'What Are Your Salary Expectations?' Answering this Interview Question in 2020!

Join career and leadership expert and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita for today's video on how to answer the job interview question "What are your salary expectations?"

The wonderful thing about this video is it's an update from a previous, very popular video I did on this very topic in 2018. Since that time, that original video has well more than a million views and thousands of comments and questions, so I thought I'd add a little more clarification to some of the popular viewer questions!

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WHAT ARE YOUR SALARY EXPECTATIONS?
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The “What are your salary expectations?” job interview question has stumped more job candidates than all other interview questions combined! Why? Have you ever thought any of this...

I don’t want to price myself out.
I don’t want to leave money on the table.
I don’t want to waste my time if they can’t pay me.
They told me their budget and it’s way below what I earn now.
Uh oh. Their budget is way higher than what I earn. Maybe they'll “find me out.”
Wait. What if I give them a number now and want more later?
Wait. Wait. I know I said $99,999, but I’m really willing to lop a digit off that if we need to.

If you have, let's get you straight with the best way to approach this!

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- Start in the right place (your headline/pitch, your why, your needs, your questions to employers)
- Create marketing material that wows (resume, cover letters, LinkedIn Profile)
- Run the perfect job hunt (most advanced job search strategies)
- Interview to win the job (ace any type of interview and learn advanced selling techniques)
- Negotiate like a pro (learn the nuances, psychology and steps to get paid what you deserve)

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ABOUT ANDREW
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Andrew LaCivita is a world-leading career and leadership coach, trainer, blogger, and speaker. As the award-winning author of three books, including The Hiring Prophecies: Psychology behind Recruiting Successful Employees and Interview Intervention: Communication That Gets You Hired, he has dedicated his life and career to helping people and companies realize their potential.

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ABOUT TIPS FOR WORK AND LIFE®
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Tips for Work and Life® is a weekly careers and motivational show full of helpful job search strategies, career management tactics, and self-help aids with award-winning author, career coach, and trainer Andrew LaCivita. Tips for Work and Life® has been cited by several sources as a Top 5 Careers Blog. Andrew includes these 5-45 minute multicast shows as part of his blog and podcast.

#milewalkacademy
#salary
#careercoach
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#interviewintervention
#jobinterview

[maiteam]

Andrew, you are awesome. I changed my resume according to your format and I hear interviewers telling me that my resume is impressive. I have three different interviews this week. One company even considered me for 3 different positions. One company invited me to apply for a position, that would be the 4th interview should I decide to apply.
- love from Philippines 🇵🇭

[ReflectionOcean]

1. Try not to give a number

2. If have to, ask for their range and tell them if you are ok

[ednewmy]

I've followed your resume and cover letter advice as well as the interview techniques and have found them really helpful. This one I just can't nail down. I had an experience today in a first interview that felt like a mexican stand off as clearly neither me nor the hiring official wanted to reveal their hand. It actually felt like the atmosphere was becoming quite negative and I didn't want to go any further down that route so I (stupidly) gave a figure based on my previous role in another company. The interview had gone well until that point, but he then looked really disappointed - I expect the figure I gave was over their budget, and I think that could be the thing that loses me the chance of getting the role. Next time I'll know to try going down the route of asking them their budget and just saying I'm happy with that. Thanks for all the advice you put out Andy. I'm still learning but it's been helpful so far!

[brandishanken]

I've had this question so many times in the first interview, so not a recruiter. And what usually happens is they try to start answering all of those other factors mentioned as if they're questions, then they ask me again. Like, "you'll be doing this and working with these people. We have these kinds of training opportunities and the benefits package includes... Now, what kind of salary do you expect?"


I try asking them for their budget/range, but if they dodge it like I dodged the first question, it's like a stalemate, and when those happen, the interviewee loses.

[barryliu]

Awesome, as always, Andrew. I actually used the scripts you gave us during my interview yesterday, but was followed by a question that I had to give them a range or figure, so I just gave them the local market range for the occupation, I wish I could see this earlier so that I could possibly get their range of offering.

[MsStuff]

Andy, I used this technique and it was spot on! I also have used your other techniques and I was granted an on site interview to a awesome company! Now I am anxiously waiting for a call back to see if I was selected for the job! Either way it turns out I want to say Thank You for everything Sir. To any skeptics try the techniques, believe in yourself, and above all just be natural you can’t go wrong.

[youtubersfunnyfunny]

This recent video answer my question.Wish me luck for tomorrow, I have my interview to take.

[Cindelb]

Great Video. I have a question about the online applications. I have been looking for a job for the past 4 years and have filled out too many to count. Often, employers these days require you to fill in a "number", it is not a dropdown field for the salary and the field does not allow text. What would you recommend in these cases? I agree with you that we are just shooting in the dark, and I suspect that I have lost out on many jobs because I have priced myself out of the job. However, I have also accepted that if they are that way, I don't really want to work there anyway.

[mikedurante]

all great info! do you offer one to one salary negotiating help?

[Buyitforwife]

It’s interesting other career you tubers advise telling them the number range right away so that it gives the company the opportunity to screen you out and not waste time for you and them. Any thoughts on when one approach is better?

[daveadams]

Quick question: Had first interview last week with recruiter who asked the range question, I tried to defer it (I had not yet watched your video) she pushed a little and I gave a range. Realizing her reaction was excited about what I said I might of aimed low I came back to that question at the end and said that since my current job is all commission (new job is Salary only) that I was not in the best position to give a range as this job is a different industry.

She told me that the manager would negotiate it and not to worry. My 2nd interview is tomorrow with the regional manager. Should I deflect here as well and try to push it off until we are further along in the process or should I give a better range?

I know the range I need now as I worked on that this weekend.

Thank you!

[dil]

Hi Andy - I just had a call with a recruiter and she said that - HR wouldn't allow her to give me that salary range and she wanted me to look up the range for the market and get back to her. What should I say next?

[HHHPedigrees]

Isn't it better to know what they are willing to pay. If it's too low for you its better to not waste your time and their time.

[varunpanday]

Hey Andy ..when I asked for the salary range as you mentioned the HR person said they could not disclosed.now I am stuck as the position was higher than my last job....as always thank you !!!

[fatemakanchwala]

Sir. My question to you is . If a previous employer calls you to rejoin and you are aware of all the working conditions, activities and timings and other benefits.
How can you then negotiate with them for a higher pay during the interview process.

[UnrealSoundDesigner]

Hey Andy I have a question regarding this. I currently had to move to another country and there's very few job opportunities for me here, the best option for me is customer service type of jobs. the industry seems to have a super fast turn around in regards of jobs and since i just moved here i am applying to an entry level job. How can i apply this to make sure i get the salary i need to make ends meet when my interviewing process is only at most an hour and the company usually has a set number for the positions i can apply to?

[jennifersherwood]

Thanks Andrew - I used it - it worked :)

[evelynrivera]

Hi. I tried deferring salary requirements recruiter wd not move me on to manager as she said manager asked for salary requirements before moveing on. I responded respectfully deferring again and I got ghosted by recruiter. It did not work.

[americantickling]

I was told that recruiters are incentivised based off of a percentage of your starting salary. In which case it would be in there best interest for you to start out making as much as possible but it seems like employers would have it set up the other way around to incentivise recruiters that can get candidates on as close to the bottom end of there pay range as possible to save them more money in the long run. My mind is heavily burdened by the idea that I may have screwed myself over when I got hired by giving an actual number for expected salary that my recruiter said was "perfect" (it was my first time "negotating" salary). Which is true in regards to how recruiters are incentivised?

[jamiec]

Hi Andrew. @andrewlacivita I have asked you a few questions but have a little bit of a strange one. I started a new job in November and it’s a newly designed position for a growing team. My manager (the vp of the part of the company I work for) called me saying she was going to move me under one of her other leaders, wants to change my title, move me to salary instead of hourly (my position requires a lot of travel) and add some different duties to what I’m already doing if I was up for it. When we set up an in person meeting (I work remote) is it normal to renegotiate salary in this kind of situation?