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Re: How To: Tactfully deal with salary questions in TW job interviews?
Subject:Re: How To: Tactfully deal with salary questions in TW job interviews? From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 16 Jun 2005 12:28:23 -0700
On Thu, 2005-06-16 at 11:52 -0700, Kathleen wrote:
> Specifically, how can one tactfully respond when interviewers insist on
> having salary information and/or a salary history at the opening of an
> interview.
All questions on salary should be dodged early in the interview. That
includes any questions about salary expectations. The reason is that
giving salary information early in the hiring process can severely limit
your negotiating power later.
The best tactics are polite evasions. For example, instead of risking
antagonizing the interviewer by saying that salary information is
private, you might say that talking about your salary history is
premature, because you don't know yet which of your past positions is
comparable to the one for which you're being interviewed. If all else
fails, you could claim a lapse of memory, adding that you don't want to
give misleading information.
I've had a lot of success dodging salary questions by saying something
like, "You know, I think it's a mistake for everyone to be talking about
salary at this stage. I think it would be much more productive for
everyone to see if there's a good fit here first -- don't you?"
The last two words are especially important. It takes a strong person to
reply "No, I don't" when asked to agree with a reasonable comment that
is pleasantly voiced.
If anyone insists on discussing salary after you use such tactics, it's
a good sign that either the company is interested only in the bottom
line or that it doesn't encourage flexibility. Either way, it suggests
that you might not want to work at the company anyway.
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