Career Cube Blog

This past week I was working with a company that was hiring a new employee. They had successfully navigated the resume, phone interview and most of the in-person interview. But there was one question that gave a manager pause. She was asked what she was making now and what she was looking for in a salary.

Yes, it’s the icky salary question.

This person was currently working in a position that was a “filler job.” The hiring company recognized that, and we all know that there are times when you just need a steady paycheck coming in. The candidate had several other years of relevant experience, so the company wasn’t too concerned.

But when it came to the salary question, this candidate was thrown. She didn’t have a prepared, smooth answer, and clearly evaded the question. She was asked this question by the hiring manager and her boss, and gave the same semi-evasive answer both times.

I’m guessing that the candidate wanted to avoid the salary question because what she was making now was so much less than what she had earned in prior professional jobs (and deserved), that she didn’t want to get lowballed.

So how should she have handled it? First, she should have known that they would ask the salary question. Never, never, EVER go into a job interview without having this answer ready to go.

She had two options. She could have made no reference to her current “filler job” and simply stated that she would expect that this position would pay between X and Y. She could have also said that when she was working in the industry, that she was earning between X and Y, and would hope that this position was within that range. In the first option, she has the chance to give the range that she needs to live on and what she aspires to so if she’s just hoping to get back in the industry without pricing herself out of the game, this would be the way to go. The second option gives her the chance to regain the salary status that she previously had without sacrificing a salary gain.

The point is to have an answer. The fact that this candidate was so evasive set off red flags in the VP’s mind. She wondered if the candidate was being evasive about other things did she have something else to hide? Were they just not asking the right questions? Basically it took the impression of the candidate to a place where it shouldn’t have gone “Doubt-land”.

Don’t take the interviewer to “Doubt-land”, prepare answers to the questions you’re positive that they’re going to ask.

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