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Interview tips?


Trouble Maker

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Don't be vague about money requirements: When asked about desired wage, don't give an overly evasive answer. State "I am looking at jobs in the $xx to $yy range, but salary is only one part of the overall package. Is this in your range for this position?". The interviewer needs to know your requirements are in the ballpark and doesn't have time to deal with BS answers.

 

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I thought in the way of geting the salary you want, this was the wrong way to handle this.. am i wrong?

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Chances are in a phone interview, you won't get asked about salary. However, if you do get asked, give an answer as I outline. A range that you know is reasonable for the job in the market you are in is fine.

 

Our company and our clients hire thousands of people per year. Companies don't have time to go through the sourcing and screening process in order to get towards the offer stage and find out the candidate has unreasonable salary expectations.

 

If you don't want to give a number, then reverse the question: "I of course want to be compensated fairly, and am flexible depending on the overall package. What salary range are you targeting for this position?". If they turn it around again, that means they have now asked you twice. Tell them your range.

 

Remember, at this point in the hiring process, you are not negotiating because they haven't offered anything to negotiate over. They are SCREENING you to see if you are a realistic fit for their budget. If their salary range is $55k - $60k annually, and you are targeting $75k, then both you and the prospective employer need to know that up front so you don't waste additional time.

 

Again, IF ASKED, have a range in mind that is reasonable for the job and geographic market. A plus or minus 10% range is close enough.

 

As an aside, you can generally get an idea of market pay for certain jobs at salary.com. There's another site that I can't recall at the moment that takes it a step further and shows salary data for jobs at specific companies.

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Great info Rich, I actually had to deal with this in my very first pre-screen HR phone interview.

HR: What do you make now?

Me: $xxk/year

HR: What is the minimum you would need to make?

Me: Kind of BS answer about it being negotiable and it's about the whole package and not just what I make.

HR: What's the minimum you would need to make?

:fuuuu::fuuuu::fuuuu:

I really wanted to say 'I just told you what I make and you know this is low for my industry, experience and skillet so I know you should/better offer me more than what I make right now... if it even comes to that point'.

I told them something around what I make now. Really I would like to make more but don't need to, and it really is about more than just pay.

I assume at this point it was really just a question to throw me off, see how I could respond/communicate. There are so many more steps between now and an offer it's a pointless question at this time.

 

I applied for 2 jobs so far.

Job 1 I have a face to face interview next Friday.

Job 2 I have a second phone interview with the hiring manager next Monday evening. This was the job with the HR pre-screen phone interview from above.

:fuckyeah:

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