How do you bring up the salary issue at a job interview?

C

Chadilac

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Jan 10, 2006
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I am going to be changing jobs (and locations) soon and I find the whole salary issue to be quite delicate. If you ask too early, you may sound over-confident or even arrogant, but if it comes up too late you may find that you've wasted a lot of time--theirs and yours, and then you may seem ungrateful and rude for not taking an offer.

I hope that they'll have questions for me and the subject will come up. If not, before we finish, maybe they'll say "do you have any questions for us?" and then I can ask about the salary. Does this sound like a plan?

Thanks. ;)
 
Yes, it is okay to ask about. If multiple people are interviewing you, be sure you ask either the hiring manager or the HR person about salary. However, it might be better to wait and see what they offer, then negotiate.

Before asking about salary, ask what the next step in the hiring process is. For example, they may require a second interview.

Good luck.
 
It's best not to bring it up until they've offered you the job. Interviewing and negotiating are two separate things, and ideally, two separate meetings.
 
Generally it is Ok to ask for the Salary range for the position during the interview. If the person does not know, they can just say that it up to the manager. Do not try to negotiate at that time, you are just gathering information. At the time they offer the position then is the time to firm up the salary, Steven
 
I always ask for the salary range and tell them what I am looking to make (at least) before I even go for an interview. That way it doesn't waste my time or theirs. The thing that pisses me off more than anything is to go through an interview and be offered like half what I make now.
~Corey
 
corey1981 said:
I always ask for the salary range and tell them what I am looking to make (at least) before I even go for an interview. That way it doesn't waste my time or theirs. The thing that pisses me off more than anything is to go through an interview and be offered like half what I make now.
~Corey
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Worked out fine for me too when I changed my job. I don't have time to lose with multiple interviews if the offer is clearly too low. Most companies have no time to lose either so they ask you what you expect by phone before the first interview (at least over here).
Depends on how bad you need a job too. When you are employed while looing for a new job, you can afford being picky. When you're not, the one offering the job has the upper ground.
 
I would wait until they offer a job. Their salary offer will need to be competitive with the market or they wouldn't be able to stay in business.
 
How do you bring up the salary issue at a job interview?

You don't.

Salary is discussed later when they make you the offer.

If someone asks, "What's your current salary?" Answer. And add, "And I think I'm worth a little more."

If someone asks, "What salary do you want?" Answer, "Salary is not my major concern and I trust that you'll make me a very generous offer.

But, you really don't want to work for someone who asks these questions during the interview. A person who wastes the time in the interview focusing on salary instead of your qualifications and his needs and how they mesh, a person whose major concern in the interview is a few bucks one way or the other and not how well you fit the job, is not someone you want to work for. A person who doesn't know the basic protocol of hiring good people isn'the someone you want to work for.
 
Chadilac said:
If not, before we finish, maybe they'll say "do you have any questions for us?" and then I can ask about the salary. Does this sound like a plan?
Click to expand...

No.

Your questions for them focus on their business and the roll you might play in its success.

"Is your business growing?"

If so, then ask, "Is the market expanding or are you gaining market share?"

If they say that their business is not growing, then ask, "Is the market shrinking or are you loosing market share?"

Then ask, "Are you satisifed with that?"

If the answer is no (and it always is because no businessman is every satisfied) ask, "Do you have a plan to change that?"

For example, if the business is growing because the market is growing, "Do you want to try to also expand your market share? If so, how do you plan to do that? How would you want me to contribute to that?"

"Where do you see this business being in five or ten years? How do you plan to get there?"

"What key elements have brought your business to where it is today?"

"What are the most important things you look for when you evaluate interview candidates and when you evaluate your employees?"
 
I'm with Gollnick and others who say don't bring it up in the interview. If they do, go ahead and be straight forward.

An interview is basically you trying to sell yourself to the company. The object should be to secure an offer, then you are in a position to negotiate.

I'm a manager in the insurance industry, and if someone I'm interviewing brings up salary I take it as a sign that they lack professional acumen. If the interview is for a professional position, that's possibly enough to disqualify them on it's own.

I suppose the rules could be different in different industries, but that's my experience in the white collar world of insurance.
 
I assume that there are tiers in the insurance industry etc. There is nothing I hate more than the prospective employer asking what I currently earn,,, then getting an offer based on that or a % more than that. What I earn in one location or position, is not likely to relate to earning in another situation.

If a PO has not valued a job before placing an advert, or an advert with a $ range, then they are fishing and are wasting a huge amount of other people's time. They know what they can pay and are hoping for a better deal.
 
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