Responding to "What are your salary expectations?"

- In the world of negotiations, knowledge is power. The first party to give a number often finds themselves at a disadvantage. This is why I'm going to cover how to deflect so you don't anchor yourself to a number and lowball yourself. Now, imagine you're in an interview, and the employer asks, "So what are your salary expectations?" Do you hesitate, say, "Uh," or throw out a range like, "I want 75,000 to $85,000"? Communication is less about what you say, but how you make another person feel. If a recruiter senses that you're uncertain or uncomfortable, they're going to feel uncertain or uncomfortable about your candidacy in turn. By the way, when giving a range, the recruiter only hears, "Great, they'll accept the lower end of the range," or if they were budgeting much higher than your top end, they may doubt your skills and experience since you're discounting yourself. Conversely, let's say you share you desire $120,000. You might price yourself out before they get to know how awesome you are and why you're justifying a greater number. This is why it's so important for you to deflect, deflect, deflect. Deflecting is the art of changing the direction. Instead of answering straight on, you'll tactfully turn the conversation around. The goal here is to get the employer to share their number first. Here's two common scenarios to make that happen. The salary is shared by the employer first. If the employer provides a salary range in the job description, it means you likely applied because it falls within your range. You can let the employer simply know their advertised salary is within range. Salary not shared by employer. If the job description doesn't give you a range, and the job application requires a numerical value, use a temporary placeholder like 1 or market rate. If the employer feels your background and experience are aligned with the role, they'll still schedule an interview to discuss your salary expectations. And when you're asked about salary expectations in the interview, say something like, "Hmm, I don't have a specific number in mind as I consider the entire comp package. I'm confident that if there's a mutual fit, we'll be able to come to a fair agreement for both parties. Can you share what you've budgeted for this role?" I want you to remember an important note here. It's essential to practice your response aloud until you land on a delivery that sounds both natural and confident to you. To get you started, I encourage you to head to the guide I created for you. I'll have many challenges for you throughout the course, and this is your first one. Check out the example scripts and come up with your own that sound and feel like you. Pull out your phone and record yourself aloud and watch it back. Keep practicing so that when it's time to speak with the recruiter, you sound natural, confident, and poised. What are your salary expectations is a common interview question that you should be prepared for. By being strategic and deflecting the question, you set yourself up for negotiation success while also remaining open to learning if this is a mutual match. Now keep watching to figure out what your ideal comp package looks like.