When they ask for your salary requirement, should you always ask for more money? Is it a trick question? Like if you settle for the lowest amount they offer that's bad. Should you never settle for the lowest price they offer?
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Recommended Answer:Depends on various factors: 1) Your first salaried job vs any job after that. 2) Normal salaries for your field and in your area. (Do some googling.) 3) Whether you want leverage.
1) If it's your first "real" salaried job (versus hourly pay), you won't have any frame of reference to compare the amount of money to, so you'll have to rely on other indicators. However, if you've had this kind of job before, you might start by mentioning the amount of your last salary, then indicate your willingness to negotiate up or down around that number. It makes sense to be a lot more picky about your second job, especially if you left your previous job in good standing with no awkward reason for termination.
2) After you've done a little research about what's normal for your field and your area, you might shoot for something that you think suits your experience and capabilities. Better idea to stay lowish than go too high (unless you are quite sure that they want you no matter what).
3) All that said, settling for the lowest or nearly the lowest salary offered has some unspoken benefits. From a job-security standpoint, consider this: Pretend you're a boss. You have one employee who is really pretty average, neither great nor sucky, but is receiving an above-average paycheck. You have another employee who shines but is receiving a below-average paycheck. You're doubly irritated with one of them, but you're feeling lucky to have the other. You might even feel a tad bitty guilty about underpaying the second one. Which one do you think you would fire first?
In the end, though, it's really a mix of what works for you, what's commonly done for others like you, and how much they want you. Don't forget to consider things like moving expenses and bonuses in with the salary offer. Also don't forget that certain jobs (like educators in the US) are not open to negotiations at all.
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- No to both the first questions. It is certainly never a trick question.
Assuming you already have the job offer, it might be a good idea to ask how much they are expecting to pay as a salary. Think hard about yourself, your circumstances and how much income you need to cover your expenses and still have some left over to save. You could tell them how much you are expecting and if they are not willing to meet it, it is a simple decision for you whether or not you want to accept their offer.
