During the interviewing process inescapably you come to the point when you are asked about your salary expectations. It can be one of the first questions that the interviewer asks or it can be brought up when a job offer is made. Being asked in the beginning, this question might influence further success of your interview, depending on how professionally and reasonably you answer it. To be prepared for this question is as important as to be prepared to discuss your experience and qualifications. By asking this question while screening, the recruiter slots you into a certain category and would less likely proceed with you, if your expectations appear too high or too low than would be reasonable for the role in question. Asking for too much, you risk to be deemed as overqualified. At the same time, if your expectations are too low, you are likely to be ruled out as lacking necessary experience and qualifications.

Thus, in order not to be screened out before the interview actually starts, be prepared to tackle this question the way that will not turn off the recruiter.  Do your best (in the most polite and delicate way) to solicit as much information as possible about the role. You may ask something like this: “Before discussing specific numbers, I still have a couple of questions about my responsibilities”. In this case, in order to give a correct answer you need to have all your questions answered first. If possible and as long as possible, try to avoid exact numbers, but you may give an approximate range of salary that you would expect.  Your goal here is to avoid linking your current salary (especially when it no longer satisfies you) to your potential offer.  You are after an offer that is solely based on the value of the job you want to receive. Try to get this message across.

One more detail that every HR Specialist could not help but agree with – money is not always a good motivator.  What it really means, is that in certain circumstances when you hate the work you do, no lucrative compensation can offset negative emotions associated with your work.  In situations like this, many people prefer to switch to a more modest compensation in exchange of getting a chance to do a work they can really enjoy.  Think about it as well.  It might be another point you wish to communicate.

Also, it is important to distinguish between your current salary and your salary expectations, particularly when you qualifications have evolved significantly over the last time (you may have completed some training, extended educational programs or taken some courses advancing your skills) and your salary history has very little to do now with your expectations.

There is another good reason for mentioning an approximate salary range instead of exact numbers. For example, if you know that you were underpaid in your last jobs, you probably had other non-cash benefits of certain value to you. Thus, having a not very high base salary, such perquisites as medical and dental plans, profit-sharing bonuses, pension plans, and other incentives can add up to 30 % to your base salary. This circumstance can also be used as a negotiation tool, which is much better than just exaggerating your current salary hoping to negotiate even more for your next job. You should know the limits of allowable fudge, as the salary information can easily be verified with your former/current employer (only by your consent).

In any event, if a new role seems really interesting to you, do your home work and determine what such a job can be worth of in today’s market. Even if the job in question is paid much higher than your current one, it does not mean that you would not be capable of doing it. You might have all necessary qualifications and some specific experience that are required for this position. Do not shorten yourself from getting into an interesting and exciting role only because the salary is higher than that you have now.

At the same time, know “your worth” in the market. A good idea is to check market salary situation before starting your job search. At your disposal there are different possibilities to do so:

• You can get information from the statscanada.ca
• There are also salary centers on some major job boards: workopolis.ca, monster.ca
• International salary survey companies can provide you with salary ranges for the jobs of interest to you
• At last, you can always use your networking or ask recruiting professionals

Keep in mind that salary ranges for identical positions may vary in different industries and different types of organization (profit/non-for-profit). Other than understanding market data, you also need to know specific terminology and freely juggle with it during your interview. It makes usually a good impression on recruiters/employers and reveals you as a professional negotiator. You may possibly wish to say: “Knowing that the median for such job is $50,000 in the market today and taking into consideration my qualifications, I was hoping for something in the range of $40,000 to $60,000.” Other than median, you can also use simple average data in your salary analysis.

Negotiating the salary at the stage of presenting a job offer can put you in a stronger negotiating position than revealing your salary expectations at the beginning of the screening process. It is so, because you already had a chance to demonstrate your brilliant personality and top-notch skills to the potential employer.  Now it remains only to persuade the employer that all this should be paid accordingly.  Remember, if you start negotiating your salary, take it as seriously as possible, as you will hardly have the second chance to get what you really want and are worth of.