Your Salary Expectation: How to Answer the Question Correctly

When you’re interviewing with a potential employer, one of the questions you’ll be asked is what your salary expectation is. If you’re not ready for this question, you could find yourself having trouble negotiating your salary offer—or worse, having to start off your new job making far less than you should be making. Here are some tips on how to answer the salary expectation question during an interview.

Guidelines for an Appropriate Response

Your expected salary should be within 10-15% of what your potential employer is looking to pay. The idea is that you want enough money so that you don’t feel like you’re being underpaid, but not so much money that they won’t think about hiring you. If asked for an expected salary figure, follow these guidelines for a winning response

The Three Types of Answers

People are bad at estimating money, period. As humans, we’re all wired to think about value in terms of what something costs and less about how much it’s worth. This makes salary expectations one of those great selling tests where you can look people right in their eyes and say something that they know is wrong, but are too eager or polite (or both) to correct you on. Many candidates don’t even realize they’re being tested when they tell an interviewer their expected salary. Then there are people who overestimate their salary expectation, thinking that a higher number will show them as stronger or more confident when it’ll just do the opposite.

Classic Approach

A recruiter asks you what salary you are expecting. You throw out an amount that is on par with others in your role, taking into account things like geographic location and cost of living. It’s fine—but it’s only a small part of how much you’ll make over time. In reality, two candidates can be offered $50,000 salaries; however, one could walk away making twice as much as another candidate because they negotiate harder and/or more effectively (or because they’re just more good at negotiating). Don’t be afraid to push for more than you think you deserve.

Intermediate Approach

When it comes to answering salary expectations questions, you have a few options. You may have already researched what someone with your skills and experience can make in your industry. For example, if you are applying for a job as an engineering manager at General Motors, then you should research the average salaries for engineers in that position at GM and other companies. If these numbers aren’t available for your exact position, there are averages available for comparable positions, so be sure to account for any experience difference. The information might even be included on websites like Glassdoor or Indeed.

Advanced Approach

If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your exact salary expectations with a potential employer, you can instead provide information about your target salary range and indicate what factors are most important in determining your value. For example, if you’re switching careers or moving into a new industry, you might want to communicate that information while discussing how your value changes with various responsibilities. You can say something like I’m looking for a salary that is commensurate with my experience in [insert field] along with flexible enough to allow me some personal time after I reach [insert long-term goals]. You could also suggest a target range based on those targets.

Turn The Question Around

When you’re asked what your salary expectation is, turn it around. Explain that you don’t have a number in mind and instead would like to know how much they value someone with your experience and skills. This lets them tell you what they can afford, rather than putting yourself on the spot. Then say something like I’m excited about coming in for an interview, but I do need some idea of salary before I set aside time for an interview. If we could start there…? or even something as simple as Is salary negotiable? I’d love to come in for an interview, but I need some idea of what you think would be a fair salary range given my experience level and skillset.

Remember: Everything is Negotiable

When you’re applying for a job, it’s always worth asking about things like a flexible work schedule, flextime, telecommuting, working from home, vacation days, health insurance, stock options, and sign-up bonus. Everything is on the table if you keep yourself well informed on the market terms for the position you are competing for. We’ve all heard stories about people who have gotten an extra week of vacation by negotiating with their boss or an extra couple hundred dollars a month in salary because they were willing to forego health insurance. If you’re looking for a job in tech, it’s important to know that some companies offer signing bonuses as an incentive to join their team. And while cash bonuses are great (and something that should be negotiated), they’re often just a small part of what can be negotiated during salary negotiations. For example, when interviewing with Google and Microsoft, I learned that both companies offered generous vacation time and paid holidays. As someone who values work/life balance, I knew these were important factors for me—so I asked about them during my interviews and ended up negotiating both into my offers. Negotiating your salary isn’t just about base pay; it’s also about what else comes with the job.

Last Step: Closing The Deal

As you enter your final negotiations, you must be able to talk confidently about what you bring to the table and why your prospective employer should hire you. Your eagerness for a job offer will show through in interviews, but so too should a realistic understanding of salary expectations. The best way to go about closing out an interview and negotiating a final deal is simply by being direct—make sure that every interviewer knows just how much you want their job and how happy you would be if they choose to offer it. And remember, there are no stupid questions, meaning nothing is off limits when it comes time for negotiation talks—simply ask for what you want. You never know until you try!