How To Discuss Salary During The Job Interview Process? (With 2024 Relevant Examples)

No matter how big the organization is, no matter in how many countries the company is operating and no matter how good is the infrastructure of the company, what really matters ultimately is salary. When an employee receives salary as per his expectation, it directly satisfies him thereby improving his quality of work directly.

Even organizations all around the world are aware of this fact, but with cost-cutting on their minds, they pay less salaries to employees having weak negotiating and convincing skills. Hence, it becomes of utmost importance for an employee, to learn a few tactics through which they can negotiate their salaries and get into a favorable position, compensated satisfactorily.

Tips To Draw Maximum Salary During An Interview

1) Never Tell Them About Your Salary Expectations First

The smartest thing that the interviewers do is that they ask you about your salary expectations and the worst thing that an interviewee does is, tell them the same tamely. By doing this, your chances of drawing a higher salary are depleted to a large extent and you end up getting the mean or average salary.

An interviewer when aware of your salary needs, gets into a dominant position and can settle you into something lower than that.

The best way to avoid such a scenario, is to deny your interviewer the chance of asking this question first. After getting into the interview process, for say about 4-5 minutes, take lead, become the torch bearer, gather strength and in a polite and humble way, just ask your employer:

Way I: How much are you willing to offer me?

Way II: Having been aware of all my skills, I would love to know, what do you have in store for me? I mean, how much can you offer me?

Way III: My skills and educational qualifications, matches your advertised vacancy completely. I just wanted to know, how much can I expect in terms of salary and perquisites?

2) Never Mislead The Interviewer

Presenting misleading and imaginary facts can not only spoil your reputation but also reduce your chances of selection drastically. Always, be honest to your employer, and give a true presentation of your skills, knowledge, and experience. Just in order to get a higher salary, don’t twist the facts or say dishonest statements, as truth always prevails, and eventually, you will be caught.

Instead of doing this, you can make your prospects better, by explaining to them the values that you can bring to the organization, contributions that you can make, and charisma that you possess, which is up for grabs. Possessing superior convincing skills and quick responses, can make wonders, and will help you to get a superior salary.

You can respond in this manner:

Being energetic, a quick learner, and a hardworking individual, I have so much to offer this organization. I always work with utmost care and perform each of the tasks allotted to me meticulously. I have an attitude of maintaining discipline and work with a full level of concentration. With good compensation, I can work with all my zeal and labor, proving to be an asset for the company.

3) Conduct A Deep Analysis Of The Ongoing Trends

Negotiating an imaginary, arbitrary and random figure, just does not make sense. It will not only assume your personality to be of a greedy individual but will also paint you the image of a mercenary. On the other hand, by conducting a proper analysis of the market trends followed in the industry for a similar role, job, or position, a person gets a fair idea of his or her worth and thus gets a better ground and idea to negotiate.

Understanding the following case study will enable you to understand the importance of conducting trend analysis:

Mr. XYZ went for the interview of Accountant in January 2021, a vacancy advertised by AAA Ltd. The recent trends in the year of 2019 for a similar position suggested an annual salary of $60,000 to $70,000. Mr. XYZ relied on the same and went for the interview.

Mr. XYZ failed to secure the job because his salary expectations were too above the latest trend. In a battered economy, leaving businesses gasping for air, the average salary for a similar role reduced to $30,000 to $45,000.

Mr. XYZ in the instant case, fell victim to negligence on his part and failed to conduct a diligent and serious survey of the latest salary trends. Thereby, lost the negotiation ground and was denied any job at all, let alone the issue of getting a higher salary.

Candidates appearing for an interview can get an estimate of the latest trends through:

• Online surveys
• Job portals
• Consulting with friends, teachers, or any reputed person working in a similar role.
• Placement agency
• Online websites

4) Negotiate The Salary

The negotiations for salary can happen at different stages of a job interview explained hereafter:

During The First Round Of Interview Process

Usually, the first round is a screening round and interviewers to like get themselves aware of the salary expectations of the candidates in the first round itself. If you will negotiate at this stage, it can reduce your chances of even making to subsequent stages of interview process, hence, it is advisable to not say a lot about salary, in this stage.

Second Round/Technical Round

After completing your first round of selection, that is after getting screened, there will be less amount of competition left when compared with the beginning. Choose a good stage, and pick an appropriate conversation, occurring during the interview process to initiate the talks about salary. Be humble, polite, and in a soft tone, convince them, why you deserve a higher salary than what is being offered.

Last Stage/Job Offer

This stage is your best position, wherein you must negotiate the salary offered to you. It has been observed, that in most cases, the interviewer himself initiates the salary discussions, making your task far easier. For this, always prepare in writing a report, about your skills and work experience coupled with your highest qualifications.

Be flexible, and even if you are getting a reasonable salary hike, accept it.

5) Give A Complete Presentation Of Your Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Strengths or Special Attributes

If you are unable to express yourself properly in front of an interviewer you will never be able to impress him/her or stand out from a big group of people. This will shrink your salary negotiation ground considerably and you will end up probably, getting a far lower salary than your expectations or may be lower than the mean salary.

For this it is vital and necessary to prepare a report, consisting of different headings, mentioning everything from your educational background to skills to strengths. You can prepare a sample report in the following manner:

Sample Report for a commerce graduate seeking job similar to that of an accountant:

Pointers	Features
Educational achievements	a) Bachelor of Commerce b) Certified Financial Analyst (Level 1 and 2 cleared, Level 3, pending) c) Diploma in International Financial Reporting Standards
Key skills	a) Expert level knowledge of Busy accounting software b) Moderate knowledge of Financial Modelling c) Expert level knowledge of accounting principles and concepts d) Expert report writing skills e) Expert interpreting and reading skills
Work Experience	a) Internship of 18 months at ABC LLP as an associate accountant b) Full-Time Job at PLK Food Management Company as Financial analyst c) Internship of 4 weeks conducted at HYK Concultancy for learning transfer pricing
Strengths	a) Determined person, prefers to finish a task completely b) Perseverance, never leaves any task, in spite of difficulties c) Quick learner, can and willing learn new and latest technologies d) On timer, never gets late into the office e) Serious candidate, who avoids talking and gossiping during work hours

A sample report must be prepared after a careful examination of the self. Conducting a thorough and deep self-analysis will enable you to write more about your strengths, which plays an important role in getting higher salaries.

6) Don’t Focus Too Much On The Salary Component

Paying too much attention to salary and not paying any heed to the learning prospects, perquisites, incentives, and infrastructure offered by the organization, can make you lose more than gaining anything. Apart from salary, give a complete and serious focus on the various learning opportunities offered by the company. They are very crucial and important for self-development and evolvement of your skills, which will help you in getting higher salaries, maybe not at this workplace, but surely some other.

It is highly likely, that the salary hike that you are getting, might get overshadowed by the hike for which will be eligible after learning new skills and technologies.

7) Make Sure To Obtain Everything In Black And White

The best day in one’s life is the one when one gets the desired results. Many congratulations for getting the job and after all your desired salary. But, don’t get relaxed as there is one final nail left in the coffin. Get everything in black and white, that is in writing.

Never, get excited and leave your position, rather force your employer to give you a document in writing having details about your job description, the compensation offered your roles and responsibilities, and other key details. Your employer is duty-bound to do so, and can’t deny that demand.

Sample Document To be Collected From Your Employer After Getting A Job Offer

We feel pleased to appoint, Mr. XYZ for the position of a financial analyst at our branch located in OOK City. All the relevant details are mentioned in the document below:

Pointers	Features
Name:	Mr. XYZ
Date of Joining:	XX. XX. 2021
Designation appointed at:	Financial analyst
Roles and Duties:	a) Analyse financial data b) Prepare financial reports c) Present the financial reports using software and tools d) Advise management about different ways to raise funds e) Evaluate different financial proposals.
Compensation offered:	$60,000 annually paid monthly
Immediate Supervisor	Mr. ABC

Conclusion

In this fast-moving world with an increased cost of living and rising inflation, everyone wants to live a comfortable and luxurious life. This desire can be fulfilled only by earning more salary and business profits. If you have the desired skills, work experiences, and quality, then there is no harm in demanding a higher salary, even in an economy experiencing repressionary situations.

Just make sure you don’t overdo it and are reasonable. If you like our articles then don’t forget to share them with your family and friends. Also do let us know in the comments section below, how helpful our articles are for you.

References

1. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3058555.3058570
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09638239209034509