Christine Alcorn ⋅ Lockport, IL Addus Home Care ⋅ 20 years experience

Do homework on what is the average pay for that position. Then ask for a bit more. Most employers have a range of salaries. They seek to pay the lowest for budgetary reasons, but if someone significantly over or under evaluates the salary, it is a red flag. Also, if there is a situation by which you are asked to justify the salary you seek, you can state that you understand that the industry norm is that amount.

Christine Alcorn ⋅ Lockport, IL Addus Home Care ⋅ 20 years experience

Do homework on what is the average pay for that position. Then ask for a bit more. Most employers have a range of salaries. They seek to pay the lowest for budgetary reasons, but if someone significantly over or under evaluates the salary, it is a red flag. Also, if there is a situation by which you are asked to justify the salary you seek, you can state that you understand that the industry norm is that amount.

William Orr ⋅ Greenwood, IN Edward Jones Investments ⋅ 4 years experience

Research is key; like there was $1,000,000 at stake for getting the answer wrong. There are literally millions (actually 7.8 Million Google hits) of resources out there which address different ways of fielding the salary question and many of the resources cited here are some of the more useful ones. What I have personally found is that many exceptionally qualified veterans tend to undervalue themselves, while many of our junior (and some naive senior) members succumb to the false notion that employers will be lining up to give them ‘six figure’ positions. I believe that the top ten percent of military members having the initiative and the drive to be extremely successful in their military service will likely find the same in the private sector. If you happen to be one of those, congratulations! You likely know what you have to offer an employer and you’ll need to work on parlaying that into an elevator speech, a resume and interview skills.

Craig Bush ⋅ Boston, MA IBM ⋅ 11 years experience

Glassdoor... gives you a good starting point for the companies average salary by position.

Po Wong ⋅ Orlando, FL Johnson & Johnson (retired) ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Colli,
In the real world, the college/advance degree helps to get a job interview. The combination of advance degree, work experience, specific field, job market demand and geographic location determine salary.

I was on my way back from a VA conference sat next to a bright 27 year old Chinese Cornell Graduate young woman. She was on the way for a job interview in the Silicon Valley as an Integrated Circuit Manufacturing consultant. She was Googling and believes she should ask for $90 K salary. I told her asked for $135K. Two week later she contacted me and she got $135K. Because there are less than 10,000 people are expert in IC technology, speak and read Chinese Fluently and most new major IC factory are built in China these days. Similarly salary of an engineer with 3 year experience in Nashville should be in the $75K range but close to $90K in CA with a good company.

If your expertise is in supply chain, I suggest you asked for 10% over the minimum. If your expertise is in Cyber Security, ask for 70% over minimum. It all depends on job Market demand.

For Jason, Low ball is not a good idea. It could perceived you don't know your value and industry or something is wrong with your work ethic so you are accepting lower pay.

Hope this make sense!!
Good Luck!

Jason Kugel ⋅ Yulee, FL U.S. Navy, Chief Petty Officer ⋅ 21 years served

I'm in the same boat as the OP. I have applied for jobs where I know I would enjoy it so much, the pay is not as important as enjoying my work. I'm fairly certain I've listed "low ball" salaries for some of them. Is this bad? I'm aware of the "usual" range(s) of salaries, but I'm trying to make the point that they can get me to do an awesome job and pay me 10k less than another applicant. Bad strategy?

David Alhadeff ⋅ Buffalo Grove, IL Lighthouse Consulting LLC ⋅ 29 years experience

There is an important difference between how the market prices a job and how a company might value a job. The former will be a benchmark based on similarly defined roles in the external market. The latter is informed by the relative importance of that particular job to the company, the availability of good talent to fill the position and the urgency to get someone in the role. With the market information in hand, you should always ask a company how they have "priced" the position first. You might find that this question, and the dialogue that follows, puts you in a better position to command a higher and perhaps more appropriate base salary.

Andy Ledbetter ⋅ Grapevine, TX Hewlett-Packard ⋅ 30 years experience

Please clarify "base salary". Are you asking about situations where a significant percentage of the salary is incentive based, i.e. commission or performance-based bonus?

A few comments / thoughts:
Education and certifications influence which jobs, and therefore salary, you qualify for more than they influence salary negotiations for a specific position.

Many applications ask about salary expectations and it is a common interview question for which you should be prepared. I recommend doing a little research on sites like glassdoor.com , indeed.com or similar sites. They offer data directly from people in those positions. Also look at salary surveys online for comparison.

When completing a form you can respond with a range. When responding to an interview question you can indicate you've done some research, give the range and explain why.

It's a good idea to ask if that is consistent with their expectations and indicate a willingness / desire to discuss any difference in expectations. If there are differences you should work with them to understand and reset your expectations if necessary.

Andy

Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Dallas, TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 25 years experience

CareerBuilder.com has a salary expectations section. You can also search for jobs on their website and see what other employers are offering. Always consider the benefits offered, the travel costs, living costs for your area and working hours/conditions when you decide on a salary. Make sure you also consider your level of experience for 10 years experience should get much more than 2 years experience. Always ask for the top of the salary range for they will always offer you less.

Always send a thank you email or note after the interview to express your interest in the job. It keeps you fresh in the interviewer's mind.

Good luck!

Morgan Lerette ⋅ Glendale, AZ AAA ⋅ 6 years experience

If the salary is posted, I recommend asking for a little over the boot mod the salary range. I can't speak for other companies but we don't negotiate salary for entry level positions so out offers are take it or leave it. Unless you have specific industry experience, there isn't a lot of room for negotiation. I've seen great candidates get rejected because their salary range was too high. I assume, given the option, they would have taken less pay to have a chance at the job.

Education is not terribly important unless you are coming right out of school. Your work and industry experience is much more important. You can have an MBA and work experience but if you have no industry experience. You are likely seen as an entry level employee: you have to be trained. Even if you are coming out of grad school, the salary is likely firm. There are just too many qualified people looking for work right now to haggle over starting salary.

Probably not the greatest news for you but I'd rather give you a realistic expectation and see you get a job than bloviate and see you miss out on a great opportunity.

Morgan