Ah, the famous “What Are Your Salary Expectations?” question… The pain in the neck for all interviewees regardless of the company, niche, country or year.
This is truly a timeless issue and we will try to explain how to master the art of the notorious “salary question”.
The first and foremost thing – you need to have CONFIDENCE.
You really need to strongly believe in yourself and your skills. Remember – you ARE the right person for the job and nothing says that better than the confidence they will see in you.
Don’t be afraid to show them that you are not afraid of deciding how much you’re worth and that you won’t just take the job no matter what.
This brings us to a little thing called an “executive mindset.”
What Is Executive Mindset?
Liz Ryan, one of the main people in the world of HR and job hunting, describes the Executive Mindset as “the switch between thinking like a job-seeker and more like a professional in their chosen field just looking for their next assignment.”
As we previously mentioned, you shouldn’t just be the person who desperately wants the job (even if that is in fact the case) – you want to come off as the jackpot for the company. An individual they are so eager to have onboard.
In order to achieve this, we have to come full circle and talk about confidence some more.
Real, Genuine, Healthy Confidence
Since honesty is indeed the best policy, you need to ditch your ego and be just as confident as your skills are allowing you to be.
This means no boasting about things you have a tenuous grasp of, but more importantly – it’s all about doing your homework. What we mean by that is of course doing a research on the company and the position you are applying for.
Learn all the ropes in advance and inquire about the average salary regarding the job in question. Then add some more and you will have the magic number, AND a healthy level of confidence.
Now go get ‘em!