When Should I Discuss Salary Expectations?
As your recruiter, it's our job to ensure you are offered a salary in line with your skills and experience and we will discuss this with you before we proceed to any stages of offer. However, it may be inevitable for it to be raised at interview with the employer. What do you do?
Whilst salary is important, we suggest you try not to put an over-emphasis on money at initial interview. A potential employer is focussed on your skills and ability and what you will bring to the table. We need to prove your suitability before they will even consider offering you the job.
Seek.com.au states that "51% of Australians did not negotiate their salary at any point during the recruitment period for their current or most recent role. And what’s more, 33% didn’t even discuss their salary expectations." That's where we come in...
When we submit your details along with our report about how amazing you are, we always include salary expectations and include if you are negotiable on what a package may look like (in terms of superannuation and other benefits), so the potential new employer already has an idea of what you are looking for and understands this is commensurate to your skills and experience.
It's important to set clear expectations around your salary because not only is it a major contributor to job satisfaction but also sets the tone for your ongoing employment both in the current position and future career development. You don't want to start too high and cap yourself out of any future bonuses or pay increases at performance review time.
We work with a select group of clients, the majority of whom subscribe to the theory of "you get what you pay for" so once we have highlighted your awesomeness, they often see the value in paying what you need to get you onboard, bearing in mind they also have budgets to abide by.
Once you have determined you are interested in the role and firm (and we are confident the firm wants you), discussions will be raised and you need to have done your homework. Know the market and current salary trends, as well as the firm itself and whether they are in a position to offer you top of the market, etc. You also need to know your own worth but be prepared for us to negotiate on your behalf. We want the best salary for you to make it worth your while because remember, you have to want to go to work every day and give your upmost.
It can be daunting and sometimes we tend to feel uncomfortable talking about money but call us for a chat, and we’re happy to walk through it with you and help you make a good decision for your career.