What are your salary expectations?

Okay, why would I even need to do a video on this?

Isn't the answer simple and obvious?

No, it isn't.

This is actually a trick question designed to eliminate you as a candidate.

Many people fail job interviews because they get the answer to this question wrong.

How you answer is mainly determined by what stage of the interview process you're in.

If they ask you this question during the last round of interviews, maybe they're actually interested in accommodating your compensation expectations.

However, when they ask you this question at an early stage, like in your first job interview,

they're not asking it because they want to accommodate you, they're asking it because they're trying to eliminate you as a candidate.

I mean, imagine you're an interviewer and you've got 20 candidates to interview, and the one you're interviewing right now seems really good,

but then you ask, "What are your salary expectations?"

And they say, "Oh, I need a million dollars a year to do this job, in cash."

Next.

As an interviewer, this is good. You're effectively eliminating the candidates that never would have worked out.

So make no mistake in the first one or two interviews of the selection process. This is what this question is for.

So if you are in the first or second job interview, let's look at how we answer this question.

Your goal is to give them an answer to the question, but not say anything that will get you eliminated.

Now, the obvious problem is that you have no way of knowing what the salary range is that the company considers appropriate and would be willing to pay.

It's sort of like being asked, "I'm thinking of a number. What number am I thinking of?"

And if you get this wrong, you don't get the job.

It's a fun game.

The secret is to avoid giving a single number.

Okay, so if you get the question "what are your salary requirements?",

and you're in the first one or two interviews into the process, a good answer that tends to work well is to say,

"Well, at this point, I would need to know quite a bit more of the details about the role before I can really give you an accurate answer on that."

Now, if they're not satisfied with this and they press you further to give a number, a good response is to say,

"Well, I understand this is an approved position, so the salary range must be approved. Can I ask what it is for this position?"

And then whatever they say for a range, you say, "Well, that would work fine for me."

Now, if they don't give you a range, but yet still prompt you to give a number, a good response to that is to give a wide range. Really low to really high.

Never under any circumstances give a number; give a wide range.

"I would need somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 a year depending on details."

They will not be able to eliminate you from the running due to salary requirements,

and it leaves you open to command the salary towards the upper end of the range when they get to talking about this seriously at a later stage of the selection process.

Okay, so let's summarize.

This is a three stage answer.

If they ask you "what are your salary expectations?", and your early in the selection process, like in your first interview, you say,

"I can't really answer that now. I would need more details."

If they still prompt you to give a number, you say, "There must be an approved salary range. Can I ask what it is?"

And if they won't give you a range but still prompt you to give them a number, you give them a wide range.

By the way, just a footnote here about the first part where you say "I can't answer. I would need more details."

An obvious counter question the interviewer may then ask is, "What details do you need?"

Now, you may be thinking, well, technically, I would need to know how it works with the official job hours and overtime and shift work,

travel requirements, breaks, benefits, flex time, remote work and general job demands.

But it's easier to say, "Well, maybe just more of a feel for the culture in general."

And then go straight into the second part when you ask them about the approved salary range.

And there you go. This question shouldn't be a problem for you ever again and certainly won't get you eliminated.

Please let me know in the comments. What your experiences have been with this question? Whether it's gone well or not so well.

The more we share, the more we learn.

And if any of this was helpful for you, please take a moment now to like, subscribe and hit the bell,

and I will definitely be doing more videos in this series, so this ensures that you don't miss any.

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Anyway, I'm Bill, the company's expert.

Thank you so much for being here and watching my videos.

You're awesome.