It Professionals : How do you answer 'the salary question'

I'd just say that with your experience and what you could offer the company you are looking for a salary in the region of XXX. When prospective employers ask you this question they genuinely want to know what salary ou are looking for. They don't want to make you an offer and you turn it down. So if you know that you wouldn't do the job for less than 18k you should say that.
 
You know the one

"what are your salary expectations"

I've been in IT nearly 6 years now, but only with 2 employers. Both of those jobs came with fixed salaries. I've got an interview tomorrow for a job with a varied starting salary, a 6k range in fact and they state in the advert that the salary is negotiable.

I've been in IT 6 years and I'm 30 this year and feel the bottom end of the salary (16k a year) is for new starters into IT. How do I go about arguing my case for the higher end without coming across like I'm all about the money and a douchebag ? I've had interviews with this question before, but seemingly never got the question right

You've got 6 years experience and you're going for a job which could possibly be filled by a new starter too - go for the higher end. Its got nothing to do with being a douchebag - if they want you to leave your current job then, given your experience, you believe you're worth that higher amount.
 
Tell them what you've been doing the past 6 years, it should speak for itself. If they ask what you're earning in your current job, feel free to lie.

That's retarded and can come back to bite you - its easy to verify and getting caught blatantly being untruthful about something that they'll find out about can easily get you fired.
 
Be very careful about twisting the truth on salary - they may ask for proof :)

They'll get it too regardless - he's earning a salary, he'll be getting paid via PAYE - he can't hide his previous salary as they'll either ask him for his P45 or they'll get his tax code etc.. from HMRC.
 
dont be nervous and umm and ahh about it, just be confident and tell them that with your experience you beleive that you would be in the 20-22k end of it.

After all do they want someone they can leave alone to just get on with the job or someone who needs their hand holding by someone on that salary anyway to get the job done.

Lieing about your salary is daft as you have to give your previous P45 to the new employer, so they would know instantly if youre lieing.
 
When I went for the interview for my current job, the role was advertised with a salary range of £24k-£29k, I said that it wouldnt be financially viable to move unless the pay was set at the top end of the scale. They came back and offered £33k.
 
Lieing about your salary is daft as you have to give your previous P45 to the new employer, so they would know instantly if youre lieing.

Not that I'm disagreeing about the lying thing as it is just stupid, you don't always hand over a P45.

Last 3 jobs I've had I've never had a P45 in time to hand over, so I've filled in a P46 which doesn't have salary info on.
 
Don't do this. Never try and put the person who is interviewing you on the spot. Answer honestly about what you are seeking. If you don't want to say a figure then say something along the lines that you feel your experience warrants something at the upper end of the range. I've done plenty of interviews for staff and honesty on this question is always appreciated.

I was about to put this. I'd rather someone in an interview with me said the top amount than said "what do you think I'm worth" - it just sounds so unprofessional.

If you were the right candidate I'd happily pay the top of the range and in fact that is what I'd be looking for really - someone worth as much as I can squeeze out of my budget for that headcount.
 
Last edited:
Whatever you do, don't reverse the question. It's not good interview practice unless you're being interviewed by very senior members of staff (directors, CEOs).

If they ask your expectations then either give a range where the lowest point of the range is the lowest you would go, or give an exact salary and say that given the market research you have carried out, your skills and experience you feel that is the right salary for you at this stage in your career.
 
MrLOL after 6 years, I would be trying to push the boat out. There are good wages to be had in IT if you look, don't just settle for generic roles. Do you have any specific experience that could get you into a better role?
 
They'll get it too regardless - he's earning a salary, he'll be getting paid via PAYE - he can't hide his previous salary as they'll either ask him for his P45 or they'll get his tax code etc.. from HMRC.

Ther's no way for them to find out your previous salary, if you don't want them to (other than demanding previous pay packets) :)
 
Don't do this. Never try and put the person who is interviewing you on the spot. Answer honestly about what you are seeking. If you don't want to say a figure then say something along the lines that you feel your experience warrants something at the upper end of the range. I've done plenty of interviews for staff and honesty on this question is always appreciated.


I disagree. An interview is two way. Whilst it's fine to state a salary, no one should undersell themself. Most employers know their budget and how much they are willing to pay for the skill set before anyone sets foot in the door, just as the candidate should. It's not putting the employers on the spot by any means.

I was about to put this. I'd rather someone in an interview with me said the top amount than said "what do you think I'm worth" - it just sounds so unprofessional.

I does when you put it like that... there are means and ways to say things without sounding unprofessional.
 
Ther's no way for them to find out your previous salary, if you don't want them to (other than demanding previous pay packets) :)

P45s show your YTD earnings after tax, and if you're working for a smaller company there's a chance your manager may see it. If you're working for a larger company though it'll just go to the payroll department and that'll be the end of it.

It doesn't really matter anyway, by the time you've given them your P45 you've got the job and have been working there a few weeks. If it ever gets brought up you either act dumb or say your salary was including benefits.
 
P45s show your YTD earnings after tax, and if you're working for a smaller company there's a chance your manager may see it. If you're working for a larger company though it'll just go to the payroll department and that'll be the end of it.

It doesn't really matter anyway, by the time you've given them your P45 you've got the job and have been working there a few weeks. If it ever gets brought up you either act dumb or say your salary was including benefits.

You don't have to give your new employer your P45 :)
 
You don't have to give your new employer your P45 :)

Yeah you can just lie to them even more and give a P46 and say you were never given the P45, but I generally try to avoid the lies once I've started! Besides which, tax/statement of earnings etc have a habit of coming back and biting you in the bum if you ignore process.
 
If the range is 16-22 ask for 20. If you think you are worth 22 ask for 23 and say you are willing to come down a bit and then ask about benefits. This shows that you value your time and are confident that you are worth a decent salary.

^^ This

I shot for £1k above the top-end of a £10k range and got "talked down" to £1k below the top-end.

In reality, I would have accepted the bottom end of the range as it was a lot more than I'd been on previously... but you've always got to push it.

Only a year down the line and I'm already a good few £k past the top end ;)
 
As said, I'v enot had a P45 through from my last couple of jobs, or if they have come through it's been ages after leaving by which time I'd already gone down the P46 route. Sod being stuck on a random/wrong tax code at the start!
 
So... update time.

Attended the interview and was a bit of a disaster tbh. I went in confident that i had the skills and experience they were looking for, and was worried by the salary that the job was going to be far less complex than they made out.

Turns out it wasn't. It was more complex. They wanted somebody who has not only supported this type of infrastructure, but somebody who has deployed and installed this type of stuff from scratch. And the scope of the setup / support work extended to everything in the data centre, switches, routers, VMs, O/S, SAN configuration, VLANS, VMs, linux, apache, IIS, THE LOT.

In our current company, we have a specialized networking team who deal soley with the networking, another team that deals specifically with the hardware installation in the data centre, another team responsible for all the O/S builds and software installs and another team soley responsible for the VMware stuff etc..

Turns out they wanted somebody with all these skills for 16-22k !

Don't think i'll be getting this then. Thoroguhly depressed as i'm obviously not as advanced in my career as i thought i was.
 
Don't be depressed, they were obviously thinking that with the market as it is some super whizz who's got loads more experience than you will come along and be so desperate for a job that they take it for relatively peanuts.

Their expectations are way off if you ask me and they're pretty much taking the pith by asking for so much for so little.

Get some feedback and move on dude.
 
Back
Top Bottom