How to answer what is you expected salary?

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  • #193414
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Shall I tell the employer what I am expecting? or I just say it is negotiable? Which answer is better if I really want this opportunity? The position is tax staff in a small-mid size firm. According to the salary research done by Rober Half, the salary range would be 56,500-71,000 for my local market. I have one year industry experience and have passed CPA exams, can I ask for 60,000/yr? If I tell the employer what I am expecting, which way to express my thought would be better? Shall I tell him I have done the research? Shall I emphasize I passed the exams? (for there is usually a raise after employee passed the exams,right?)

    Really need some advise, for I do not have much experience on how to talk about salary. For my first job, I just accepted the salary the employer offered me and it is below the market price, so this time I want to have a fair market rate.

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  • #662275
    jbarwick
    Member

    Let them say a number first. What if they were going to say 65 and you said 60? I changed jobs last year which had a range attached to the position. I was fine with the top end of the range but when they came back with an offer it was 5% more than their top end range. I am in a different field but if they want you, they will pay for it. A couple thousand is not much in the grand scheme of things if you are worth it.

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    #662276
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @jbarwick

    Thank you for your reply. But how to let them give a number first? If they throw out the question ” what are your salary expectations” and they want an answer from you, what shall I say? Shall I ask “what is the range you usually offer for this position?”

    #662277
    hunter32
    Member

    I would say something along the lines of “I'm pretty flexible but would like to be compensated fairly, I'm more intrigued by opportunity than money.” They'll like that

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    #662278
    Jaane
    Participant

    Just to piggyback on cpatobe2013's question…

    How do you respond to job listings that state “Any resumes received without salary requirements will not be considered.” Unfortunately, I have come across that quite a bit lately. I don't want to price myself out of a position and not even get an interview. On the other hand, I don't leave money on the table. Any thoughts?

    #662279
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @hunter32

    Very well said, and good luck to your last section.

    #662280
    TheblackCPAseeker
    Participant

    What I do since I started working is I add $5000 to my current base when I'm asked what is my current salary, and since you passed the CPA exam I would add at least 10k (5K for materials and 5K for your time). This will work if you are getting into industry, from what I hear CPA firms are pretty set about how much you start out with. Just remember your beginning base will determine your future raises in the company, its always good to negotiate.

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    #662281
    Missy
    Participant

    A couple of points. They already know what they're going to pay for, this position, you're not privy to that number so don't play games adding this or that to your current salary. Second, salary is merely one component of a compensation package. Would much rather take a 55k job that pays 85% of a family health insurance plan than a 60k job that only pays 20%.401k matching, vacation time your commute and average hours also need to be,considered. I always say my required salary depends on the total package, so I will consider any reasonable offer.

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    #662282
    jbarwick
    Member

    Say you know the range in the market is X to Y, does this position fit into that range? This question should draw out a number.

    Total pay is important so take that into consideration. Life sucks when you have 12 days per year for vacation + sick time. Fro 2 years I ended up going to work sick because I had used up a lot of vacation to attend weddings and minor other life events.

    Also the way the Affordable Care Act is going, health insurance is going to continue to change a lot for employees and companies all the way through 2018 so I wouldn't base a position on that alone. My previous position worked a lot on this from the companies perspective and my current role looks at it a different way. 2018 seems to be a pivotal year in this whole thing.

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    #662283
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I was asked that in a phone interview, I answered with a number, and added that it was flexible based on overall compensation.

    #662284
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Unless you are working through an external recruiter (who likely wants to get you as high a salary as they can for their fee), I wouldn't give a number. Once you do that, there's very little wiggle room. But you should always know your minimum. Never tell them your minimum but always know what it is. If their first offer is less than that, don't even waste your time negotiating. If you've done the market research and you have an objective take on your skills and experience, and they're not coming to your minimum salary requirement, you are likely dealing with a company in financial trouble or a company that doesn't value its employees.

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