Salary Question

A Creative Way to Negotiate Salary in Job Search

February 22, 2015 By Marta Goertzen

We get questions about salary all the time.

Last week a client asked how to respond if someone asks his salary requirements. He has been with his employer for over 25 years in key sales roles. He is paid very well, perhaps more than some companies are willing to pay for comparable positions. So this is a tricky question for him.

I just ran into a great article at Quora that addressed this question in a great way. We do a lot of reading here at The Interview Doctor and so should you! You never know where you will find great advice so keep your ears open. Quora is a question and answer website where the community of users creates, answers and edits questions. I highly recommend Quora for the wide variety of interesting questions and answers you can find.

The question was “If your last salary was very high, is it better to tell a potential employer it was actually lower?”. Several people supplied answers but my favorite was the answer provided by Antone Johnson an attorney who has worked for some pretty famous huge tech companies. He references “Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1,000,000+” a book on executive job-changing by John Lucht (see how much reading we need to do to stay up to date these days?).

Responding to the salary question is tricky for anyone but for people at the higher income level it can be really tough because total compensation is based on more than salary. Every company has a different way to motivate executives with compensation so it is hard to know what to say. Respond with a number too high and you are out of the running. Respond with a number too low and you might lose out because the company thinks you are not at the right level to handle that particular job.

Antone Johnson (through John Lucht) suggests a multi-level approach that leaves you room to negotiate.

Start with a statement about how interested you are in the position. “Of course compensation isn’t my main focus; I’m more concerned with the professional opportunity, growth potential, or … “ something like that. If vagueness won’t work, go to the next level.
Give a wide range that leaves you with maximum flexibility. “In recent years, my total (cash) compensation has been in the $X to $Y range”. X is the lowest salary you’ve earned in the last three to five years and Y is the highest including all forms of compensation in your best year (salary, bonus, equity vesting). Antone advises us to be creative.
If they probe further, you can probe to see if their number is higher or lower. If the company budgeted a number at the higher end for the position, the you provided in your stated range should be in their range. If they budgeted a lower number you can clarify by explaining that your higher number was the result of a fabulous year with a huge bonus but your base salary was within their range.

I love this approach. Remember, postpone salary discussions as long as you can. You want to make them fall in love with you because then they might be more creative and flexible with salary. But if you have to discuss salary I love Antone’s approach based on Lucht’s book.

See what you learn when you read?

695 Opinions about the BIG $$$ Question . . .

November 25, 2010 By Marta Goertzen

What do YOU do with the salary question? In today’s job market, it’s huge. Well I found a LinkedIn group discussion with nearly 700 comments. The person who posed the question does an excellent job of articulating the issues, and firing back further questions. I think this discussion addresses the issue in such detail that it will at least give you some different perspectives on the BIG question. It’s a members-only LinkedIn group called “Career Change Central – in Partnership with IvyExec.com.” It is not restrictive, though, if you explain that you are looking for career changing information and input, or show that in your LinkedIn profile.

In the Career Change Central LinkedIn group, look for the group discussion “Interview Question – What are your salary expectations?” The discussion leader is J. Paige Freeland. My perspective on this topic has evolved slightly. This was my “Comment:”

“While I agree with the common recommendation that answering the salary question without really giving specific dollars or dollar ranges is normally to the candidate’s advantage, there are times when the recruiter insists on at least a specific range, and without it, the conversation ends.

There are two solutions. Research the industry, like companies and like jobs. Inquire through your local network of contacts who might know what the local market range for this position is with competitors. Ask people who know people in those companies if they can help you. Get as much information as you possibly can about relevant salary data.

The other solution is a more traditional research visit to your local library. Reference USA is the premier business reference guides and can be accessed with a good librarian’s assistance. Hoover’s is also a great reference although on-line it may require some investment.

If the company is publicly traded, some financial information will be available on the required SEC filing, the 14-K. For a non-profit organization, the Form 990 will have key people salary information.

With nearly 700 comments already, these research references are (I’m sure) not news. My view on this is that careful preparation for a critical question puts you in the best position to move beyond that natural interviewing process hurdle.”

The Hottest Question in Job Search . . . ‘Your Salary Expectations?’

May 8, 2010 By Marta Goertzen

‘How should I answer the ‘salary question?’ Most people looking for a new position or a work opportunity are troubled by this question, and feel they have probably botched it already – that’s why they keep asking ‘how should I answer the salary question?’

keep_your_cards_close I recently participated in a HR panel presentation for a class, “Navigating the Interview Process.” The hottest question of the two hours of Q&A from the group was ‘how should I answer the salary question?’ I suggested, ‘don’t answer it.’ The rest of the panel, all responsible for hiring within their companies, took the opposite opinion: ‘You better answer it, or the party is over with us.’

As a corporate recruiter, that salary question for me was a ‘must-get-an-answer,’ and on the rare occasion that a candidate successfully talked their away past a direct answer, it was a red flag. Sometimes it felt like I was being hoodwinked. Looking back, they wanted to talk about other things, the job, the company, what they had accomplished, how they could help us, the qualities they offered, what qualities fit best in this job, this company. In other words, they kept the conversation on point, and presented themselves with an eye for solutions and next steps rather than answering litmus test questions like ‘how much are you presently making?’ or my favorite, ‘what are your salary requirements?’

Okay, here’s a confession. Did I recommend for further consideration the candidates who talked past the salary question? Only about half the time. I needed to know, and if he or she wouldn’t give me a straight answer, I reasoned that they did not fit our culture of straight answers (I worked with CPA’s in my most recent life). However, if they really wowed me, I recommended them anyway.

In the last year or two, as I have been building a practice of coaching people seeking employment, I have come to believe that the strongest posture regarding the salary question (if you want a position that matches your capacity for contributing) is exactly what those clever candidates who didn’t answer the question directly were doing. They were building a keener interest in their candidacy, and finding out if this company (my company/me) understood their value and their capacity for handling tough questions, to their advantage. That should have impressed me, and sometimes it did – now I see the wisdom of candidates who answer without answering the money question.

I recommend that folks answer it with purposeful vagueness, ‘I’m aware of the range of what a job like this will pay in the marketplace, and I’m comfortable with that range.’ Will it cause you to be ruled out of consideration in some cases? It might. Should that concern you in a down economy where the number of opportunities seems somewhat limited? I don’t think so. Smart companies, growing companies, figure out ways to hire good people, and if you are one of those ‘good people’ you’ll play this question close to the vest, and manage the interview by addressing the hot button issues that will cause them to want to fill the job with you. Talk about the pay after they make you the offer. As was noted in an earlier blog, that’s where your leverage will be.