Flipping the Bozo Bit on RecruitersRecruiting Trends Column About Writing and Speaking Posted

Re-examine Your Salary Expectations

January 3rd, 2008

I’ve been talking with a few hiring managers and a few senior candidates. The hiring managers are afraid to look at some senior people because they’re concerned the senior people will want salaries that are higher than the companies want to pay. The senior people are concerned that they can’t get interviews because the hiring managers might not want to pay a higher salary.But people will take jobs for many more reasons than just a salary number. Senior people who have already sent their kids through school may be willing to settle for a reasonable salary and more time off. People always want health care. Some people want to know they have a job, and won’t have to keep looking. (See Penelope Trunk’s take on living with risk at How to deal with getting fired (from Yahoo).Don’t assume you know what the candidate wants or needs. Don’t assume you know what the hiring manager is willing to pay. Remember that everything is negotiable. (See Negotiating for Salary.

Entry Filed under: salary negotiation


2 Comments Add your own

  • 1. john  |  January 3rd, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    And consider paying the best people more money. Don’t be cheap.

  • 2. Dwayne Phillips  |  January 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am

    Maybe a good question is, “What would you like as total compensation?”

    Another, “What do you value in a compensation package?”

    The job seeker could turn these around into statements,

    “Here is what I would like as total compensation”

    “What I value in a compensation package is…”

Leave a Comment

Required

Required, hidden

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed


Hiring technical people and being hired can be difficult, no matter what the economy is doing. Use the tips here to hire better, or find a new job.


Search