when should salary be discussed in a hiring process? (part 2)

by Alison Green on January 16, 2013

In a comment on today’s post about talking about salary during the interview process, one commenter asked:

In an ideal world, when would the salary discussion happen?

In an ideal world, employers would post salaries in their job ads, so that you’d know before applying if the job was in your range or not.

In practice, what actually happens is usually one of these:

  • The salary is posted in the ad. This is common in some industries, but extremely uncommon in others. Overall, this is more uncommon than common.
  • You’re asked in the phone screen or interview what your salary expectations are. Often this is not accompanied by any information about what the employer expects to pay, but sometimes it is, or sometimes you’ll get a response like “that’s within our range.”
  • The employer brings it up late in the process — at a second or third interview — often saying something like, “So, what are you looking for in terms of salary?”
  • You don’t hear a word about salary until you receive an offer. Offers nearly always include a specific salary offer … although weirdly, occasionally you’ll get an employer who still doesn’t mention it, forcing you to say, “What salary are you offering?”
  • You bring it up at some point in the process yourself, potentially shocking the very souls of interviewers who believe that you should be pretending to have no interest in money.

Once you’re at the negotiation stage (which should only happen once you get an offer), here’s some advice on what to say when you negotiate. (Read the comments on that post too, because there’s a lot more advice in there.)

And here’s some advice on how to figure out what salary to ask for or expect in the first place.

By the way, while we’re on the topic:  Employers who play coy on salary — including employers who do pay competitive salaries — will often tell you that it’s because everyone assumes they should be at the top of the pay scale and then they get upset or disappointed when that’s not where their offer is. In other words, if you advertise that a job pays $50,000-65,000, candidates end up thinking, “great, low to mid 60s, that’ll work for me.” And then if you offer them $52,000 because that’s where their experience puts them in your range, they’re disappointed and feel like they’re being undercut because, after all, they know you’re willing to pay up to $65,000. A good employer will be able to explain how the scale works and why the person fits into it where they do, in a way that the candidate finds convincing, but not everyone is reasonable — an awful lot of people, knowing that you’d pay $65,000 for someone, think you should pay it to them, even though they would have be happy with $52,000 if they’d never heard about the $65,000.

The reverse of that is also true: If an employer lists a range, then they risk losing the guy who won’t consider anything below $75,000 and who’s good enough that you’d gladly pay him $75,000, even though you wouldn’t normally pay it to most candidates and thus don’t want to put it in the ad.

Of course, the answer to this isn’t to play silly games where you refuse to give candidates any information at all, even after they’ve applied and you can see from their application where they’d fall in your range … but that’s what ends up happening a lot of the time anyway.

While we’re at it, here’s some more advice on other aspects of salary negotiations:

how to handle requests for salary history
can I ask about salary range before accepting an interview?
5 myths about negotiating salary
10 salary negotiating mistakes to avoid
how to increase your pay when changing jobs
bad career advice and salary negotiation 

You may also like:
{ 76 comments }

{ 76 comments… read them below }

  1. The Editor*

    So to add even more to this, I may very well be moving internally to a new job in the organization doing something that can best be described as a conglomeration of activities. It is, more or less, an implementation specialist doing onsite implementation of our programs for very large accounts.

    I have NO clue what to ask for in salary, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin to find that information. In a case like this, how would I go about building a case for a salary?

    2. KellyK*

      If you can separate out those activities and figure out what they’d each pay on their own, that would be another data point. At the very least, it tells you that the lowest should be at or below the absolute bottom of your range, and the highest might not be unreasonable, particularly if you have more responsibility than any one of those separate positions.

  2. SomeGuy*

    Just adding, I live in Quebec, and I have never ever been given any information on salary before the offer, unless I insisted on knowing during the interview stage, in which case the employers acted like I had done the worst sin on earth.

      1. Lisa*

        Software could vary so drastically, I hate that. some companies will pay up to 110k but others are so far behind and still only offer 60k for the same job.

    2. Chinook*

      Isn’t the normal response to any question about why Quebec is different is “because it is Quebec?”. (For the Americans, Quebec is the California of Canada when it comes to different laws).

      But, in all seriousness, I think it might be a combination of Canadian politeness and your industry standards. I don’t remember the IT jobs I posted in Ottawa (as the admin) mentioning even a salary range. I think my boss was just willing to vary the salary to reflect a new hire’s experience and skills.

      1. Josh S*

        You forgot to also type your response in French. The penalty for this is drinking two cans of Canadian beer.

        1. Chinook*

          Ironically I learned this little known comparison when working for an IT firm in Ottawa with employees living in Quebec and an HR department at our California head office. Nothing is as fun as trying to explain why some of the employees, myself included, were volunteering to pay higher payroll taxes on our pay cheques or had photo id that didn’t match our social insurance numbers.

      3. Waerloga*

        No… It is more like the France of North America rather than the California of the USA. It is really quite a different point of view with a melange of English common law and code Napolian (sic).

        And if you’re fluent to code in both English and French, /salute!
        And I love the old quarter in Quebec City.

  3. Kelly*

    I had to ask what the salary was when my current employer called to offer me the job, after two interviews. He seemed to be waiting for my acceptance, even though I hadn’t seen anything specific regarding compensation or benefits. It turns out he said he didn’t know, but would have HR send me a contract I could peruse.

    1. Sabrina*

      I’ve had two offers where I had to ask the salary. They told me once I asked, but I thought it was odd that it wasn’t part of the offer. I really should have declined both.

    2. Lisa*

      Morons, I had someone tell me to accept before the offer came. I waited 3 months for something on paper. I finally tried to get him to hire me freelance by saying i was taking another FT gig. He told me he was disappointed in me not choosing his offer. I NEVER SAW AN OFFER IN 3 months of promises.

  4. jesicka309*

    I always find it awkward to ask about salary when you’re getting a job through a connection. For some reason I feel like I’m being rude, like they’re doing me a favour by setting me up with this job etc.
    When I should I bring it up then? EG. If my intern manager offers me a job…should I take the job gratefully, and not ask about salary? Can you negotiate then?

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      No, never take a job without knowing the salary! It will not seem ungrateful if you ask; it will seem normal, I promise. If someone offers you a job without mentioning salary, and it’s kind of casual because it’s someone you know, just say, “It sounds great. What are you thinking as far as salary?”

      1. jesicka309*

        Thanks Alison. The situation hasn’t occured, but I asked my former boss to think of me if anything comes up at her company. I’m hoping something does, so it’s good to know that if she does ring, I can just casually ask without it being a big stress thing. Thanks. :)

  5. Jen*

    It seems like the employers who ask you within 5 minutes of a phone screen interview what your salary range is, are the employers who want cheap cheap cheap. At least in my experiences.

    I just went through a fantastic interview process (8 interviews, no offer!), where salary was NOT brought up until the very end, when they had their 3 final candidates selected. The salary was excellent. I guess that’s why they didn’t ask me within the first 5 minutes of talking to me!

    1. PEBCAK*

      I disagree. I would never go past a phone screen to an in-person interview without knowing what the salary range is.

      1. Ask a Manager* Post author

        I think Jen is right that employers who ask you within the first 5 minutes about salary range tend to be cheap (and that’s why it’s very much on their minds) … but there are lots of cheap employers who don’t bring it up until the end too. So basically, hearing it asked up front might signal something, but not hearing it asked isn’t really a signal.

        1. CLP*

          Alternatively they may have concluded from your application that your salary requirements will be above their budget because you are ‘over qualified’ or ‘over experienced’ for the role. So they may be trying to get this potentially stumbling block out the way before they proceed any further.

          Of course in this scenario you would expect them to counter with, “we are really looking at $x as the top of our range would you be willing to consider the role at that level”. Then you can either proceed on a common basis or wrap things up and avoid wasting either of your time. If however they just carry on and then you never hear from them then that’s poor on their part so you are fair to conclude they are cheap

    2. some1*

      When I was job-searching last year, I had a lot of phone screens with external recruiters who called me because they saw my resume online. I got asked about salary expectations every time I think, but it was obvious they were reading off a list with the questions they were asking.

  6. Anonymous*

    My office is located in a city with an extremely high cost of living. Before posting a position, we always check with HR about the market salary range for the position given our desired experience and the job duties; we almost always pay from the middle to the top of the range.

    For the past week, I’ve been conducting phone interviews for a position, and three people have asked for more money than the market salary range provided by HR. Their rationale was the same – “Living in (city) is expensive, and I can’t justify taking a job without making (amount), which is what I need to live comfortably here.”

    I appreciated their honesty, but I was also taken aback by their argument. None of them mentioned their depth of experience as part of their rationale for wanting a higher salary, they all focused on the cost of living. In my first job out of college, I was making a whopping $35,000 a year in New York City, so I understand how frustrating it can be to make ends meet financially in an expensive location. However, I don’t think I would have ever framed a salary negotiation in terms of an employer’s responsibility to pay me what I deemed a living wage.

    What are everyone else’s thoughts on this?

    1. AP*

      Yeah, thats not how you get that number raised.

      Right now there’s a receptionist at my company who complains almost weekly about the same thing to the owner of the company! If she was a stellar worker and wanted to argue along those lines, that’s one thing, but she’s terrible and she knows that won’t fly.

      Meanwhile I *did* post the salary in the job ad because I knew it was at the lower end of what the range could be. She accepted and then freaked out when she saw her first paycheck because she had been calculating it before taxes, not after.

      God I wish I could fire this girl. (NB I did not make this hiring decision!)

    2. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Agreed — that’s not how you negotiate salary. I mean, it’s helpful for an employer to hear the feedback that they’re not offering a living wage or that they’re offering under-market, but it sounds like that’s not the case here.

      1. Henning Makholm*

        Hmm, I can see myself saying something like that — not, of course, as a substitute for presenting a case that I’d be worth (amount) to them, but as a way to lend credence to the idea that I really will walk away unless they can come up with a better offer.

        Are you saying that attempting to provide facts in support of “this is really a limit I’ll stick to, not just a never-hurts-to-ask gambit” is always wrong? I never went to negotiation school, so I might be wrong about this, but it seems to me that if each side has named a number and they don’t match, then the most efficient way for both parties to proceed would be to try to make sure at least one of them has enough information to conclude with confidence that there really is no overlap of ranges.

        If we cannot explain plainly to the employer why such-and-such is why your current offer would not be preferable to staying in my current job, then what are we supposed to do instead? Say nothing and pretend just to be playing hardball? Shrug and walk away? Twitch the left eyebrow twice and hope the interviewer has read the same book of poker tells we have?

    3. Jamie*

      The only time I can see bringing up cost of living legitimately is if the candidate would have to relocate and it’s an FYI.

      The wage is what it is, but there is nothing wrong IMO of someone saying politely that they did the math and can’t accept below $X to relocate.

    4. Chriama*

      I think that if you’re getting 3 different people stating that your salary is too low, you should take a look at where HR is getting their information. While it’s true that people should base their salary arguments on the value they’re bringing to the company as opposed to their personal situations, location and cost of living is a factor in the market rate for a salary. If it was 1 or 2 people bringing up this argument you could write it off as a quirky candidate, but I think 3 people means that there’s a pattern here that is worth investigating further.

  7. TrueStory*

    My employer recently offered a potential new hire a salary based on what she was currently earning…she was a recent college grad working at a low paying job while she looked for work. His rationale was his offer was “at least 20% more than she is making now…”. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that salary should be tied to the job and duties you are hiring for, not the lowest salary you can get them for. He also feels a salary is “fair” because if “their spouse is working too they would be making decent money as a couple”..no consideration that the person’s spouse’s salary shouldn’t factor into what you are willing to pay your employee. I wish I was making this up…but sadly I’m not…

    1. Chinook*

      Wow! Does he also believe your spouse having a baby is a good reason for a raise? Or does he give a pay cut when someone gets married?

  8. Elizabeth West*

    In the phone interview I had today, she asked what my salary requirements are. I told her I would like to get more than what I was making, as I felt this job was more involved that that one was. I just flat out ended up telling her what I wanted and she told me what their lowest bid usually was.

    0_0

    I would be rich.

    Well not rich, but I could build my savings back up really fast and get a smartphone finally (it’s only $50 a month, except I would have to buy the phone). I got rid of a $50 monthly payment right after I got laid off, so I could afford it. I hope that was real. And I get it. Because I wanted the job even before I found that out.

  9. Chriama*

    Wow, I was surprised when I checked to see of there was going to be another update today and saw one my comments had actually inspired one :D
    Thanks for answering my question Alison. I’m still young and naive, but I think a realistic understanding of what is and isn’t standard practice will probably keep me from being too disappointed with reality when I finally experience it haha

  10. Andie*

    So if a employer posts a job at $60,000 but you won’t consider anything less than $75,000 should you inquire with the potential employer if they are willing to increase the salary for the right candidate?

    If you do inquire about the salary, should you send your resume as well so they know you have the skills they are looking for?

    1. KarenT*

      If you are sure you wouldn’t take the job at $60k you don’t have anything to lose by trying. If you’d consider taking it for $60k you might annoy them, which doesn’t bode well for your candidacy.

      If they post $60k on the nose, they might negotiate. If they posted a range of $50k to $60k they might not go as high as $75. That’s more of a jump.

    2. Ask a Manager* Post author

      It’s tricky. Your best bet is probably to say in your cover letter (which you’d send along with your resume, like a normal application) something like, “I’m really interested in this role, although I should say up front that my salary requirements are slightly (though not significantly) higher than what you posted. If that’s not prohibitive, I’d love to talk.”

      Then if they look at your resume and decide you’d potentially be worth the higher salary, they can contact you if they want.

      But I would only do this if you’re truly an outstanding candidate — clearly bringing more to the table than the typical person applying for the job.

      1. Andie*

        The ad was posted on two different sites. One said “Up to 60k” and the other just said “60k”. If I were to apply, the lowest I would consider is 75k because I am already making over that.

        The position is for a nonprofit and it is a fund development position. I have been very successful at fundraising. I always meet or exceed my fundraising goals so I know that I could raise the money to cover my salary. But it is not something I can guarantee because you never know what is going on in an organization until you get in there.

        I know it could not hurt to ask the question but not knowing the culture of the organization I don’t know if I should just leave it alone. The fundraising world is small and I could run into these people in the future and I don’t want them to remember me as the person that was worried about salary if another position opens up in the future.

        I really like the nonprofit and the only thing that is stopping me from applying is the salary. Even if I wanted to I could not financially accept that salary. They are a small nonprofit and may not be able to pay more for budgetary reasons which I understand. It is just hard to know if they are offering a low salary because they know people need jobs or if 60k is really all they can afford.

        1. Ask a Manager* Post author

          Nonprofits, especially smaller ones, often have more flexibility with salary because they’re not tied into rigid salary bands. They’re sometimes willing to pay more for a really great person. Doesn’t hurt to check.

      1. KarenT*

        Sigh of relief! I thought I’d been following your blog so compulsively I was starting to hallucinate posts!

      2. Josh S*

        RSS feeds still grabbed the article. I’m not sure how to remove a post from RSS, but if you have a webmaster to handle such things, you may want to do so.

  12. Another Anonymous Person*

    Alison, I’m curious to see what you think about what recently happened to me with a recruiter that is related to salary.

    I recently met with a recruiter in my industry and we were discussing what I’m generally looking for in my next position and NOT a specific opening (so, no job- specific salary range to discuss).
    The recruiter asked what I am making at my current job, and I gave my base salary- say of $80K a year- I am a freelancer but I am a W2 employee (I don’t get company benefits but, I don’t pay my own taxes like someone who is a 1099) and I do make overtime (which doesn’t figure into the base salary I gave, which I explained to the recruiter)- at any rate, the recruiter then said to me, “So, I would look for a non-freelance role for you for $70K a year” and when I pushed back and said I would be interested in a non-freelance role of at least $75K, the recruiter pretty much stuck to $70K and completely disregarded that I said I wanted at least $75K or the fact that I currently make a base of $80K a year.

    I’ve worked with other recruiters recently who agree with my asking range for non-freelance and are even willing to push for more given my experience and current salary. So, unfortunately, I think that this recruiter just doesn’t think, for whatever reason, that I’m worth my current salary. Am I wrong to think this? Of course, it could be that this particular recruiter knows that his clients wont pay me what I’m currently making…

    1. Josh S*

      IMO, a recruiter that won’t listen to what you want regarding salary is a recruiter who won’t listen to what you want regarding job description, working conditions, commute, etc etc etc…ANYTHING really. Granted, I’m basing this on very little information, but it’s at least a BIG red flag about this recruiter. At the least, she’s annoying you. At the worst, she may be trying to shoehorn you into a bad-fitting position just to collect a commission… Keep your eyes open, and don’t be afraid to find a different recruiter.

    2. Ask a Manager* Post author

      That seems odd. I’d ask her why she thinks you should be earning less in your next job. She might say that it’s a trade-off for having more stability than you have currently if you’re in a role that’s not particularly stable, but I’d want to hear her reasoning. And I’d be pretty skeptical unless you hear something that makes sense to you.

    3. LMW*

      I had this happen a few times when I was discussing salary when I was still a contract employee. I was paying for my own benefits and had no vacation, but I calculating out the exact cost of that for me (roughly $3000, assuming I took two weeks of vacation and had three sick days, plus what I was paying annually in insurance), but companies kept trying to convince me to take $5000-7000 pay cuts. I just laughed at them. I was looking for more money and more benefits. It’s why I was leaving.

    4. Lisa*

      This is a bad recruiter. He/ she should be going to the clients and saying that he has a great candidate, but is currently making 80k. (no need to mention the freelance thing, why do people think that you must be desperate for a “real” job that is stable just cause you freelance? / freelance can be contract work that is actually more stable than other gigs)

      If this recruiter knew how to recruit both ways (for employees and companies), then he / she would throw your credentials out there and see if they are willing to consider a slightly higher salary and not assume that they won’t regardless of what was originally agreed upon.

  13. UK HR Bod*

    Personally I think salary should be discussed in the ad. My organisation always puts salary on there – it’s a self-selection tool the same way that the experience / qualifications that we want are (although at the moment, there’s less self-selection than I might like). We don’t generally ask for people’s salary – if they apply, then I assume that they are willing to take the role at the salary posted or close (we tend to post circas rather than range). There really is no point wasting candidate time, hiring manager time and my time by not giving people the information that they need to decide if it’s a job for them.

  14. Lisa*

    I am lucky in that my industry can mean 35k – 120k, so it lets me bring up salary based on knowing that client side could vary drastically, but that agency side could also be 30 – 50 k off from what you think the job should warrant. SO I say (on the first phone call), “I hate to be a pest, but I recently went on a 4th interview and when salary was discussed, it came out that they were assuming that I would start at 35k, and I am no longer entry level having been in the industry for 5 years and I don’t want to waste your time or mine. 5 years in this industry can easily mean 60 k – 120k so what is your salary range for this position? If they give some BS of well we budgeted for 50k, but would pay more for the right person..run. Someone budgeted 50k, that person isn’t going to suddenly throw extra money (10 – 30 k more) at anyone regardless of skills and will just waste your time. They will interview you, but will come back down to, well we only budgeted up to 50k, so that still doesn’t mean they value you at 50k. Don’t assume that you are going to change their minds, assume that 50k really means 45k, and if you won’t accept that don’t go on the interview. When they “for the right person”, its code for “we love her, but let’s expand the pool again and see if we can get someone cheaper”.

  15. Meg*

    UGH this is resurfacing all my concerns right now. I’m on a hiring committee to bring in a high-level manager to run the operations of our small non-profit. We posted on the job announcement that salary would be competitive (which is a change from the way salary has been worked out in the past)–which we believed to be true, because the ED is working with consultants to bring all salaries at our organization up to market rates. So we disclosed this to our candidates during the phone interviews, saying we don’t know what the range for this position will be, but that it’s something that will obviously exist before the job offer takes place. We asked for candidates’ salary requirements at the end of those interviews, and informed our ED of the range that candidates stated. Well, the candidates all independently came up with a range that’s at least 30K above what the ED had budgeted for– which gives me reason to think that we are NOT offering a competitive salary. I’m really afraid that the ED (and the board, who has to be consulted on such large costs) will be unwilling to spring for the extra 30K and we’ll lose the opportunity to bring on a really amazing person to run our organization better. I feel like it’s out of my hands at this point, as it will be up to the ED to work on negotiations at the offer stage, but still I wish there were something that could be done at this point.

  16. Kate*

    I hire sales people and if they aren’t asking about the commission structure and base in the first (in-person) interview, I take it as a bad sign. After all, sales is a job where people who are motivated by money and are assertive are more likely to excel, and pay can vary wildly. If someone isn’t asking the magic question, “how much do I make at goal?”, I have reservations about their suitability for the job.

  17. Kate*

    I applied for a position last week that was listed at $50-$55k. I got an e-mail in response within the hour of sending off my cover letter and resume, and was excited, but they were just asking my salary range. When I replied $50k, they tersely informed me that the position was capped at $40k.

    I’m glad they were honest, and I’m glad we didn’t waste each other’s time going farther in the process, but a salary range posted on an ad really needs to be more or less accurate. That was frustrating and disappointing.

    1. Beth*

      Interesting… I assume you checked and are sure that it was the actual employer initially claiming that the range was $50,000-$55,000. I’ve seen a lot of listings on job aggregrator sites which list a range, and look very much like the “real” listing. In reality the job is posted by a recruiter who may not even have the “account” for that job, so to speak… may not be contracted by the company posting it and have no say in the process whatsoever. They just estimate the range to generate interest.

  18. LovelyLibrarian*

    I thought I would post this here, albeit late… I noticed on a job I’m interested in that they posted a range from the “minimum to the mid-point of range” without naming the high point.

    https://jobs.ucop.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=55945

    I think this is the best solution I’ve seen to the problems discussed on this site: it clearly states the salary range so those folks who fall within the range know if it’s worth it. It also leaves room for negotiation at the top of the range, for those high-performers or really experienced folks who might not otherwise apply. I’d love to see this technique used more.

    1. LovelyLibrarian*

      Note: for when this link disappears here’s what it said:
      “Posting Salary: $50,244 – $73,975 (Minimum to Midpoint of Range)”

    2. Jamie*

      I like this a lot – and I’ve never seen it before. This is an excellent approach.

      I do also love when the range is some odd number. It would be so hard not to counter-offer with 73,975.83 – and go to the mat over those 83 cents.

      But that would only amuse me.

  19. Mints*

    Another question for the experienced:
    So, once I get an offer, assuming there’s salary on there, is it appropriate to ask about flextime? It’s not a deal breaker for me. Or should I wait once I’d been there a few months (a year?)?
    Also, do offer letters always spell out benefits & vacation time?

  21. Anna*

    I recently went through three interviews with a company. They immediately asked what I was making. After I was offered the job they offered a salary that was a little over $1k more than I currently make. I asked for them to send me the letter of offer so I could think about it. They told me they would only send it if I accepted. Haha.

    I declined and they were pissed. They started telling me it was my fault because I told them my salary.

    Why the heck can’t I demand to know what their salary range is in the very first interview. I wasted 7 hours talking with these people.

    Next time, screw it. I’m asking immediately. If they refuse to give a range then we aren’t a good fit. And I’m no longer answering the “what do you make” question. Drives me nuts… They want to know my base salary, all bonus amounts, cost of benefits and exactly what’s included in those… And they can’t even offer a salary range?!? What the heck has the world come to.

  22. Annie*

    A recruiter called to do a phone screen before she puts me into her list of recommendations to the hiring manager for consideration. She asked what is my current salary and expected salary, I politely replied that my expected salary is stated in my job application profile and I wish not to answer about my current salary package at this point until the hiring manager wishes to interview me.
    Then, I think the recruiter got annoyed and told me that from the standpoint of HR, she wouldn’t know how to put me in interview if I don’t answer her this question and quickly followed by saying it’s okay if you don’t want to answer and thanks for my time. Her attitude is a total 180 degree change.

    Does the recruiter has the right to be annoyed because I refuse to disclose my current salary package? She has not even showed my profile to the hiring manager and aren’t my expected salary and CV the most important elements to be considered when deciding if I should be interviewed? Pls help as I always don’t know how to answer this question when asked. thks.

  23. A*

    I’m in this process right now. Quickly…

    In applying for a certain job, I would have been making a huge life change, and moving across the country, and the job ad didn’t include things I wanted to know. So I sent an email to the contact person listed asking about number of people I would be leaving and to ballpark pay. Salaried? Hourly? Never got an email back.

    So I’m figuring this is the wrong email. So I just send a resume. Get an email from a different person, so I figure, sure, that was the wrong email listed. So we have an email chat, and this person answers my emails within 20 minutes of me sending them. So when I ask about salary, benefits, and just so I can compare it to where I’m working now, I then got completely ignored. No response. Not even an admonishment. Nothing. Just ignored.

    Seriously?

  24. Area51*

    I’d appreciate any advice on what to do if company has budgeted only a 5K spread for the job (i.e.: $60-65K).
    I want the top amount, naturally, ($65K) but they offer less. So then we’re negotiating over a relatively small increase of anything between $1-5K because they’ve got a top number, and I can’t ask for more than that.
    At what point does negotiating become quibbling? If I want $65K and they offer $63K, should I just take the $63K and forget negotiating?

  25. LC*

    My new job never confirmed my hourly wage with me. I worked for 3 days and still no one told me. I asked on my second day and still no one got back to me. A week later after not being scheduled they called and asked me to come in next week for full time hours. I told them I need to be told how much I make. She said someone would call me. Now it’s the evening before my week begins there and I have no clue how much I make. Is this legal?? They acted like I was crazy when I asked. I don’t think I should clock in tomorrow morning if they don’t have an answer for me. Please help!!

  26. Stephen Krikorian*

    I have a crisis to handle… so, I was laid off due to my company closing its doors in June. I’ve been interviewing, and submitting resumes left and right… now my DREAM employer who we will call company A. Company A has had me submit a custom cover letter, and resume, then upon acceptance, I had to create a 3 minute YouTube video answering questions provided by them, and then I did a Skype interview… so I’m assuming tomorrow is the final phase which is the face-to-face interview.

    During this time, company B is a company that I would happily take as a consolation job if company A doesn’t offer. Company B, had me do a phone interview, then a face to face interview, then a panel interview… they had mentioned through out this process what the compensation would be. (Keep in mind I’m an Inside Sales professional) — now I had mentioned to Company B in various stages, that I was making more of a base then what they were offering, but we can definitely discuss that further down in the process when we get closer to determining if there’s a compatible fit.

    Today, 2 hours ago — I received a voicemail from company B, asking to call back and that they have some “exciting news” — I’m assuming it’s the offer.

    Now, Company A’s interview is tomorrow… I have 2 dire questions to ask…

    1) How do I go about showing enthusiasm and excitement about company B, but at the same time asking for some time to think it over… (these are both minimum 2+ years required experience in inside sales positions) and not just think it over, but also is it too late to discuss potentially increasing the base for company B??

    2) Is it wise to let company B know that I’ve received an offer??

    HELP!!!

Comments are closed.