One of the more challenging questions you may face in an interview is: “What are your salary expectations?” At Alliance, we are not big fans of the question when used on military veterans and generally dissuade our corporate partners from using it. Nonetheless, it is a perfectly valid question in that it gives recruiters and hiring managers a sense as to whether a job candidate’s compensation requirements are in the ballpark of what they budgeted for the position.
The first piece of advice is that you should try to avoid laying out an absolute minimum and thereby drawing a line in the sand. Establishing a fixed minimum will close way more doors than it will open, especially if the salary range is below your desired amount. On the flip side, if the number you provide is at the bottom end of the employer’s range, you might have ‘lowballed’ yourself. In negotiations, the saying goes that the person who throws out the first number loses. There is one more nuanced reason why you don’t want to establish an absolute minimum. Business is full of compromises and negotiations. Even if your salary requirements are reasonable, you may send the message that you will not be the easiest person to work with on other matters that require concessions to be made.
Another point to remember is that when comparing civilian to military pay, you are comparing apples to oranges. We have seen where a candidate takes the company’s base salary and compares that to the combination of their direct and indirect military compensation. When we say indirect, we are referring to medical, PX/BX privileges, insurance, tax advantages, etc. While that could be a fair comparison in some cases, it doesn’t take into account the performance-based pay potential that exists in many civilian companies such as bonuses, commissions, profit sharing, stock options, etc., not to mention other perks such as car allowances, cell phone, overtime, etc.
Given these differences, it can be difficult to make a true one-to-one comparison. So if asked about your salary requirements, we recommend a more subtle approach. First, you can communicate to the interviewer that compensation is just one of many criteria that are important to you. And if one of those criteria is on the low end, it can be made up for by a different factor that is equally or more important. For example, if the job opportunity shows tremendous potential for growth, you may be willing to compromise a bit more on year one salary. On top of that, since you may still be early in the process when this question arises, you can explain that you do not know enough about the duties and responsibilities to make a fair assessment of your value.
If you wondering how such a response might sound, here’s an example:
“Addressing compensation is a difficult area for me to address. I know my value to the military, but not so much to a company such as yours. On top of that, at this point, I don’t yet have the greatest understanding of all of the job requirements and expectations associated with this job. So with that uncertainty, I want you to know that I am truly flexible when it comes to pay. As long as the job provides an opportunity to show my value, the company culture is a good fit, and the position offers a realistic opportunity for me to grow, then my first-year salary becomes less important. If all of those things are in place, I’m sure we can arrive at a mutually agreeable compensation plan.”
An approach like that may serve to deflect the question to a later conversation, but only as long as you sell them on your ability to perform the job requirements. Nonetheless, deflecting doesn’t always work; an interviewer may not let you get away with that response. Here’s a follow-up question you should expect: “James, that sounds good, but I must screen each applicant for salary because I need to know if we can afford you before we go further.”
If this were to happen, then there may be no side-stepping the issue. We recommend providing a range that captures your desired salary with a 10%-15% margin above and below.* When providing the range, it’s still important to emphasize that pay is important, but that you are not about to let a great opportunity slip by due to that one factor.
*Note: there are websites that may help you understand historical pay ranges for various roles such as Glassdoor, Payscale, and Salary.com. We haven’t found any of these to be tremendously accurate on a consistent basis, yet they might give you some ideas.