I’ll keep it simple:

1) saw job listed, no salary mentioned. American/global firm. Applied.

2) job is interesting but is in some frightful provincial town in a ghastly part of England where they probably don’t even sell ciabatta (ie it’s not where I want to live and would probably weekly commute).

3) secretary (or someone) has done first cut. Has asked me to kindly supply my salary aspirations so that reviewing managers can kindly review.

What do people do in these situations? I don’t know whether they are likely to pay peanuts because they think “that’s a lot of money for around here, you can rent a castle for that” or whether they are likely to pay buckets because they realize “we are a global company and no one would live here if it weren’t for money”.

say market rate

what your on now +20-30%?

whats the field? and where is it, specifically?

If its investment banking, put a lot. If it’s fast food, put less…

Surely you can aspire to any sort of salary. Doesn’t mean you expect to get it at this particular job.

Tell them that that would depend entirely on the exact nature of the job, the people you’d be working for, their expectations for performance, the degree of realism associated with that etc.

Do not put a value on something you do not yet fully understand. Similarly, do not let them put a value on you before they’ve even met you and therefore cannot possibly hope to understand you.

Decide how much you’d have to be paid to live

in some frightful provincial town in a ghastly part of England where they probably don’t even sell ciabatta

and say that amount. FWIW I’d not want to live in the South East either 😉

If this is the market rate for the job then happy days, if this is more than the market rate then presumably you wouldn’t accept the job if they offered it to you. 😉

£excellent

Two options I’d say.

1. Just say market rate and leave it at that.

2. If it is actually true…..Say I am currently on £xxx and would not consider relocating for less or £xxxx+y. I’ve no idea why you are wanting a new job but if you were offered the job would you take it for less than you are on now? If not, be honest and save everyone some time.

It doesn’t really matter what they think, you know what you will work for, and what you’re worth so just be honest.

and remember its not just about the headline salary. pensions, holidays, heathcare etc are just as important.

Depends on res of package really, current job has little beyond salary so was pretty aggressive on what I wanted.

Well I’d be wanting fresh Ciabatta delivered to my desk every day, so factor that one in.

Why not state that “I’d like the salary to be reflective of the market position and negotiable with regard to my releative experience of that position, but also to be reviewed in 6 mnths and 1 year based on my forthcoming levels of performance in the role”.

You’re welcome, thats £1000 please.

Be honest – tell them the minimum that YOU would be happy to accept to do THAT job in THAT part of England.

If you do anything else you run the risk of being dis-satisfied if they offer you the job and you take it 😀

It’s not very complicated, just name the amount that you would require to accept the position. They will evaluate if it’s in their budget. The actual amount could be more or less than your current salary.

Just say £250k plus as much free Italian bread as you can eat.

If they can’t be upfront with what they are offering I don’t apply, can’t be getting in with the guessing and bluffing game that is.

What @jam bo says – its about the total package. Seems very early in the process to be asking that and you don’t have the information to come up with a figure.

If they can’t be upfront with what they are offering I don’t apply, can’t be getting in with the guessing and bluffing game that is.

There are good reasons why companies don’t list salaries or ranges. It’s quite a nice direct way of setting a salary.

Employer: How much do you want?
Potential employee: £xxxxx
Employer: Yep I can see you’re worth that or hahhha hha ha, get a grip I’m not going to waste time interviewing you, take your deluded sense of self importance elsewhere

I would say what your current remuneration package (covering all elements – bonus, LTIP, pension, health, car, etc). I would not say what you are looking for. If you’re in the ballpark they’ll interview. If they like You and vice versa, you negotiate at that point

You dont know what your worth?

Tell em what you want, indicision and waffling is a fail at the first hurdle.

There are good reasons why companies don’t list salaries or ranges.

What are they? Surely in this day and age of tight budgets etc, they know what they are willing to spend.
Whenever I see £competitive or similar it just makes me think that they’re trying to get someone on the cheap. There is no way I’d go to an interview without knowing what the ballpark is. Total waste of time.

Its cheeky to ask that – turn it around, ask them what they are offering ?

On one hand you don’t want to waste time attending an interview when they are offering rubbish money, but at the same time why play your final card at the start of the game ?

They really should advertise salary, it would save a lot of hassle and wasted time on both sides.

I got really frustrated with a investment bank recently. They insisted on knowing current salary, and based their offer on current salary + x%. This was irrespective of the other benefits and factors (for instance being expected to do 8-6 as opposed to 9-5, worse pension, worse holiday etc..).

I knew the banding for the role, as I have a friend in a similar role and knew his salary. I had more experience and to be frank a better track record so we should have been talking similar numbers, but they refused to budge and listen to my argument you should be basing the offer on what the role is worth to the organisation as opposed to some arbitrary rule based on how cheap we think we can get you.

I turned down their offer, and their counter offer.

Btw don’t be tempted to lie about your existing salary if you offer it. I have been told about companies checking and firing if they found you had exaggerated…

You dont know what your worth?

As an employee you don’t have an intrinsic worth, only worth what someone is prepared to pay you, which can change depending on location, economy, market etc….

And the Golden Rule of negotiating is NEVER show your hand first – NEVER!

Once you know they want you, and only then, can you open the discussion on salary, with them making their offer first.

For now just make up something along the lines of “I’m sure what you are offering would be competetive so at this stage in the process I’d like to find out more about role/company/responsibility” etc.

Don’t forget to demand your gold plated unicorn! Thats non negotaible!

The whole thing is bullshit if you ask me.

I see job adverts all the time where a company lists exacting requirements of all the qualifications and experience they require, a vague handwavey job description about what the role actually entails, and no mention of salary whatsoever (unless you’re really lucky and they list “negotiable” or “competitive.”) The implication seems to be that as a job seeker you’ll take any old shit and be grateful for it.

You wouldn’t get this sort of cloak-and-dagger dealing anywhere else. You don’t get through the checkout at Tesco with a trolley-load of goods and have the cashier go “well, how much will you give us for that lot?” Then you over-estimate and they profit, or under-estimate and they refuse to sell it.

If you price too high they’ll think you’re too expensive; price too low and they’ll think you’re worthless. Get in the right ballpark and they’ll offer you the role with a salary calculated to be as far under what you asked for as they can get away with without you actually declining. House always wins.

If you absolutely must put a figure on it then I’d work out what you want and add 20% or so, or Google a “what’s the going rate for my job” calculator as they always seem to come out 50% higher than what you’re currently earning anyway. But really, I’d try to get away with something wooly about expecting the market rate and “competitive salary package” advertised and kick the ball back over their side of the net.

Whenever I see £competitive or similar it just makes me think that they’re trying to get someone on the cheap

This. It’s just them forcing you to play your hand first.

What are they? Surely in this day and age of tight budgets etc, they know what they are willing to spend.

1. Some companies are very secretive about salaries, especially small ones which don’t have defined bands as such. Advertising a role at £xxx could result in existing employees getting upset (yes, this is probably to the detriment of existing employees)
2. Some small companies may not know what the market rate is if they are recruiting infrequently or are based in a location away from other competitors. This is particularly the case for niche roles or specialisms.
3. There may well be a budget set but some companies may want to see what applicants are interested. e.g. if they said £40k-£50k but someone absolutely amazing applied and said “I want £65k” they could be persuaded of the business case. Small companies can often be flexible like this.
4. Some companies, especially some small ones, are not run by complete a$$hats and by asking you how much would you want, are asking you a straightforward question because they have better things to do than employ an HR department to develop pay bands and do market analysis for them.

You cal always negotiate again if they do make an offer – based on info gained since you told them your initial requirements. Package, role, whatever. They could offer less than you ask anyway. Have to be willing to walk away in order to negotiate hard if that’s what you want to do – but if the job is good with good prospects then worth compromising.

Investment Management….so millions…..eventually 😛

Given up on science, it won’t fund my hobbies. Baby steps, I have an interview with an investment company in May for a fairly basic job….but it’s a foot on the ladder.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amZsdpLXcIo[/video]

Go high, if it’s a US corporate they’ll wnat your soul on a silver platter for it.

My stock answer:

I’m sure that, as a company, you’re in a better position then I am to estimate what I’m worth to you, I’d be happy to discuss this at interview should I be selected.

see job adverts all the time where a company lists exacting requirements of all the qualifications and experience they require, a vague handwavey job description about what the role actually entails,

My company did this to us while we we’re still actually working for them.. ‘Industry standard’ so they say..

google the hell out of the situation, look for roles in Central London and apply that price 🙂

serious bit; DON’T PUT YOUR CURRENT SALARY, american firms love to know this cos it allows them to hire on the cheap, they will try all kinds of things to find out but don’t tell them.

best of luck !

Btw don’t be tempted to lie about your existing salary if you offer it. I have been told about companies checking and firing if they found you had exaggerated…

I always thought this too but, how would they check? Doesn’t that fall under the DPA? Who is legitimately allowed to provide them with that information?

do what they do and give a range of what you believe to be the market range for the role = median +/- 15-20% e.g. £32-48k