Jennifer Tardy: Hey job seekers, Jennifer Tardy here, your career success coach.
Today we're back, continuing our job interview question and answer series, and we've answered
a ton of questions for you.
"Tell me about yourself?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Why did you decide to apply to this job?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Why did you leave your last employer?"
Today's question is, "What is your desired salary?"
People cringe when people ask them what is your desired salary, but that's okay, because
I have the perfect answer for you.
And not only do I have the perfect answer for you, I also have my favorite segment,
the Career Success Bonus Tip For Underrepresented Population, so make sure that you stick around,
watch that part, watch the entire video and learn how to answer that question.
I'll see you in a second.
Okay, so let's just be honest, if you've been following these series of videos, and I know
you have, you aLready know by now what I'm gonna say.
It does not matter how qualified you are and how many skills you have, if you are unable
to articulate your skills, your knowledge, or your abilities, and if you're unable to
interview well, you're not gonna be the most competitive candidate, and if you're not the
most competitive candidate you might not get that job offer.
So make sure that you know how to answer all of these questions, that is what's in this
video for you.
Let's go right into it.
Why on Earth would an employer even ask you that question?
That is such an uncomfortable question, shouldn't there be a good reason for it?
Well, yes there is.
There is a really good reason for it.
A good interviewer will tell you that they don't wanna waste your time, nor do they want
this whole process to waste their time either, so they wanna know, well how much are you
planning to make up front, so they can see if it fits their budget.
If it does, "Great, we'll keep you moving along in the process," if it doesn't, then
they're gonna let you know.
They're not just gonna say, "No, it doesn't fit, sorry for wasting your time", unless
you are interested in making a ton more than what is in their budget.
But let's say you make something that is outside of their budget, they're just gonna let you
know what their budget is and if it's something that is doable for you, you think about that
for yourself.
You will let them know and then you will continue through with the interviewing process.
Okay, so that's why they ask you.
Now, here is how you do not, and I mean do not answer that question.
Do not say that you are willing to work for anything, because if you say that you're gonna
look desperate.
And also, do not say that you are only willing to accept a certain amount of money, because
that means that you're very closed already, so I always recommend giving a range, but
we'll talk about that in a second.
Do not flip the question back on the employer and say, "Well, what are you wiling to pay
me?", 'cause that is just annoying.
And do not come up with some crazy amount that you and I obviously know this job doesn't
pay.
Do not come up with the CEO salary for an entry level job, because that is just ridiculous
as well to.
That's how you do not answer the question at all.
I'm curious to know, why do you feel that this is such an uncomfortable question to
answer?
The whole question around what is your desired salary, why is it so uncomfortable for people
to answer that question?
Go to the comments and tell me your thoughts below.
Let's get a conversation started.
Okay, now how to answer this question.
Tell the employer that you've done a little bit of research and you know that people in
this industry doing this job typically earn between this and this, and give them a small
range.
You can say to the employer that as long as my salary is somewhere within that range,
then that is acceptable for me.
That is the easiest way to answer that question.
Have you ever been interested in knowing just how companies determine salaries, how they
come up with salaries?
I've got a video for that.
You need to go and check out that video, because it's gonna answer your question.
Now, onto my favorite segment, the Career Success Bonus Tip For Underrepresented Populations,
or as I call them UPs.
Now, as you may have heard there's a lot of conversations happening all across America
on wage gap and how women tend to earn less than men doing the same job, specifically
white men doing the same jobs and women of color and people of color in general tend
to earn even less than that.
There are all of these conversations and changes in laws that are forbidding organizations
to ask one particular question, "What is your current salary?"
So I want you to know that that companies are moving away from asking the question,
"What is your current salary?", and that's why they're exchanging it for the question,
"What is your desired salary?"
There is no reason, there is no reason for a company to know what you are currently making,
because as are what you are currently making, especially as a person within an underrepresented
population, statistically you're probably earning less than what you should earn anyway.
It's all about understanding what the market would pay for that job, understanding what
your peers in the market make doing the same work and earning something equitable to that.
Make sure that you understand that and make sure that you understand the laws within your
own jurisdiction, within your state, within your city, because the laws are changing each
day and great employers are being proactive and staying ahead of it and they're avoiding
the question, "What is your current salary?", and they're replacing with, "What is your
desired salary?"
I hope that make sense.
If it doesn't, tell me in the comment section and I'll clear it up for you.
And guess what, I even have a video for you on the three reasons you should never tell
an employer your salary history.
Check out that video, it's gonna give you some more in depth information as well too.
So now, if you're watching these series, if you're watching this video or the series of
videos, odds are you're probably looking for a job.
Now I wanna help you to be proactive and preparing yourself for that job search, so not only
have we answered these questions, but I have a downloadable document that has 25 common
interview questions and topnotch answers, but you have to first click on the link in
the detail section and download it, so that you can have access to to it for yourself,
and it is for free.
Make sure that you have that for yourself.
Now, I've taught you how to answer the question, "What is your desired salary?", and I am so
thankful and appreciative that you stuck around throughout this entire video.
Be sure to subscribe to this channel and click the bell so that you can be alerted every
time a new video comes out and always, always, always remember that in order for us to be
underrepresented no more we must listen, engage, apply, repeat and we must do it now, learn.
Until next time, I'm your career success coach Jennifer Tardy and I will see you in the next
video.
Take care.