# How to deal with salary question at interview



## MandaC (9 May 2008)

I applied for a position and have a first interview next week. There is no indication of salary given and I am not sure how to deal with a question on salary, if it arises.

I am paid a good salary in my current position and if possible would like to keep as close to that as possible.

If they ask what type of salary are you looking for is it suffice to say "market rates", or should I elaborate.  Or should I say, I am currently on €X........ and am looking in that region.

I have a feeling the postion would be paying in the region of my current salary(they are looking for someone with a min. of 8 years experience)

I just dont know the best way to deal with this one.  Any advice?


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## truthseeker (9 May 2008)

If asked say that if they can clarify what theyd be offering youd be open to negotiation.


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## ClubMan (9 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> Or should I say, I am currently on €X........ and am looking in that region.


Well if you are then you should say that. If you are not then don't.


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## MandaC (9 May 2008)

Truthseeker, that seems a good way to handle it.

I'm not interested in trying to bump up my salary by a couple of grand, so I can safely say I am on X.  I just dont want to miss out on a good opportunity longterm on account of a couple of grand now.  Also, the location would suit, and whilst I would my current salary in the city centre, as you go further out, they appear to get slightly less.   I have just been lucky with my current position that they have been great in every respect.

I think I will wait and see at the interview in more detail and then I will be able to judge whether we are on the same wavelength or not, salarywise and position wise.

Its a pain looking for jobs at the moment.!


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## truthseeker (9 May 2008)

If you simply dont want to go below a certain figure then you can certainly say 'im currently on xxx, obviously I wouldnt be interested in going below that figure, what kind of sum are you offering?'


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## Yeager (9 May 2008)

Say ‘’if you were offered the position you would be willing to negotiate a suitable remuneration package and that you would expect this to reflect the current market and the level of education and experience you have'' 

Get the point home thats its not all about the salary but the other perks aswell i.e. share schemes, laptops, mobile phones, flexi-time, health cover, working from home - this way they will think you are not just along for the big salary (which will be taxed to death anyhow)

If all else fails tell them that if they pay peanuts they will have monkeys working for them!


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## PeterGriffin (9 May 2008)

I'd be very up-front about it. If they ask what you're on and you say X rather than something wooly like "Market Rates" then at least both of you will know where you stand and whether the gap is too large to bridge. I'd also make it clear though that when looking at a job you look at it in it's entirety like Yeager said. They might not be able to offer you exactly the same money but if they were to come to an arrangement about flexible working hours it might swing it for you. Don't be too quick to loffer these though, remember getting a job is about negotiation and it may be possible for you to get the salary you want and these things on top!! If they ask you what salary you want I'd try and ask them what the salary range for the job is and where they think you would sit in that range, it's very difficult to avoid the question if they ask you out straight what you're on though!! 
Looking at your post though it doesn't seem you don't seem that unhappy with your current employer so if there's some part of your job you aren't happy with I'd make sure and exhaust every avenue there before leaving, maybe they can give you flexi time or working from home if that's what you want.


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## Guest117 (9 May 2008)

As others have said - I believe it is important to be straightforward and upfront. In my experience the salary question is usually late in the interview and you should have a sense by then of hoew you have done and how interested they are in you.


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## Hasslehoff (9 May 2008)

As stated you may tell them what you are currently on but how does that resemble the new positions role and responsibilities ? It cannot. I like the American up front approach but here in Ireland it seems to be taboo to mention money. Normaly i say that what i am cuurently on is x (slightly higher than actual) and that i would be looking for offers of Y and upwards but not less than Y. Base Y on a number of factors to justify the figure, if they want you and value you they will pay it out.


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## ClubMan (9 May 2008)

Hasslehoff said:


> I like the American up front approach but here in Ireland it seems to be taboo to mention money.


I disagree. I find that most reasonable prospective employers will appreciate you not wasting their time by beating around the bush but instead being up front about your expectations on salary etc.


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## MandaC (9 May 2008)

Will play it by and see how interview goes.  It is only a first interview, so salary might not even get a mention, but I just want feedback to ensure we are in the same bracket.  I may not even like the position.  

By the way, went for an interview last week.  Salary ok, conditions good, security good, interview went well and then was told - up here dont mix with the staff on the floor, or sit for lunch, etc, so said no, thats not the way I operate.

I would normally be very direct and hate beating round the bush, so that's why I want to be careful how I phrase these things.

Btw, I am not unhappy with present employer, in fact, its been great,  but company being sold off, merged, whatever and whilst offered position in new location, is not going to suit.


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## ClubMan (9 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> up here dont mix with the staff on the floor


"Up here"? "On the floor"? Now I'm curious as to what your job actually is!


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## truthseeker (9 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> up here dont mix with the staff on the floor


 
where do you mix with them then?


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## Caveat (9 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> ...interview went well and then was told - up here dont mix with the staff on the floor, or sit for lunch, etc,...


 
Might seem elitist or something to you, but I think this is a fairly common philosophy - I've encountered this attitude a lot.  Really, despite the 'us and them' mindset, it can be a sensible and practical approach in certain circumstances too.


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## MandaC (9 May 2008)

truthseeker said:


> where do you mix with them then?



Can't insert smiley!

Caveat, I agree that it can be a sensible approach in some circumstances and probably plays out a lot in reality by default,  but the way it came across  was that there would be a fair bit of paranoia (from certain quarters), some of whom I would have had to work directly with.  There was also an element of (don't do my job) so if you were quiet, they would prefer you sit there than offer to help anybody else.  It was just not for me.   Maybe I am just being naieve, or foolish (as I turned down the offer of second interview)

Because I am currently in a very small company (less than 10), there is no room for an us and them mentality.  Even from the bosses.  Its a company that needs teamwork to be successful.  Would think the them and us mindset to be more prevalent in larger organisations, so might be better sticking to smaller companies.

I hate this job hunting!


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## ClubMan (9 May 2008)

Caveat said:


> Might seem elitist or something to you, but I think this is a fairly common philosophy - I've encountered this attitude a lot.  Really, despite the 'us and them' mindset, it can be a sensible and practical approach in certain circumstances too.


I can't imagine too many circumstances in which a strict  "them and us" policy is a good idea to be honest.


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## Caveat (9 May 2008)

ClubMan said:


> I can't imagine too many circumstances in which a strict "them and us" policy is a good idea to be honest.


 
No, not too many maybe and generally I wouldn't support the idea, but  perhaps certain sections of the pharmachem industries where sensitive research data may be at risk via loose talk? Government depts/agencies and their ancillary staff too.

Again, I don't necessarily support the approach, but I can see that it might be viewed as good practice by management on occasion.


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## John Rambo (9 May 2008)

At a recent enough job interview I was asked this question and my reply was 'Well, my present salary is X (inflated by 10%) and people don't generally move for less money so that would be my position on salary'. I was offered the position so it worked for me.


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## Orga (9 May 2008)

As a slightly different view and as an employer I would suggest you try this tack: DON'T speak about salary. Refuse to engage on the matter. The purpose of the interview is to ascertain whether or not you are the best candidat, not whether your are the best value candidate. 
So, when asked "What are your salary expectations?" You should answer "I'm interested to take on the challenge presented by this position and to work with your company/organisation.outfit/mob. I believe that I bring the following skills/competences/etc to the role. If you decide that I'm the best candidate for the position following this interview then I'd certainly be delighted at that time to consider the full range of any offer including the salary element that the company might make."

remember it's a negotiation even in the interview! So, don't show your hand! A good interviewer will think - this person knows what they are at - and will ask again "Can you give an indication of what you might expect?" At this point you MUST answer "Should you see that my skills (and name your skills) provide the best fit for this job then I'd be happy to engage in an open manner on any offer that the company might make at that time but at this point I simply wish to prove to you that I'm the best candidate with the experience of (name the experience) to do this job the best." ON this one if you blink you lose. They will not refuse to give you the job on the basis of you refusing to provide them with your current salary details.


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## joejoe (12 May 2008)

In an interview I asked the question first, "have you got a salary range in mind for the position?" 

I got offered the job.

Joejoe


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## MandaC (16 May 2008)

Just to update.  Had the interview.  Was going well.  Hours longer than I am on. Ok, not that much, but still longer.  Towards the end, asked what salary I was on.  Told them (the truth) no add on's, etc.  They told me what the salary was for the postion.  Some €10K less than my current basic.   Asked how would I feel about that?  Because they would hate to invite me for second interview and waste all our time, ie, your time, but more importantly our time.  I said, I dont know how you value your time or why you think it any more valuable than mine?   (Maybe a bit more flowery than that, but still said it)

Ah well, back to the drawing board.


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## max (17 May 2008)

A sweet reply mandac


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## Orga (17 May 2008)

Ouch, strikes me they asked you a response question, they weren't making a salary offer but were testing your capacity to stay cool even when it looks like things not going your way. Good luck with the next one!


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## ClubMan (17 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> I said, I dont know how you value your time or why you think it any more valuable than mine?


I presume you decided that you didn't want the job/salary before insulting the interviewers in this way?

Sounds to me like you should get some professional advice/coaching on how to interview for jobs.


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## MandaC (18 May 2008)

ClubMan said:


> I presume you decided that you didn't want the job/salary before insulting the interviewers in this way?
> 
> Sounds to me like you should get some professional advice/coaching on how to interview for jobs.



I am not sure why you would think that?  As I said, my answer was a bit more flowery than that given above, and said with both a fixed grin and a cool head, but the gist of it was the same.  I think my exact reply was more along the lines of "well, that would really depend on which side of the table you are sitting on" (fixed grin)

To my mind, an interview is a two way thing, for both employer and employee. As is a job.   

Unfortunately, Orga, whilst it was not a salary offer, it is actually the basic for the position as there are a a number of different people with the same ranking, just in other departments and the company would just not bring someone else in on a higher salary. I respect that.

I am a very honest, direct and straight person.  I call a spade a spade and refuse to entertain any type of disrespect or digs from anybody, be they friends, family, employer, or potential employer. 

Is their time any more valuable than mine.  Absolutely no way.  

Do I want to work with people who think their time is more valuable than mine?    Absolutely no way.

Do I need any coaching/interview techniques to establish this or give a different answer to this question next time.  Not in this lifetime.


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## John Rambo (18 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> Do I need any coaching/interview techniques to establish this or give a different answer to this question next time.  Not in this lifetime.


 
Having read through the thread I'd be inclined to agree with Clubman...perhaps you do need coaching in interview techniques given how you mishandled this situation. Of course what they said was ill judged but in these situations you have to 'box clever'. Being entirely honest and forthright is sometimes not the best approach.


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## themoney (18 May 2008)

I just wanted to say fair play MandaC  I have a similar out look maybe not as hardcore, I still play the interview game trying to tell the interview panel what they want to hear irrelevant of what the true is.    Best of luck in the job search


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## MandaC (18 May 2008)

Appreciate all the comments. 

I really dont feel I mishandled the situation.

The person who had made the arrangements to meet with me had totally messed up the schedule, despite the fact that she had confirmed to me both on the phone and by email the exact time and date. She was on a day's leave when I arrived.

Despite having taken time off work, I was left waiting 55 minutes whilst they flustered about trying to get someone else to deal with me.  At that stage, I was being sweet as pie and said no problem, no problem, these things sometimes happen.

Very very unprofessional.  And then with them having messed up, and being left there sitting reading the paper like an idiot, to  to comment their time was more valuable was a bit rich.

Not acceptable.

I havent been to many interviews,  but have never been to one where the employer was so disorganised and rude.  Its not somewhere I would want to work, or somewhere I would even want to pretend to work to be offered the job.

To me, honesty is always the best policy and I would rather be myself now and not be offered the job, than take it and then have other issues once I came aboard.  I have been lucky in that the majority of my employers have been quite straight and thats the only environment I want to work within.  

Fully intend holding out for the right position.


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## Importer (18 May 2008)

Amanda

You are absolutely right.
Any interviewer who does not have the professionalism, common sense or intelligence to treat a candidate with the utmost respect needs to be pulled up sharply. Any organisation that puts a cretin like this on the front line is circumspect in my mind to say the least.

If I were interviewing you, I would be impressed with your courage to defend yourself in that type of situation and I would aplologise profusely for the faux pas.
In today's world It's very easy to be a lemming or a "follower" which is what I suspect some of the other contibutors on here would like to coach you "into being"

I have been interviewing candidates at all levels for many years and i can assure you that there is nothing nicer than meeting a person who is true to his/herself and nothing worse than a fraud or mock up which you can spot at 100 miles..

Good luck with it.


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## ClubMan (19 May 2008)

I can't see how this:


MandaC said:


> Asked how would I feel about that?  Because they would hate to invite me for second interview and waste all our time, ie, your time, but more importantly our time.  I said, I dont know how you value your time or why you think it any more valuable than mine?


implies this:


MandaC said:


> The person who had made the arrangements to meet with me had totally messed up the schedule, despite the fact that she had confirmed to me both on the phone and by email the exact time and date. She was on a day's leave when I arrived.


I don't see how the interviewer was out of order here as you and others seem to assume.

No offence but perhaps your lack of clarity in your posts here reflects an issue that may need to be addressed if you want to succeed in interviews and work?


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## MandaC (19 May 2008)

I dont know what you are talking about lack of clarity.

1.  The interviewer was not there when I turned up.

2.  I was left waiting 55 minutes whilst someone else was tracked down and briefed on the situation.  It also resulted in a load of people being "thrown out" of the interview room. The interview room was obviously double booked.  The people using the room did not want to go and argued their point. This was done in front of a potential employee.

Maybe I am missing something, but that is very unprofessional. Perhaps my standards are too high.  I dont operate in this way in my work life and am quite proud of that.   I also feel it is unacceptable to infer that their time is more valuable.     They made an inappropriate disrespectful comment and I let them know in a nice way that I did not agree with them.  

Thats the end of it.   

Fortunately for me,  I have been very successful in my working life for the past 18 years. I have never been out of work and all of my previous employers would speak very highly of me.   

It has left me in the very lucky position that I can hold out and find the right position for me and allows me the long term financial security and breathing space to do this.


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## ClubMan (19 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> I dont know what you are talking about lack of clarity.
> 
> 1.  The interviewer was not there when I turned up.
> 
> 2.  I was left waiting 55 minutes whilst someone else was tracked down and briefed on the situation.  It also resulted in a load of people being "thrown out" of the interview room. The interview room was obviously double booked.  The people using the room did not want to go and argued their point. This was done in front of a potential employee.


You never said any of that in this post - if you had then this comment might have made a bit more sense:


> Because they would hate to invite me for second interview and waste all our time, ie, your time, but more importantly our time. I said, I dont know how you value your time or why you think it any more valuable than mine?


That is what I meant by lack of clarity.


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## MandaC (19 May 2008)

Get where you are coming from.

I just did not want to go into the ins and outs and he said she said because thats not really the crux of it for me.

If you ignore the fiasco of the schedule, once we got into the interview, things were going ok, so could have accepted the mix up as a once off genuine mistake and move past it.  I haven't worked with the company, so dont know if it is a once off, or is the kind of way they operate.

Even with all things being equal, they made an inappropriate comment, which I disagreed with and let them know.  

There was no indication of salary other than it was negotiable and the position required at least eight years experience.  Judging by the salary surveys from various employment agencies, the basic they were offering was under the normal for that type of position and experience. 

This position was advertised directly through the company.  Its probably easier if you go through an agency, because at least they have a guideline as to what the salary is before you go for interview and not waste everyone's time.


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## ClubMan (19 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> Even with all things being equal, they made an inappropriate comment, which I disagreed with and let them know.


From what you have posted so far I fail to see what was "inappropriate" about what was said and on that basis I believe that your own comments seem injudicious.


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## MandaC (19 May 2008)

The way I see it, we all live our lives under our own moral codes and values.  

You may feel it wasn't inappropriate because maybe its ok in your chosen field to infer that some people are more important than others, etc.  To me we are all equal and I would never infer that anyone's time was less valuable than my own, no matter who they were.  

It's really a personal preference and choice.


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## ClubMan (19 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> You may feel it wasn't inappropriate because maybe its ok in your chosen field to infer that some people are more important than others, etc.


I agree that the scheduling/logistical issues that you mentioned subsequent to your first post on the interview were evidence of a lack of professionalism.  However I still don't see that any *comments *made by them during the interview were out of order as you have claimed - at least based on what you have posted so far.


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## Soldier (19 May 2008)

i personally wouldnt have the guts to bring it up in an interview i think i would wait til they offered me the job


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## Complainer (19 May 2008)

Importer said:


> Amanda
> 
> You are absolutely right.
> Any interviewer who does not have the professionalism, common sense or intelligence to treat a candidate with the utmost respect needs to be pulled up sharply. Any organisation that puts a cretin like this on the front line is circumspect in my mind to say the least.
> ...


Hear Hear


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## MandaC (22 May 2008)

Ok, here's a turn up for the books.  

Got a call today from Senior Person in HR (not person who did the first interview).  Very nice person.  Position has expanded somewhat, asking was I still interested.  Said yes but not at that salary.  Said because of the extra responsibilites, that could be negotiated upwards.  Went through other benefits on offer and they are good.

She is to get back to me today re the second interview, which will be with the people that I would be working directly with.  Will go to see if I could work with them.

In the meantime, had another interview earlier this week with different  company who are putting an offer in the post to me by the end of the week.  I liked them too!


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## ClubMan (22 May 2008)

MandaC said:


> Do I want to work with people who think their time is more valuable than mine?    Absolutely no way.





MandaC said:


> Ok, here's a turn up for the books.
> 
> Got a call today from Senior Person in HR (not person who did the first interview). Very nice person. Position has expanded somewhat, asking was I still interested. Said yes but not at that salary. Said because of the extra responsibilites, that could be negotiated upwards. Went through other benefits on offer and they are good.



As _Groucho Marx_ once said:

_"Those are my principles and if you don't like them, I have others."_


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## MandaC (22 May 2008)

As I said,  I will go to meet the people I will be working DIRECTLY with, to SEE if I could work with them.  If they turn out to be like that first individual I met, I will certainly not be interested in taking up the position.

The lady I spoke to on the phone was lovely and apologised for not being there on the day I called.  If I had dealt with her on the day, the smart comment about time would not have been made and I would not have had to retort!

The person who thought their time was more important than mine was in the HR Department and the position is not in the HR Department.  It is not even in the same building.

Clubman, you suggested I may need professional help with interviews.  May I also respectively suggest that from some of your replies on the board both to myself and to other posters queries that some professional help/counselling might be in order for your good self.

(and just to add, that's not an attack on you personally  and no offence meant, btw, just a response to the posts and opinions given)


Thanks to all!


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