Salary Requirement

What is your salary requirement?

I ask this question dozens of times every day. Many people seem to view this as a game. There’s so much advice out there basically saying, “He/she who names a number first, loses.” Translated, if you say something too low, you’ve left money on the table and if you name a figure too high, you’ve knocked yourself out of the running.

Personally, I don’t have time to play games. I’m just looking for a ball park figure. Think about what are you earning now? What do you think it would take to tempt you to change jobs? Or if you are unemployed now, what was your last salary and what works for you now?

So many states now have rules about not asking for salary history, I only ask “What is your salary requirement or what is your salary expectation?”

I don’t want to see anyone hurt by a salary negotiation. But I do find it amusing that no matter what discipline, level, industry of geographic area I’m recruiting for no one has ever said “I’m looking for or LESS.” Everyone says a number and then says “or MORE.” “More would be better.”

I’m assuming that everyone would like to be making more than they are currently earning or at least what they were earning in their last job. Occasionally I do come across candidates who just want to work and really don’t have a set amount in mind. It’s still helpful for me to know where you’ve been and what you feel is acceptable.

The other thing everyone says is: “It’s negotiable.” No, actually it’s not always negotiable. For example, I have a client company

• that gives me a salary range or
• I have a sense of what is going to be acceptable to them
• or they’ve asked me to submit candidates and include a salary requirement so they get a sense of whether or not they are on target and what level of skill is available at various salary levels.

Believe it or not sometimes I’ve placed a higher level candidate into a job than my client thought they needed originally. I’ve also placed a lower level candidate into a job where the client thought they would have to pay more. If the client and the candidate are both happy with the outcome, that’s what matters.