RE: Salary - It's Easy

[Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

--- Kristen <kristen -at- write-connection -dot- com> wrote:
> If that has worked for you I would keep it up!  The problem is that it might
> not work for everyone.  Some interviewers would take the lack of response as
> a bad sign.  They may think you are hiding something or that you are not an
> open and honest person.  I am sticking with my guns.  Don't lie, be open and
> honest if asked a direct question about money, and back your reasons for
> wanting more money with logical explanations.

Kristen, you're absolutely right. Some interviewers will not like you, period.
Believe it or not, probably a quarter of the people you meet will take an
instant dislike to you. Probably another quarter of them will like you
immediately. The other 50% could go either way. That's the nature of life. It
doesn't matter whether we're talking about starting salaries or celery recipes.

Every application or ad response will not lead to an interview. Every interview
will not lead to a job offer. Every job offer will not lead to a job. Don't
worry about the 25% of interviewers who take that instant dislike to you. You
won't be working there, and it doesn't matter how they justify it to their
bosses. The reason just doesn't matter.

If you have to mention money first, at least mention a figure you can live
with. Andrew is right that the first figure you mention to the interviewer is
the one they'll remember. 

And just because they ask a question does not mean you have to answer it with
the information they want. Remember, whoever asks the questions controls the
interview. It is not written in stone that the interviewer asks and you answer.


Interviewer: What did you make on your last job?

Responder: I'm not sure that's really relevant to this position. What is the
range for the job you are offering? 

(Notice that the question is turned back on the interviewer.)

Interviewer: Well, I'm really not ready to discuss salary specifics with you at
this point, but I do need to know if it's even possible for us to make an offer
you'll be satisfied with.

Responder: I'll be happy to tell you if your range is satisfactory If you
decide to make me an offer, we can haggle over the numbers then. But right now
I'm not sure I know enough about the job or the working environment to discuss
my salary requirements.

NOTE: If this approach results in an impasse, what is the problem? The odds are
you don't want to work there anyway. If you're worried that they may not like
you, don't. They've already made up their mind by the time you get to this
point, and there's nothing you can do about it.

=====
Tom Murrell
Lead Technical Writer
Alliance Data Systems
Columbus, Ohio
mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/
Page Last Updated 07/15/01

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