LPT: When asked what your pay scale is during a job interview, say, “I’m flexible if it’s a good fit. What do you have budgeted for this role?” 9/10 they’ll tell you the salary range without you giving away your amount.

keepthetips · 2021-02-23T16:28:21+00:00

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CakeAccomplice12 · 2021-02-23T17:12:16+00:00

In pretty much every job application I've filled out recently it has asked for desired salary

Which means they have your number before the interview even starts

TaliesinMerlin · 2021-02-23T17:51:15+00:00

Like a lot of interview recommendations, there is a strong anecdotal bias here. Answering successfully in this way depends on the industry, company culture, and the individual interviewers. "I'm flexible" could just lead them to offer less or restate the question.

VergeIll · 2021-02-23T17:14:04+00:00

As a recruiter, I just say the pay rate up front. Ain’t nobody have time to waste like that.

space_is_noisy · 2021-02-23T17:24:39+00:00

This doesn't always work, I was lucky in that the guy I was replacing told me the budget beforehand, HR gave me the "we want to know your expectations" spiel. How I got that amount without coughing up payslips: I was freelancing at the time so I said I dont have payslips because of that and my invoices to my clients are confidential. And then gave them a figure I "expected" to make in a pay cycle that coincided with that range. They said fine, a week later I was hired. I still thank my stars 2 years later.

ipappnasei · 2021-02-23T16:45:02+00:00

Ive never had a company answer me the budget for a position. They always say "no, we want to know how much you want. Just tell us what you want."

xero_art · 2021-02-23T17:37:51+00:00

The real trick is to catfish someone else who works there with a similar position and ask them how much they make and how long they've been working there then extrapolate from that.

VergeIll · 2021-02-23T17:15:12+00:00

As a recruiter, chances are if they don’t tell you the pay up front, it pays shit.

breezyfye · 2021-02-23T18:08:56+00:00

I wish there was a law that made jobs explicitly state their pay/salary and the needed working hours in job description before you even click apply

richielaw · 2021-02-23T17:04:04+00:00

This works!

Also, if they demand salary requirements, you can say, "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable providing a salary requirement at this time as I'd like to get more information regarding the role and its responsibilities. Are you able to disclose a salary range?"

Also, you should know that in California, Illinois and New York employers are prohibited from asking your salary history. This has worked for me even when working remotely.

rngohel · 2021-02-23T18:28:50+00:00

I have an interview that's really important in 2.5 hours. This came at the perfect time! Wish me luck!!!!

BecomeABenefit · 2021-02-23T17:47:01+00:00

Do your research before you get to this point in the interview. Know what the industry standard is in your area for the job duties listed. Even if they refuse to give you a range, you'll be able to honestly answer what you expect. Don't view it as "me vs them" view it as "we need to be on the same page or we're both wasting our time".

I tell recruiters my required salary range within the first few minutes of the discussion. If they can't meet it, we're both better off just going our separate ways immediately.

" I expect this job to be paying between $75k and $95k per year based on the job description and requirements. I would need towards the higher end of that range."

micmeup · 2021-02-23T17:06:29+00:00

This is one of the many reasons I love working in the public sector. Pay ranges are public record and can be found with about one minute on Google.

old_skul · 2021-02-23T19:21:11+00:00

A better LTP would be to go to glassdoor.com or salary.com and look up what others in that role make at that company. It's super easy to determine what the range is for a particular position. No need to play games like this LPT suggests (and besides, most recruiters ask right out of the gate what your salary expectation is).

hayflicklimit · 2021-02-23T18:14:30+00:00

Can we just mandate that salary is disclosed by the employer up front so job seekers don’t waste their time?

anarchy45 · 2021-02-23T19:07:18+00:00

Aim high. Give yourself some bargaining room. I say, "I'm targetting $xxxxxx but benefits and family time are very important to me, so that's negotiable". If their benefits package is anything less than stellar, be like "I need more $$ in my salary". If youre in tech and Glassdoor says the average salary for a job is $100k, you should be asking for at least $115-120k.

If a company really wants to hire you, they will negotiate with you and not just decline you outright, as long as you arent asking for something totally ridiculous.

Ricky_5panish · 2021-02-23T18:20:16+00:00

To add, most interviews are now 2 or 3 parts now. Never give up the number during the first interview, just say you’re flexible and willing to discuss if you are the right fit.

Tripdok · 2021-02-23T18:48:58+00:00

Depends on your interviewer, I had tried that, they laughed and said that we weren't at the negotiation phase yet, I never heard back from them

SinnamonSativa666 · 2021-02-23T16:30:12+00:00

This! NEVER be afraid to try gain insight. Hidden salaries have only been acceptable because people are afraid to ask, AND if the company gets pissed at you asking how much you will earn working for them, then they are not worth your time!

drew_almighty21 · 2021-02-23T20:11:07+00:00

Had a very friendly interview go way south after I gave my current salary information. Things came to a grinding halt as they could not meet my expectations. The crazy thing is, this job actually had more responsibilities than my current job, but they wanted to pay $30-40 thousand less per year. Gee, if only they had put a salary range in the listing so I could have saved us all a lot of trouble...

joocycunt · 2021-02-23T19:21:12+00:00

I led over a thousand job interviews and I never accepted "i'm flexible" for an answer. I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's not a "trick" that works very well in this economy and market. Plus, you have headhunters who works for their clients and they WILL get a number out of you 99,9% of the time. It's the new reality, and no, even if you lowball yourself, we don't capitalize on that to save money, we want people to be compensated for what they are worth and most of all, happy with their package.

Legionnaire11 · 2021-02-23T19:58:05+00:00

[deleted]

HarlodsGazebo · 2021-02-23T19:18:25+00:00

Hahahaha $65k and $70k ಥ_ಥ cries in under qualified

Tlr321 · 2021-02-23T20:18:28+00:00

I just started a new job this week. Last week at the interview I told them I would be fine with $15 an hour. Imagine my surprise when they came back with $28 an hour as my starting salary. Seems like a good company so far

samanime · 2021-02-23T18:00:09+00:00

This is good advice, though also be aware that if the company is large enough or you are good enough, you can frequently get them to go above their budgeted range if they like you enough, by a bit.

If you're looking for $100k and they say $60k though, it's probably time to move on. You're unlikely to close that gap.

turtleturtletown · 2021-02-23T18:36:06+00:00

As someone who gets 5-10 recruiters reaching out every week, why skirt around the question? I just flat out ask so neither of our times are wasted. Usually they will give you a range pretty quickly.

WestFast · 2021-02-23T18:45:14+00:00

Going too high isn’t a risk in my opinion as long as it’s reasonable and within market and professional Experience value.

If they flip out then you know they were only looking to underpay and would be a trash employer anyhow.

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