What salary are you seeking?

Disciplines > Job-finding > Interview questions > What salary are you seeking?

The question | What they are looking for | How to answer | See also

The question

What salary are you seeking?

What are you being paid now?

What kind of salary increase are you looking for.

What they are looking for

This question may indicate they are interested in you and are ready to negotiate terms. They may thus be weighing up what you have to offer as opposed to what you would cost them.

This is also a test of your perception of value. If you under- or over-value yourself in their eyes then you may not be a good decision-maker or negotiator on the job.

How to answer

This is something you should have decided already. You should also have researched salary bands for this type of job, particularly if salary was not mentioned in the advert. Some companies do not indicate the salary either because the do not want to stir up internal dissent about it or because they want applicants who want the job first and are not just seeking a higher salary.

If you say salary is not very important you may appear to be desperate for any job and they may conclude you would quickly become dissatisfied.

Your choices here depend on how confident you are that they like you and how much you want the job.

Well, it would a new move up for me so I think around 50,000 would be fair.

Notice how language here, with words like 'around' and 'fair', sends loud signals. Although they can be helpful you do not have to talk actual numbers when the job is scoped within a given pay band.

I've been doing a very similar job and am looking for something in the top half of the pay band.

See also

Negotiation