Resumes: Handling the Salary Question

Handling the Salary Question

Job seekers find the salary question a tough one to answer. If you ask for too little, you may be hired and paid less than your colleagues. But, if you ask for too much, the answer may knock you out of the running. You can’t use a crystal ball to predict the most appropriate answer but, you can conduct research and plan your response to the inevitable question.

Sometimes the salary issue is as easy as answering a question with a question. If you are asked “What are your salary requirements?” counteract with “What is the salary range?” Most organizations hire somewhere between the starting salary and the mid-point. If you can obtain this information, it will give you a solid basis for salary negotiation. If you can’t move beyond this hurdle, here are some tips to help you calculate your worth in the workplace:

Know what you are worth based on your education, training, and experience. You’ll find salary surveys from government agencies and in periodicals, professional journals, and on the web.
Use Internet sources such as www.salary.com and www.bls.gov/bls/wages.htm to calculate appropriate salaries.
Contact the career center at your college or any college to see if they maintain salary statistics on occupational placements.
Join professional associations to keep abreast of salary potentials.
Calculate your salary based on benefits and incentives.
Document your salary research and prepare a salary request and justification.
Be prepared to negotiate. Plan ahead what salary you would like and what is the least you will accept.
Try to remain flexible. Many job seekers have taken slightly less than they would have liked and but made it up through performance and future increases.

Good luck!