the end of this video
i'm going to share with you how to
answer that question better
depending on who you're talking to and
also how to
throw the question back to the
interviewer in the best possible way
let's get to it
[Music]
hey there and welcome back to my channel
my name's eva and i'm a career coach and
customer success director
on a mission to help people build
meaningful careers
and today's video is on the dreaded
question what are your salary
expectations
let me just start by saying i hate that
employers don't just
put the salary on the job description
they force us to do this little dance of
what are your salary expectations and if
they wanted a dance they should have
just waited for the 10 second dance
break
that's coming up in a couple of minutes
but we do have to answer this question
at some point in the interview process
whether it's early or later on in the
stage
you will have to answer it so how do you
answer it well
do not make salary the first thing you
talk about it should not be the priority
in your interview
especially if the company have not made
you an offer yet
and haven't decided that they want you
have you got that
i will play the siren again you have to
make sure
that you're not bringing salary into the
conversation way
too early because that can come across
as aggressive
and it's also not really helpful for the
employer to figure out whether you're a
good match
once they want you for the role you'll
have a lot more leverage in that
conversation
it's like if someone came up to you and
said oh you can have this laptop in my
backpack for 100 pounds
okay maybe a hundred pounds is a good
deal but you don't know what the laptop
is it might be broken
it might completely not do anything that
you need it to do so
they'll want to find out do your skills
and experience match what they need for
the role
first salary comes later so it's up to
you to delay that conversation
you don't have to answer the question
directly if you don't want to pigeonhole
yourself
into a box of a given salary range and
here's how you can do that alternatively
if you get asked in an interview
i'm going to give you two options to
push back and not answer the question
of what your salary expectations are the
first is
i'm really looking for a job that's a
good fit for my skills and my interests
i'm confident that you're offering a
competitive salary
in the current market see what i did
there just throw it back to them
i'm sure that obviously you're offering
a good rate
that's your first option option number
two my summary expectations are in line
with my qualifications
and my experience if this is the right
job for me
i'm sure we can come to an agreement on
the salary
i love this one see what you did there
you're not desperate
you don't need this job and in any
negotiation
the strength of your alternative which
in the recruiter's eyes is what are the
candidates they can find and in your
eyes is whatever jobs you can go after
is your most powerful playing card so by
showing that you're not
desperate to just lock down that salary
and lock down that job
you are actually increasing your value
in their
eyes so just throw it back to them
excellent now we've got that down let's
do the
i'm not desperate dance
[Music]
particularly if you're going into any
customer facing or commercial role
it's also a test to see can you
represent the company
and stand up for what you think is right
stand up for your value
while still being polite and maintaining
a relationship
i get that all of these options are much
easier said
than done and they are going to require
some practice
to feel comfortable and confident saying
them
a lot of this test is just putting you
on the spot and seeing how you respond
to it
so you have to just be comfortable with
the discomfort
and the gray in that area and the next
thing i'm going to share with you
is actually a tip from chris voss who is
the leading hostage negotiator for the
fbi
so if anyone does negotiation it's him
and
he has a master class as well check it
out i'm not sponsoring it but i found it
great
and this is what he's suggesting that
exploring that space
between a yes and a no so i can
guarantee that there are commercial
people out there who will push and push
you
to give them a number so here's how you
get comfortable with that discomfort
you could say it sounds like you have a
specific salary in mind
and then just leave it there be silent
practice to then say it and shut up and
say nothing else after that
and just leave that discomfort in the
air
and let them come to you with what they
think the salary range should be
again even if you're pushed you don't
have to give a number
but if you're later on in the interview
stages you probably will want to give
them a number for what's going to be
reasonable to you
so here's how you do that well you'll
probably want to give them a range to
work with
but also make sure that that range is
reasonable according to what's out there
in the market
so even if you are not expecting a
salary conversation
make sure you know in the back of your
mind what is the current running rate
for this role in the industry i'll give
you three options to go with the salary
range
the first is based on my research and
experience
my understanding is that between 30 to
40 k
is typical based on the role and
requirements
option two i'm looking for a salary
between 30 to 35k
based on my skills and experience i
believe this is a fair salary range
option number three if you have the
ability to be a little bit more flexible
is to say well i'm definitely flexible
i'm currently looking for roles that are
around
the 40k mark is that similar to what
you're offering
and again throw it back at them to get
an understanding now
if you're talking with a recruiter who's
recruiting for a number of different
companies
it makes sense to just tell them what
your salary expectations are
because they can then match you with
relevant roles that could be a good fit
however if you're talking to an internal
recruiter or hiring manager
you'll want to delay that conversation
until you have a little bit more
leverage now sometimes it can pay
off to be really bold with what you're
asking for
and i'll tell you a story about a friend
who doubled their salary
by doing exactly that so once he had
spoken to the company
he said that he was on 35k and wouldn't
go
anywhere for less than 40k and the
company came in and gave him a great
offer
at 44. and with that phone call he
doubled his salary so confidence is key
however i don't want you to use this
example as something you should model
because it was lucky that it worked out
in that situation
but it doesn't always work out that way
it's possible that that company would
have had a budget
maybe 35 that they wouldn't have been
able to move away from
so he may have priced himself out of an
offer
now notice that i said he doubled his
salary
if your mental math is any faster than
mine you've probably worked out by now
that 35 to 44k
is not doubling your salary so how does
that work
well
[Music]
i know it's terrible the biggest secret
terrible thing
he lied about what his current salary
was
and you might think well it's really not
good to lie in a job interview and i
agree
don't lie about your skills and
experience but the unfortunate truth
that i've learned from experience
in hiring and also going after jobs is
that people will
tend to pay you a little bit more than
you used to receive in your previous
job and if you think about that
cumulative effect
over time across your career that can be
tens of thousands of pounds
so if you are confident in the skills
that you can bring to that job and the
value that you can add
and you are currently underpaid in your
role which could be for a number of
reasons
you took that role on to gain more
experience maybe they didn't have budget
maybe they didn't increase your salary
if you're underpaid in your current role
i do think
it's okay to lie and bring yourself up
to the industry average
now don't be ridiculous with your
estimate actually look at
what a company is paying across the
board for that role
and you have no excuse because we have
glassdoor these days
you can literally just look up what are
people paid within that company
within companies in the same location of
a similar size
so if you want to lie and bring your
salary closer to what that industry
averages
to give yourself a better chance with
your salary negotiation
then i would actually say do that
because
if you tell people a lower salary they
will just start to wonder
why you're not getting the market rate
which might not be reflective of what
you can
add for all those people who cannot
bring themselves to lie
there is an alternative if you get asked
specifically in an interview
what you're earning right now you can
say that
this job that you're applying for isn't
exactly the same as your job
so you'd love to discuss the roles and
responsibilities within the current role
and work together to determine what is a
fair rate
for that salary so that's your
alternative if you don't have to lie
bear in mind they might still push you
for a number so
be prepared if that happens hopefully
you feel much more equipped to answer
that question in the earlier and later
stages of an interview
but remember salary is just one aspect
yes it's incredibly important but think
about where this job might be able to
take you in a year's time
and what experience and what exposure
and what learning it can offer you as
well
because they will be much more important
for your career rather than just what's
paying your bills
right now if you enjoyed this video
subscribe and hit the bell to make sure
you get access to new career videos
every friday and let me know in the
comments how have you responded to this
question
and how has that gone for you this is
just the starting point and i will be
making another video
on how to negotiate salary once you've
got the offer so look out for that
and best of luck